WO2023125309A1

WO2023125309A1 - Multi-path communication method and device

Info

Publication number: WO2023125309A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/141565
Authority: WO
Inventors: 许胜锋
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-12-29
Filing date: 2022-12-23
Publication date: 2023-07-06
Also published as: CN116418736A

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a multi-path communication method and device, which are applied to D2D communication scenarios. In the method, a source terminal sends a request message, the request message comprising multi-path indication information used for indicating to establish a plurality of transmission paths with a destination terminal; the source terminal receives a response message from at least one terminal, the at least one terminal being at least one of the destination terminal and one or more relay terminals; and the source terminal sends data of a target service to the destination terminal by means of the plurality of transmission paths, the plurality of transmission paths comprising a transmission path established between the source terminal and the destination terminal by means of one or more relay terminals, and/or a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal. Establishing the plurality of transmission paths is helpful to improve the reliability of data transmission or the data transmission rate. The method does not need to repeatedly execute the PC5 connection establishment process to establish the plurality of transmission paths, so that the process of establishing the plurality of transmission paths is simplified, and the establishment time of the plurality of transmission paths is shortened.

Description

A multi-path communication method and device

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202111643452.8 and the application title "A Multipath Communication Method and Device" submitted to the China Patent Office on December 29, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application middle.

technical field

The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and in particular to a multipath communication method and device.

Background technique

Device-to-device (D2D) communication allows direct communication between user equipment (UE), and can share spectrum resources with community users under the control of the community network, effectively improving the utilization of spectrum resources .

D2D communication includes one-to-many communication and one-to-one communication. One-to-many communication corresponds to multicast and broadcast communication, and one-to-one communication corresponds to unicast communication. In one-to-one communication, if the source UE (source UE) and the destination terminal (destination UE) are within a short distance, they can communicate directly after mutual discovery, as shown in (a) in Figure 1. In D2D communication, UEs communicate through a near field communication 5 (proximity communication 5, PC5) interface, which can be used for information transmission on the data plane and the control plane. When the source UE is far away from the destination UE, if direct communication is not possible, a relay UE (relay UE, U2U Relay, UE-to-UE Relay) can be selected for communication, as shown in (b) in Figure 1 , and further extend the communication distance between UEs.

With the rapid development of mobile communications, the widespread use of data services such as video chat and VR/AR has increased users' requirements for bandwidth or data reliability. However, a single communication path may not be able to meet the user's requirements for bandwidth and reliability.

Contents of the invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a multipath communication method and device, so as to improve the reliability of data transmission or increase the data transmission rate.

In the first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a multi-path communication method, including: the source terminal sends a request message, the request message includes multi-path indication information, and the multi-path indication information is used to instruct the destination terminal to establish multiple transmission path; the source terminal receives a response message from at least one terminal, and the at least one terminal is the destination terminal or one or more relay terminals; the source terminal sends the response message to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths For the data of the target service, the multiple transmission paths include: a transmission path established between the source terminal and the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals, and/or, the source terminal and the destination terminal Directly established transmission path.

In the multi-path communication method provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, multiple transmission paths are established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, so that the same data can be transmitted through different transmission paths, so as to improve the reliability of data transmission; or , different data can also be transmitted through multiple transmission paths at the same time, so as to increase the bandwidth, increase the data transmission rate, and meet the timeliness of data transmission. In addition, in the above embodiments, the request message sent by the source terminal includes multi-path indication information, so that the destination terminal can determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established according to the request message, and notify the transmission path to be established through the response message The source terminal (for example, replying with a response message indicates that the transmission path is established through the terminal, or the replying response message includes the identifier of the relay terminal used to establish the transmission path), so as to facilitate the establishment of multiple transmission paths between the source terminal and the destination terminal, and It is not necessary to repeat the existing PC5 connection establishment process multiple times to complete the establishment of multiple transmission paths, which simplifies the process of establishing multiple transmission paths, helps to shorten the establishment time of multiple transmission paths, and improves user experience.

In a possible implementation manner, before the source terminal sends the request message, the method further includes: the source terminal determines to establish multiple transmission paths with the destination terminal according to the multipath parameters of the target service . When registering, the source terminal can obtain the authorization parameters of the target service from the core network, and directly determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established for the target service according to the multi-path parameters in the authorization parameters, simplifying the judgment logic of the terminal; in this case, the core The network determines whether the target service requires multiple transmission paths, so that the source terminal can determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established when initiating data transmission of the target service with the destination terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, before the source terminal sends the request message, the method further includes: the source terminal determines that the transmission path currently established with the destination terminal cannot meet the quality of service (QoS) of the target service need. The communication quality between the source terminal and the destination terminal is not static. One or more transmission paths initially established can meet the QoS requirements of the target service, but due to some factors that cause the communication quality to decline, the initially established transmission path cannot meet the QoS requirements of the target service. When , the source terminal can also request to establish a new transmission path to meet the QoS requirements of the target service.

In a possible implementation manner, the source terminal sending a request message includes: the source terminal broadcasting the request message; the source terminal receiving a response message from at least one terminal includes: the source terminal passing each The relay terminal receives a first response message from the destination terminal, where the first response message is used to instruct the source terminal to establish a transmission path with the destination terminal through the relay terminal that sent the first response message and/or, the source terminal receives a second response message sent by the destination terminal, where the second response message is used to instruct the source terminal to directly establish a transmission path with the destination terminal. In this implementation, the source terminal broadcasts the request message, then the destination terminal may directly receive the request message and directly reply the response message, and the nearby relay terminal may also receive the request message and forward the request message to the destination terminal. When the transmission path is established between the relay terminal and the source terminal, the destination terminal replies a response message to the relay terminal, and the relay terminal forwards the response message to the source terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the source terminal sending a request message includes: the source terminal sending a request message to the destination terminal, and the request message further includes identifiers of one or more candidate relay terminals , the identifiers of the one or more candidate relay terminals include the identifiers of the one or more relay terminals; the source terminal receiving a response message from at least one terminal includes: the source terminal receiving the destination terminal sending a third response message, where the third response message includes the identifiers of the one or more relay terminals, and is used to instruct the source terminal to establish transmission with the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals path. In this implementation, the source terminal sends a request message to the destination terminal in a unicast manner, and the request message includes the identification of the candidate relay terminal to request the establishment of a new transmission path, and the destination terminal can select from the candidate relay terminal Select a relay terminal for establishing the transmission path, and send the selected relay terminal's identifier in the response message to the source terminal, so that the source terminal and the destination terminal can establish a transmission path through the selected relay terminal .

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the source terminal determining the number of transmission paths to be established according to the multipath number parameter of the target service, or the source terminal determining the number of transmission paths according to the target service The QoS parameters of determine the number of transmission paths to be established; the source terminal establishes the multiple transmission paths according to the number. In this implementation, the authorization parameter of the target service acquired by the source terminal includes a multi-path number parameter, which can facilitate the source terminal to determine the total number of transmission paths that need to be established; or, the source terminal can also use the QoS parameters of the target service and Other factors that may affect QoS determine the number of transmission paths, and the determination method is more flexible and accurate.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the source terminal determines a multipath transmission mode according to the QoS parameter of the target service, or the source terminal determines the multipath transmission mode corresponding to the target service The multipath transmission method includes a redundant transmission method or a shunt transmission method; the source terminal sends the data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including: the source terminal transmits the data according to the multipath In a manner, the data of the target service is sent to the destination terminal through the multiple transmission paths. Redundant transmission means to transmit the same data through multiple transmission paths to improve the reliability of data transmission; split transmission means to transmit different data through multiple transmission paths at the same time to increase the data transmission rate. The source terminal can determine the transmission mode according to the QoS parameters of the target service to meet the QoS requirements of the target service, or can also pre-configure the transmission mode corresponding to the target service, so that the source terminal can determine which transmission mode to use.

In a possible implementation manner, the multipath indication information includes multipath transmission mode indication information. After determining the multi-path transmission mode, the source terminal may carry the indication information of the multi-path transmission mode in the multi-path indication information, so that the destination terminal exchanges target service data with the source terminal according to the multi-path transmission mode. Alternatively, the destination terminal may also determine the corresponding multi-path transmission mode according to the QoS parameters of the target service or the pre-configured correspondence between the service and the transmission mode without the source terminal giving instructions.

In a possible implementation manner, before the source terminal sends data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further includes: the source terminal communicates with the one or more relays The terminal establishes a unicast connection; if the layer 2 relay mode is adopted, the source terminal establishes a unicast connection with the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals; or, if the layer 3 relay mode is adopted, the The source terminal obtains the IP address of the destination terminal from the one or more relay terminals or the destination terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, before the source terminal sends data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further includes: the source terminal combining the data radio bearer corresponding to the QoS flow with the The access layer configuration on each transmission path of the multiple transmission paths is associated, and the QoS flow is used to bear the data of the target service. The source terminal and the destination terminal do not need to establish a QoS flow on each transmission path. They can first establish a QoS flow on one of the transmission paths, that is, the QoS flow. The source terminal and the destination terminal negotiate to determine the parameters of the QoS flow, and then the The DRB corresponding to the QoS flow is associated with the access layer configuration of other transmission paths, so that multiple transmission paths can jointly transmit a QoS flow.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the source terminal negotiates parameters of the QoS flow with the destination terminal through a main transmission path. The parameters of the QoS flow can be determined through negotiation between the source terminal and the destination; a main transmission path is determined from multiple transmission paths to facilitate the exchange of information between the source terminal and the destination that does not need to be transmitted through multiple paths.

In a possible implementation manner, when the multiple transmission paths include a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the main transmission path is directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal transmission path; or, the main transmission path is determined by the source terminal from the multiple transmission paths.

In a possible implementation manner, the source terminal sends the data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including: the source terminal determines the corresponding wireless data according to the QoS flow identifier corresponding to the target service Bearer: the source terminal sends data of the target service to the destination terminal through the multiple transmission paths according to the access layer configuration associated with the wireless data bearer.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the source terminal determines an offload type according to the offload capability of the source terminal and/or the offload capability of the destination terminal, and the offload type includes multiplex control protocol type, and/or, ATSSS-LL type; the source terminal sends data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including: the source terminal transmits the data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the distribution type The target terminal sends data of the target service. The offload capabilities of different terminals may be different, and the source terminal and the destination terminal exchange their respective offload capabilities and determine the offload type adopted by the offload type.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: when the offload type determined by the source terminal is the multiplex transmission control protocol type, the source terminal acquires address information on the path; the source terminal sends the data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including: the source terminal transmits the data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the address information on each transmission path The target terminal sends the data of the target service.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multipath communication method, including: the destination terminal receives a request message from at least one terminal, the request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information is used to communicate with the source terminal Establishing multiple transmission paths, the at least one terminal is the source terminal or one or more relay terminals; the destination terminal sends a response message; the destination terminal receives the message sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths For the data of the target service, the multiple transmission paths include: a transmission path established between the source terminal and the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals, and/or, the source terminal and the destination terminal Directly established transmission path.

In a possible implementation manner, the destination terminal receiving a request message from at least one terminal includes: the destination terminal receiving a request message broadcast from the source terminal; the destination terminal sending a response message, including: the The destination terminal sends a response message to the source terminal through each relay terminal of the one or more relay terminals, where the response message is used to indicate that the source terminal communicates with the source terminal through the relay terminal that sends the response message. The destination terminal establishes a transmission path; and/or, the destination terminal sends a response message to the source terminal, where the response message is used to instruct the source terminal to directly establish a transmission path with the destination terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the destination terminal receiving a request message from at least one terminal includes: the destination terminal receiving a request message sent by a source terminal, and the request message further includes one or more candidate relays An identifier of a terminal, where the identifiers of the one or more candidate relay terminals include the identifiers of the one or more relay terminals; sending a response message by the destination terminal includes: sending the destination terminal to the source terminal A response message, where the response message includes the identifiers of the one or more relay terminals, and is used to instruct the source terminal to establish a transmission path with the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the destination terminal determines a multipath transmission mode according to the parameters of the QoS flow of the target service, or the destination terminal determines the multipath transmission mode corresponding to the target service. Path transmission mode, the multi-path transmission includes redundant transmission mode or split transmission mode; the destination terminal receives the data of the first service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, including: the destination terminal receives the data of the first service sent by the source terminal according to the In a multi-path transmission manner, the data of the first service sent by the source terminal is received through the multiple transmission paths.

In a possible implementation manner, the multipath indication information includes multipath transmission mode indication information, and the multipath transmission includes a redundant transmission mode or a split transmission mode; the destination terminal receives the received transmission information through multiple transmission paths The data of the target service sent by the source terminal includes: the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through the multiple transmission paths according to the multi-path transmission mode.

In a possible implementation manner, before the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further includes: the destination terminal communicates with the one or more The relay terminal establishes a unicast connection; if the layer 2 relay mode is adopted, the destination terminal establishes a unicast connection with the source terminal through the one or more relay terminals; or, if the layer 3 relay mode is adopted, the The destination terminal acquires the IP address of the source terminal from the one or more relay terminals or the source terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, before the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further includes: the destination terminal links the data wireless bearer corresponding to the QoS flow with the The access layer configurations on the multiple transmission paths are associated, and the QoS flow is used to bear the data of the target service.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the destination terminal negotiates parameters of the QoS flow with the source terminal through a main transmission path among the multiple transmission paths.

In a possible implementation manner, when the multiple transmission paths include a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the main transmission path is directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal or, the main transmission path is determined by the destination terminal from the multiple transmission paths.

In a possible implementation manner, the destination terminal receiving the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths includes: the destination terminal receiving data through any one of the multiple transmission paths When, determine the access stratum configuration of the transmission path of the received data and the data radio bearer associated with the access stratum configuration.

In a possible implementation manner, before the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further includes: the destination terminal according to the distribution capability of the source terminal And/or the offload capability of the destination terminal determines the offload type, the offload type includes a multiplex transmission control protocol type, and/or, ATSSS-LL type; the destination terminal receives the source terminal through multiple transmission paths The data of the target service includes: the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the distribution type.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: when the distribution type determined by the destination terminal is the multiplex transmission control protocol type, the destination terminal acquires address information on the path; the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the address information.

In the third aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a multi-path communication device, the device includes modules/units that perform the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation method of the first aspect; these modules/units can be implemented through hardware It can also be realized by executing corresponding software through hardware.

Exemplarily, the communication device may include a transceiver module and a processing module, the processing module is used to send a request message through the transceiver module, the request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information is used for indicating and purpose The terminal establishes multiple transmission paths; receives a response message from at least one terminal, and the at least one terminal is at least one of the destination terminal and one or more relay terminals; sends a target to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths Service data, the multiple transmission paths include: the transmission path established between the source terminal and the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals, and/or, the source terminal and the destination terminal directly established transmission path.

In the fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a multi-path communication device, the device includes modules/units for performing the method of the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect; these modules/units can be implemented through hardware It can also be realized by executing corresponding software through hardware.

Exemplarily, the communication device may include a transceiver module and a processing module, the processing module is configured to receive a request message from at least one terminal through the transceiver module, the request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information is used Instructing to establish multiple transmission paths with the source terminal, where the at least one terminal is at least one of the source terminal and one or more relay terminals; sending to one of the at least one terminal according to the multipath indication information or multiple terminals send a response message; receive the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, and the multiple transmission paths include: the source terminal communicates with the The transmission path established by the destination terminal, and/or the transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal.

In the fifth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a multi-path communication device, including: a processor, and a memory and a communication interface respectively coupled to the processor; the communication interface is used to communicate with other devices; the processing The device is used to run instructions or programs in the memory, and execute the method according to the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect through the communication interface.

In a sixth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a multi-path communication device, including: a processor, and a memory and a communication interface respectively coupled to the processor; the communication interface is used to communicate with other devices; the processing The device is used to run instructions or programs in the memory, and execute the method according to the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect through the communication interface.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where computer-readable instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer-readable instructions are run on a computer, the first The method described in the aspect, the second aspect, and any possible implementation manner thereof is executed.

In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, and any one of the possible implementation manners to be executed.

The technical effects that can be brought about by any possible design in any one of the above-mentioned second to eighth aspects can be described with reference to the technical effects that can be brought about by any possible design in the above-mentioned first aspect, and will not be repeated here. .

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a PC5 communication scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 2 is the schematic diagram of the PC5 unicast link that the embodiment of the present application provides;

Fig. 3 is the schematic flow chart of the PC5 connection establishment that the embodiment of the present application provides;

Figure 4a is a schematic diagram of the data plane protocol stack in the Layer 2 relay mode provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4b is a schematic diagram of the control plane protocol stack in the Layer 2 relay mode provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the data plane protocol stack in the Layer 3 relay mode provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow diagram of establishing a PC5 connection through a relay terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is another schematic flow diagram of establishing a PC5 connection through a relay terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of multiple transmission paths provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a multipath communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the protocol stack in the layer 2 relay mode in the multipath communication provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the protocol stack in the layer 3 relay mode in the multipath communication provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of offloading based on the ATSSS-LL function and the MPTCP function provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of another multipath communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic flowchart of another multipath communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a multi-path communication process in a Layer 2 relay mode provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a multi-path communication process in a Layer 3 relay mode provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-path communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a multipath communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

In the D2D communication of the fifth generation mobile communication system (5th generation core, 5G), UE A can establish one or more unicast links (unicast links) with UE B, and each unicast link is associated with a pair of applications Layer ID corresponds. For example, in the example shown in Figure 2, PC5 connection 1 corresponds to UE A's application layer ID (APP layer ID) 1, UE B's application layer ID 2, PC5 connection 2 corresponds to UE A's application layer ID 3, Application layer ID of UE B 4. One or more quality of service (quality of service, QoS) flows can be established in each link. Each QoS flow is identified by a PC5 QoS flow identifier (PC5 QoS flow identifier, PFI), which uniquely identifies a QoS flow in the link. In D2D communication, the QoS flow may include a guaranteed bit rate (Guaranteed Bit Rate, GBR) QoS flow and a non-guaranteed bit rate (non-guaranteed bit rate, Non-GBR) QoS flow. Wherein, the PC5 connection may also be referred to as a PC5 link (PC5 link).

In 5G, a PC5 connection establishment process can be shown in Figure 3, including the following steps:

Step 1. UE1 sends a direct communication request message. The request message is a broadcast message and includes the application layer identifier of UE2. The source layer 2 identifier (source L2 ID) of the request message is the layer 2 address identifier of UE1, and the destination layer 2 identifier (destination L2 ID) of the request message is the broadcast layer 2 address identifier.

Step 2. After receiving the request message, UE2 establishes a secure channel with UE1.

Step 3, UE2 sends a direct communication acceptance message to UE1, the source layer 2 of the response message is the layer 2 address identifier of UE2, and the destination layer 2 identifier is the layer 2 address identifier of UE1.

Optionally, UE1 and UE2 may also negotiate information about the QoS flow to be established through the request message in step 1 and the response message in step 3 above. Wherein, the information of the PC5 QoS flow may include PFI, the PC5 QoS parameters corresponding to the PFI, and the like.

Step 4, UE1 and UE2 complete the establishment of the PC5 connection, and perform data transmission through the PC5 connection.

It should be understood that UE1 and UE2 will also assign a PC5 connection identifier (PC5 link ID) to the established PC5 connection respectively. The PC5 link ID is assigned by each UE and is used for interactive use between layers within the UE. After the PC5 connection is established, the proximity-based services (ProSe) layer of UE1 sends the PC5 link ID and the Source L2 ID and Destination L2 ID used by the PC5 connection (that is, the layer 2 address identifier of UE2) to the receiving end. Access stratum layer (AS layer), the AS layer stores the corresponding relationship between PC5 link ID, Source L2 ID and Destination L2ID. After the QoS flow is established, the ProSe layer of UE1 sends the PFI and the corresponding PC5 QoS parameters to the AS layer, and the AS layer generates AS layer configurations according to the PC5 QoS parameters, such as RLC channels, logical channels, and data radio bearers (data radio bearer, DRB ) configuration, and establish the association relationship between the PFI and the data radio bearer, and the association relationship between the data radio bearer and the RLC channel/logical channel.

When sending data, the ProSe layer of UE1 determines the PC5 link ID and PC5 QoS flow corresponding to the data, and carries the PC5 link ID and PFI when sending data to the AS layer; the AS layer determines the corresponding Source L2 ID and Destination L2 according to the PC5 link ID ID, and determine the AS layer configuration based on the PFI. Then the AS layer of UE1 sends data according to the Source L2 ID, Destination L2 ID and AS layer configuration.

When receiving data, after receiving the message sent by other devices, the AS layer of UE1 judges whether it is the layer 2 address identifier of UE1 according to the Destination L2 ID in the message. If so, it further sends the received message to the ProSe layer for processing. Otherwise, the message is discarded.

If UE1 and UE2 cannot directly establish a PC5 connection due to reasons such as distance or line-of-sight occlusion, a PC5 connection can be established through a relay UE. When establishing a PC5 connection through a relay UE, a layer-2 U2U relay method or a layer-3 U2U relay method can be used. The Layer 2 device-to-device relay mode is referred to as the Layer 2 relay mode for short, and the Layer 3 device-to-device relay mode is referred to as the Layer 3 relay mode for short. In the Layer 2 relay mode, UE1 and UE2 establish a PC5 connection through the relay UE, and establish a QoS flow through the PC5 connection. In the Layer 2 relay mode, the data plane protocol stack can be shown in Figure 4a, the access layer of UE1, such as the adaptation (adaptation) layer, radio link control protocol (radio link control, RLC) layer, medium access The control (media access control, MAC) layer and the physical (physical, PHY) layer establish a connection with the access layer of UE2 through the access layer of the relay UE; when the relay UE forwards the data plane message, it only passes through the access layer Forwarding does not involve packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer, service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP) layer, IP layer. In the Layer 2 relay mode, the control plane protocol stack can be shown in Figure 4b. The access layer of UE1 establishes a connection with the access layer of UE2 through the access layer of the relay UE. When the relay UE forwards the control plane message , forwarding is only performed through the access layer, and does not involve the PDCP layer and the near field communication 5 signaling (PC5 signaling, PC5-S) layer. In the Layer 3 relay mode, there is no PC5 connection between UE1 and UE2, that is, UE1 and UE2 do not need to exchange control plane signaling, and the relay UE forwards messages through IP addresses, as shown in Figure 5 .

Specifically, when UE1 and UE2 establish a PC5 connection through the relay UE, it may be completed through the process shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 .

In the establishment process shown in Figure 6, the following steps are included:

Step 1, UE1 broadcasts and sends a discovery message (discovery solicitation), the discovery message carries the identity of UE1 (UE1info) and the identity of UE2 (UE2 info), and is used to discover UE2.

Relay UEs or UE2 around UE1 may receive this message.

Step 2. After the Relay UE receives the discovery message, it generates a new discovery message and broadcasts it. The new discovery message carries UE1 info, the identity of the Relay UE (Relay UE info) and UE2 info.

UE2 may receive this new discovery message.

Step 3, UE2 replies a response message (discovery response) to the Relay UE.

If UE2 does not receive the discovery message directly from UE1 in step 1 and receives the discovery message from the Relay UE in step 2, then UE2 selects a Relay UE and replies with a response message through the selected Relay UE.

Step 4. After receiving the response message, the Relay UE generates a new response message and sends it to UE1.

Step 5, UE1 establishes a PC5 connection with the Relay UE, and UE2 establishes a PC5 connection with the Relay UE.

Step 6a: For the Layer 3 relay (L3 U2U Relay) solution, UE1 and UE2 obtain the IP addresses of the peers from the Relay UE.

Step 6b: For the Layer 2 Relay (L2 U2U Relay) solution, UE1 and UE2 establish an end-to-end unicast connection through the Relay UE.

In the process shown in Figure 6, UE1 sends a discovery request, and after receiving the response message returned by the Relay UE, establishes a unicast connection with the Relay UE, which is a cumbersome process. UE1 can also adopt the establishment process shown in Figure 7, including the following steps:

Step 1, UE1 sends a direct communication request (direct communication request, DCR) message 1, and the DCR message 1 includes UE1 info, UE2 info and a service identifier (ProSe ID).

Step 2. Relay UEs (relay UE 1 and Relay UE 2 are used as examples in the figure) receive the DCR message and determine the participation process.

Step 3. Relay UE 1 sends DCR message 2, which includes UE1info, Relay UE 1info, UE2 info and ProSe ID; Relay UE 2 sends a DCR message, which includes UE1info, Relay UE 2 info, UE2 info and ProSe ID ID.

Step 4, UE2 selects a communication path and sends a direct communication accept (DCA) message.

If UE2 does not directly receive the DCR message from UE1 in step 1, then UE2 selects a Relay UE and replies with a DCA message through the selected Relay UE. In Figure 7, the selection of Relay UE 1 is taken as an example.

Step 5: After receiving the DCA message, Relay UE1 generates a new DCA message and sends it to UE1.

Step 6a. For the L3 U2U Relay solution, UE1 and UE2 obtain the IP addresses of the peers from Relay UE 1.

Step 6b. For the L2 U2U Relay solution, UE1 and UE2 establish an end-to-end unicast connection through Relay UE1.

In the above-mentioned various D2D communication modes, there is only one transmission path between UE1 and UE2, that is, a direct transmission path between UE1 and UE2, or a transmission path formed by UE1 and UE2 through a relay UE. However, with the rapid development of communication services, higher requirements are placed on the reliability and data transmission rate of data transmission, and a transmission path may not be able to meet the user's requirements for reliability or data transmission rate.

In view of this, the embodiment of the present application provides a multi-path communication method, which is used to establish multiple transmission paths between the source terminal and the destination terminal in a D2D scenario, so as to improve the reliability of data transmission, or improve the reliability of data transmission. Transmission rate.

Specifically, the multiple transmission paths established between the source terminal and the destination terminal may include a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, and at least one transmission path established through a relay terminal, as shown in (a) in FIG. or, the multiple transmission paths established between the source terminal and the destination terminal may include multiple transmission paths established through multiple relay terminals, as shown in (b) in FIG. 8 .

In this embodiment of the present application, a terminal may also be referred to as terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication equipment, etc. The terminal in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device , wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self driving, wireless terminals in remote medical, wireless terminals in smart grid, transportation security Safety), wireless terminals in smart cities, smart wearable devices (smart glasses, smart watches, smart headphones, etc.), wireless terminals in smart homes, etc., can also be Chips or chip modules (or chip systems) installed in the above equipment. In this application, a terminal with a wireless transceiver function and a chip that can be installed in the aforementioned terminal equipment are collectively referred to as a terminal.

In the embodiment of the present application, the source terminal (source UE) is the terminal that initiates the D2D communication process; the destination terminal (destination UE) is the terminal that receives the source terminal D2D communication request, and can also be called the target terminal (target UE). For the convenience of description , the following uses the destination terminal as an example for illustration.

Referring to FIG. 9, it is a multi-path communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the method may include the following steps:

Step 901a, the source terminal sends a request message. The request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information is used to instruct the destination terminal to establish multiple transmission paths with the source terminal.

The source terminal can send the request message through unicast, the source L2 ID of the request message is the layer 2 address identifier of the source terminal, and the destination L2 ID is the layer 2 address identifier of the destination terminal; or, the source terminal can also broadcast the The source L2 ID of the request message is the layer 2 address identifier of the source terminal, the destination L2 ID of the request message is the layer 2 address identifier of the broadcast, and the request message also includes the identifier of the destination terminal (such as the destination terminal application layer identifier) to indicate that the request message is sent to the destination terminal corresponding to the identifier.

In a possible design, the source terminal can broadcast the request message, so that when the destination terminal cannot directly receive the request message sent by the source terminal, the multipath indication carried in the request message can be sent by other relay terminals. The information is sent to the destination terminal.

In another possible design, if at least one transmission path already exists between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the source terminal may send the request message in a unicast manner. For example, if there is a direct established transmission path between the source terminal and the destination terminal, then the source terminal can directly send a request message to the destination terminal through unicast; or, the source terminal and the destination terminal have established a transmission path through the relay terminal, Then the source terminal may send the request message to the relay terminal in a unicast manner, so that the relay terminal forwards the request message to the destination terminal. Further, the request message may include an identifier of at least one candidate relay terminal already discovered by the source terminal, so that the destination terminal can select at least one relay terminal for establishing a transmission path from the candidate relay terminals.

Optionally, the request message may also include an identification of the target service (such as ProSe ID or Application ID), and the multipath indication information is used to instruct the destination terminal and the source terminal to establish multiple transmission paths to transmit the data of the target service.

Optionally, the request message may also include the identifier of the QoS flow, and the multipath indication information is used to instruct the destination terminal to establish multiple transmission paths with the source terminal to transmit the data of the QoS flow. The QoS flow is used to bear the data of the target service.

Optionally, the request message sent by the source terminal may be a discovery request message or a DCR request message.

Step 901b, the destination terminal receives a request message from at least one terminal.

Since the source terminal can send the request message in a unicast or broadcast manner, the destination terminal may receive the request message from one terminal, or may receive the request message from multiple terminals. Wherein, at least one terminal may include a source terminal and one or more relay terminals.

For example, if the source terminal sends a request message through unicast, the destination terminal only receives the request message from one terminal; if the source terminal sends the request message through broadcast, then the destination terminal may receive the request message from the source terminal, or may Request messages are received from one or more nearby relay terminals, and request messages may also be received from the source terminal and one or more relay terminals at the same time.

Step 902a, the destination terminal sends a response message to one or more terminals according to the multipath indication information.

The destination terminal determines that multiple transmission paths need to be established with the source terminal according to the multipath indication information, and determines the transmission path to be established, and notifies the source terminal of the determined transmission path to be established through a response message, the specific method is as follows:

If the destination terminal receives request messages from multiple terminals in step 901b, then the destination terminal can select a terminal for establishing a transmission path from the multiple terminals, and reply a response message to the selected terminal, so that the corresponding The terminal sends a response message to the source terminal. In this case, each relay terminal receiving the response message is used to establish a transmission path; correspondingly, the source terminal can determine that the relay terminal is used to establish a transmission path after receiving the response message sent by the relay terminal; Alternatively, the destination terminal may also directly send a response message to the source terminal, indicating that a transmission path is directly established with the source terminal.

If the destination terminal only receives a request message from one terminal (the source terminal or the relay terminal) in step 901b, then the destination terminal only sends a response message to the terminal. As mentioned above, the request message received by the destination terminal may contain the identifier of at least one candidate relay terminal, and at this time the response message may contain the relay terminal selected by the destination terminal for establishing a new transmission path , indicating that the source terminal and the destination terminal will respectively establish transmission paths through the relay terminals corresponding to these identities.

It can be seen from this that the set formed by one or more terminals in step 902a is a subset of the set formed by at least one terminal in step 901b.

If a transmission path has been established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the destination terminal determines at least one transmission path to be established; if no transmission path is established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the destination terminal needs to determine multiple transmission paths to be established.

Step 902b, the source terminal receives response messages from one or more terminals.

Usually, the number of one or more terminals in step 902b is the same as that of one or more terminals in step 902a, that is, the destination terminal sends response messages to N terminals, then the source terminal will receive responses from N terminals information.

For example, if the destination terminal sends a response message to at least one relay terminal, the at least one relay terminal correspondingly sends the processed response message to the source terminal (for example, the relay terminal can add its own identification in the response message , setting the destination address of the response message as the address of the source terminal), the source terminal will receive the first response message from the at least one relay terminal; if the destination terminal directly sends a response message to the source terminal, then the source terminal will receive the destination The second response message sent by the terminal.

Of course, due to factors such as external interference in the communication environment and sudden failure of some terminals, the number of response messages received by the source terminal may also be smaller than the number of response messages sent by the source terminal.

After receiving the response message, the source terminal can establish at least one transmission path with the destination terminal according to the response message. As mentioned above, when the source terminal sends a request message, there may already be at least one transmission path between the source terminal and the destination terminal, then the source terminal can establish one or more transmission paths with the destination terminal according to the received response message, so that There are multiple transmission paths between the source terminal and the destination terminal; or, there is no transmission path between the source terminal and the destination terminal when the source terminal sends the request message, then the source terminal can establish at least two transmission paths with the destination terminal according to the received response message Paths, so that there are multiple transmission paths between the source terminal and the destination terminal.

As mentioned above, the request message sent by the source terminal in step 901a may be a discovery request message, and the response message received by the source terminal is a discovery response message; , Step 902b) Determine the transmission path to be established, whether to establish a transmission path directly with the destination terminal, or to establish a transmission path through a relay terminal. After determining the transmission path to be established, the source terminal directly establishes a transmission path with the destination terminal; or, establishes a transmission path with the destination terminal through one or more relay terminals, for example, refer to step 5 and step 6a in FIG. 6 /b Establish transmission path.

Alternatively, the request message sent by the source terminal in step 901a may also be a DCR request message, then the response message received by the source terminal is a DCA message. After the source terminal and the destination terminal complete the above step 901a, step 901b, step 902a, and step 902b, the establishment of the transmission path is completed; or after the source terminal and the destination terminal complete the above step 901a, step 901b, step 902a, and step 902b, Step 6a/b in FIG. 6 is executed again, and the establishment of the transmission path is completed.

Step 903, the source terminal and the destination terminal exchange data of the target service through multiple transmission paths.

Wherein, the multiple transmission paths may be as shown in FIG. 8 , including transmission paths established directly between the source terminal and the destination terminal, and/or transmission paths established between the source terminal and the destination through one or more relay terminals in step 902b .

Different services have different requirements on data reliability and transmission rate. For services that do not require high reliability and transmission rate, only one transmission path can be established. For services with certain requirements on reliability or transmission rate, two transmission paths can be established, and for services with higher requirements on reliability or transmission rate, more transmission paths can be established to meet service requirements. Therefore, the above-mentioned request for establishing multiple transmission paths may be for one or several services, and it is not necessary for all service data to be transmitted through multiple transmission paths. For example, if there is data interaction between service 1 and service 2 between terminal A and terminal B, service 1 has high requirements on data transmission rate and requires multiple transmission paths to increase bandwidth and ensure transmission rate, while service 2 is reliable for data There is no high requirement for high performance and transmission rate, and the corresponding data can be transmitted through only one transmission path.

In this embodiment of the application, the source terminal initiates the process of establishing multiple transmission paths, that is, the source terminal determines that multiple transmission paths need to be established. Optionally, the source terminal may determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established in the following three ways.

Method 1, the source terminal can obtain the authorization parameters of the target service from the core network during the registration process, if the obtained authorization parameters of the target service include multi-path parameters (the data used to indicate the target service needs to be transmitted through multiple transmission paths parameter), the source terminal can determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established for the target service according to the multipath parameter, so as to meet the data transmission requirements of the target service. After acquiring the multipath parameters, the source terminal may initiate the flow of the multipath communication method shown in FIG. 9 .

In addition, the authorization parameter of the target service obtained by the source terminal from the core network may also include a multipath number parameter, which is used to indicate the number of transmission paths required for the data of the target service, and the source terminal may determine the required number of transmission paths according to the multipath number parameter. The number of transmission paths established. Alternatively, if the authorization parameter of the target service does not explicitly indicate the number of transmission paths, the source terminal may also determine the number of transmission paths required by the data of the target service according to the QoS parameter of the target service. For example, the source terminal may determine the number of transmission paths according to the data transmission rate requirements of the target service. Assuming that the transmission rate required by the target service is 100 Mbps, and the transmission capability of the relay terminal is 20 Mbps, five relay terminals need to be selected.

Further, the source terminal may carry the determined number of multipaths in the above multipath indication information, and send the request message to the destination terminal through the request message in the above step 901a, so that the destination terminal determines the number of transmission paths that need to be established, and according to the source The number of terminals determined selects the number of relay terminals used to establish the transmission path. For example, if the destination terminal determines that 3 transmission paths need to be established according to the multipath indication information, then the destination terminal determines the 3 transmission paths to be established; The relay terminal corresponding to the transmission path sends a response message; or, it can also be one transmission path established directly with the destination terminal and two transmissions established through the relay terminal, and the destination terminal can directly reply to the source terminal. The 2 relay terminals reply the response message.

Mode 2, when the source terminal obtains the QoS parameters of the target service, the source terminal can determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established according to the QoS parameters of the target service. For example, the transmission rate required by the target service is 100Mbps, but the direct transmission capability between the source terminal and the destination terminal is 50Mbps, and the transmission capability of the relay terminal is also 50Mbps, then the source terminal determines that two transmission paths are needed to meet the transmission rate requirement of the target service need.

Similarly, after determining the number of transmission paths, the source terminal may carry it in the multipath indication information, so that the destination terminal determines the number of transmission paths that need to be established. The destination terminal selects a corresponding number of transmission paths to be established according to the indicated number, which is similar to the method 1 and will not be repeated here.

Method 3: The source terminal can first establish one or more transmission paths with the destination terminal (it can be a direct transmission path between the source terminal and the destination terminal, or a transmission path established through a relay terminal) for data transmission of the target service. However, in the interaction process between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the communication quality is not constant. For example, the distance between the source terminal and the destination terminal is getting farther and farther, and there is signal interference between the source terminal and the destination terminal, which will lead to the decline of communication quality. The source terminal may find that the established transmission path cannot meet the QoS requirements of the target service. For example, the source terminal can measure the data transmission rate, and can also make statistics on the data packet loss rate, so as to determine the Whether the QoS requirements of the target service are met. In this case, the source terminal can also initiate the multi-path communication process described in FIG. 9, and then establish one or more transmission paths with the destination terminal, so as to exchange data of the target service with the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths.

In this case, the source terminal can determine the number of transmission paths required by the data of the target service according to the QoS parameter of the target service. For example, if the transmission rate of a currently established transmission path is half of the transmission rate required by the target service, the source terminal may assume that establishing another transmission path under the current situation can meet the QoS requirement of the target service. Further, the source terminal may also include the determined number of transmission paths that need to be re-established, or the total number of transmission paths established for the target service, in the multipath indication information and send it to the destination terminal. The destination terminal may determine the transmission path to be established according to the indicated data in the manner in the first manner.

When the source terminal and the destination terminal exchange data of the target service through multiple transmission paths, there may also be multiple transmission modes. Optionally, the same data can be transmitted through multiple transmission paths, that is, a redundant transmission mode, so as to improve the reliability of data transmission. Alternatively, different data may be transmitted through multiple transmission paths, that is, a shunt transmission mode (steering mode); for example, data packet 1 of the target service is sent through transmission path 1, data packet 2 of the target service is sent through transmission path 2, and the target service is sent through transmission path 2. The data packet 3 of the service is sent through the transmission path 1, the data packet 4 of the target service is sent through the transmission path 2, . . . to increase the rate of data transmission. The offload transmission mode can be further divided into active-standby (Active-Standby) offload mode, load-balancing (Load-Balancing) offload mode, and priority-based offload mode. Among them, the main-standby relationship distribution mode means that the data of the service is only transmitted on one transmission path, and when the transmission path is unavailable, it is switched to another transmission path. The load balancing and shunting mode means that the data of this service is considered to be load balanced when it is transmitted on different transmission paths. The priority-based distribution mode means that the service data is transmitted in one or more transmission paths with higher priority, and when the transmission path with higher priority is unavailable, it is switched to the transmission path with lower priority for transmission.

The source terminal can determine the multipath transmission mode of the target service by referring to the following methods:

In method 1, the source terminal can determine the multipath transmission mode according to the QoS parameters of the target service, that is, adopt the redundant transmission mode or the offload transmission mode. For example, if the source terminal determines that the target service has high reliability requirements for data transmission according to the QoS parameters of the target service, such as the requirement for the packet loss rate is less than the preset threshold, it is determined to adopt the redundant transmission mode; The QoS parameter determines that the target service has high requirements on the data transmission rate. If the required transmission rate is greater than the transmission capacity of one transmission path, it is determined to adopt the shunt transmission method.

Method 2, if the authorization parameters of the target service obtained by the source terminal include transmission mode parameters (parameters used to indicate the multi-path transmission mode), the source terminal can determine whether to use the redundant transmission mode or the shunt transmission mode according to the transmission mode parameters . Alternatively, the source terminal may also pre-store the correspondence between the service and the multi-path transmission mode, and search for the multi-path transmission mode corresponding to the target service from the pre-stored correspondence.

In method 3, the source terminal may be pre-configured with a correspondence between services and multi-path transmission modes, and the source terminal may determine the multi-path transmission mode adopted by the target service according to the pre-configured correspondence.

Further, after the source terminal determines the multi-path transmission mode, a transmission rule may be generated, so as to determine the path corresponding to the data of the target service according to the transmission rule. For example, when redundant transmission is used, the transmission rule indicates that each data packet to be transmitted is copied, and the number of copied data packets is consistent with the number of transmission paths, and each data packet corresponds to a transmission path; In the mode, the transmission rule may be that odd-numbered data packets correspond to transmission path 1, and even-numbered data packets correspond to transmission path 2.

Optionally, the source terminal may carry the indication information of the multi-path transmission mode, which is used to indicate whether to adopt the redundant transmission mode or the split transmission mode, in the above-mentioned multi-path indication information, and send it to the destination terminal along with the request information, so as to The destination terminal is made to exchange data of the target service with the source terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the transmission mode indicated by the indication information.

Or, the destination terminal can also determine the corresponding multipath transmission mode according to the acquired QoS parameters of the target service, and can also determine the corresponding multipath transmission mode according to the The transmission method parameter in the authorization parameter determines the corresponding multipath transmission method.

After the destination terminal obtains the multi-path transmission mode, it can also generate transmission rules, so as to facilitate the subsequent sending or receiving of data through multiple transmission paths.

As mentioned above, in the transmission path established by the relay terminal, the relay terminal may adopt the layer 2 relay mode or the layer 3 relay mode. The following describes respectively how the source terminal and the destination terminal perform data transmission under the two relay modes.

-Layer 2 relay mode

When the relay terminal adopts the Layer 2 relay mode, the source terminal first establishes a unicast connection with the relay terminal, and the destination terminal also establishes a unicast connection with the relay terminal, and then the source terminal and the destination terminal establish a unicast connection through the relay terminal. That is, the source terminal and the destination terminal perform PC5 signaling interaction through the relay terminal.

The source terminal establishes a QoS flow with the destination terminal, and the QoS flow is a PC5 QoS flow for carrying the data of the target service. The source terminal can associate the data radio bearer (DRB) corresponding to the QoS flow of the target service with the access layer configuration on each transmission path. The source terminal and the destination terminal do not need to establish a QoS flow on each transmission path. They can first establish a QoS flow on one of the transmission paths. The source terminal and the destination terminal negotiate to determine the parameters of the QoS flow, and then the corresponding QoS flow The DRB is associated with the access layer configuration of other transmission paths, so that multiple transmission paths can jointly transmit a QoS flow.

Correspondingly, the destination terminal also needs to associate the DRB corresponding to the QoS flow with the access layer configuration on each transmission path, so that multiple transmission paths can jointly transmit a QoS flow on the destination terminal side, which is convenient for subsequent transmission through multiple transmission paths. A transmission path receives data or sends data.

Wherein, the configuration of the access layer (AS layer) may include the configuration of the adaptation layer, the configuration of the RLC layer, the configuration of the MAC layer and the configuration of the PHY layer; the configuration above the AS layer may be regarded as the ProSe layer. According to the data plane protocol stack in the Layer 2 relay mode shown in Figure 4a, it can be known that the ProSe layer of the source terminal is directly connected to the ProSe layer of the destination terminal, that is, the relay terminal forwards through the access layer when forwarding without passing through the relay terminal. ProSe layer.

Optionally, the source terminal and/or the destination terminal may first determine a transmission path from multiple transmission paths as the main transmission path, and then the source terminal and the destination terminal negotiate the parameters of the above-mentioned QoS flow through the main transmission path. Wherein, the main transmission path may be determined through negotiation between the source terminal and the destination terminal; or, may also be determined by the source terminal itself, in which case the source terminal also needs to indicate to the destination terminal which transmission path is the determined main transmission path; or , when there is a directly established transmission path between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the source terminal and the destination terminal may also take the directly established transmission path as the main transmission path among the multiple transmission paths by default. The directly established transmission path refers to the transmission path between the source terminal and the destination terminal without passing through the relay terminal.

After the source terminal and the destination terminal complete the association of the access layer configuration, their protocol stacks may be as shown in FIG. 10 . In the specific embodiment shown in FIG. 10 , UE1 is the source terminal, UE2 is the destination terminal, and there is a directly established transmission path (hereinafter referred to as transmission path 1) and a transmission path established through the relay UE between UE1 and UE2. (hereinafter referred to as the transmission path 2), and the transmission path 1 is used as the main transmission path. UE1 and UE2 establish a QoS flow through the main transmission path, that is, negotiate QoS flow parameters through the main transmission path, and complete the configuration of the protocol stack on the main transmission path. As shown in the light gray part in FIG. 10 , the DRB is embodied in the PDCP layer (the DRB corresponds to the PDCP entity one by one), and the DRB is associated with the RLC layer. Since there is still transmission path 2, the AS layer configuration of transmission path 2 is associated with the above DRB, that is, the AS layer configuration in the transmission path established by the relay UE is generated according to the QoS parameters corresponding to the QoS flow (deep in Fig. 10 As shown in the gray part, optionally, there may be an adaptation layer above the RLC layer), and associate the RLC layer or the adaptation layer in this part of the configuration with the DRB in the light gray part.

After the source terminal completes the DRB of the QoS flow and the access layer configuration of multiple transmission paths, if it needs to send the data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, the ProSe layer in the source terminal sends the data packet to the source terminal's The access layer (AS layer), the AS layer determines the corresponding DRB according to the PFI of the data packet, and sends the data packet through multiple transmission paths according to the AS layer configuration of each transmission path associated with the DRB. Still taking Figure 10 as an example, the data packet to be sent by UE1 is transmitted from the ProSe layer to the AS layer. The AS layer determines the associated RLC channel (light gray RLC channel) based on the DRB corresponding to the PFI of the data packet and the DRB corresponding to the PFI. layer and dark gray RLC layer). Specifically, if the current redundant transmission mode is used, the data packet is copied, and the two data packets obtained after copying, one is transmitted through the light gray AS layer, that is, sent to UE2 through the transmission path 1, and the other is transmitted through the deep gray AS layer. Gray AS layer transmission, that is, sending to UE2 through transmission path 2. If the split transmission mode is currently used, according to the transmission rules, the transmission path corresponding to the data packet or the corresponding RLC layer is further determined, and then the data transmission is completed.

When the destination terminal receives the data packet, UE2 receives the data packet through the access layer configuration corresponding to the transmission path, determines the DRB corresponding to the data packet according to the association between the DRB and the access layer configuration, and then delivers the data packet to the application layer. If the current redundant transmission mode is adopted, UE2 also needs to deduplicate the same data packet, for example, to determine whether it is a duplicate data packet according to the sequence number in the PDCP layer.

-Layer 3 relay mode

When the relay terminal adopts the Layer 3 relay mode, after the source terminal establishes a unicast connection with the relay terminal, and the destination terminal establishes a unicast connection with the relay terminal, the source terminal obtains the IP address of the destination terminal and the IP address of the destination terminal through the relay terminal. The IP address of the source terminal is obtained through the relay terminal, and the source terminal and the destination terminal perform data exchange according to the IP address of the other party. The protocol stack configurations of the source terminal, the relay terminal, and the destination terminal may be as shown in FIG. 11 . In the specific embodiment shown in FIG. 11 , UE1 is the source terminal, UE2 is the destination terminal, there is a transmission path established directly between UE1 and UE2 (hereinafter referred to as transmission path 1) and a transmission path established through the relay UE (hereinafter referred to as transmission path 2). Wherein, the light gray part represents the protocol stack of the transmission path 1, and the dark gray part represents the protocol stack of the transmission path 2.

Optionally, in the scenario of Layer 3 relay mode, when the source terminal and the relay terminal transmit data according to the multi-path transmission mode, the ATSSS-low layer (ATSSS-LL) function (functionality) based on the bottom layer of ATSSS can be used. It can also be transmitted based on the multiplex transmission control protocol function (MPTCP functionality).

Implementing ATSSS-LL functionality in a terminal does not require a separate protocol layer, and ATSSS-LL functionality can decide how to distribute data traffic between different transmission paths. As shown in Figure 12, in the distribution method based on ATSSS-LL functionality, when the terminal sends data packets, the upper layer does not need to distinguish the IP addresses of different transmission paths, that is, for the upper layer, multiple transmission paths share one IP address (IP @3). After the ATSSS-LL functionality at the bottom layer obtains the data packet, it determines the corresponding transmission path according to the current multipath transmission mode and transmission rules (such as ATSSS Rules).

The realization of MPTCP functionality in the terminal requires the terminal to support MPTCP. MPTCP is a protocol that realizes multi-channel parallel transmission on the basis of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). As shown in Figure 12, in the method based on MPTCP functionality, when the terminal sends a data packet, the MPTCP functionality at the upper layer will determine the corresponding transmission path and the transmission path according to the current multipath transmission mode and transmission rules (such as ATSSS Rules). The IP address of the path, as shown in the figure, transmission path 1 corresponds to IP@1, and transmission path 2 corresponds to IP@2; when the data packet is transmitted to the middle layer and the bottom layer, it already carries the IP address of its corresponding transmission path.

The source terminal can interact with the destination terminal for their respective distribution capabilities, that is, whether they support ATSSS-LL functionality and/or MPTCP functionality, so as to determine whether to transmit data based on ATSSS-LL functionality or MPTCP functionality when using layer 3 relay mode way to transfer data. Specifically, the source terminal can send its own distribution capability to the destination terminal, and the destination terminal determines whether to transmit data based on ATSSS-LL functionality or MPTCP functionality based on its own capabilities and the source terminal's distribution capability; or, it can also be the destination terminal. The terminal sends its offload capability to the source terminal, which is determined by the source terminal.

In order to understand the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application more clearly, examples are described below in conjunction with FIGS. 13-16 . Figure 13 and Figure 14 show two different scenarios in which the source terminal initiates multipath communication. Figure 15 and Figure 16 show the multi-path communication flow in Layer 2 relay mode and Layer 3 relay mode respectively, the process shown in Figure 15 can be combined with the process shown in Figure 13 or 14, similarly, Figure 16 The process shown in Fig. 13 or 14 can also be combined. In Figure 13-16, UE1 represents the source terminal, UE2 represents the destination terminal, Relay UE1 represents the relay terminal 1, and Relay UE2 represents the relay terminal 2.

Referring to the schematic flowchart of the multipath communication method shown in FIG. 13, the following steps may be included:

Step 1301, each terminal completes registration in the core network, and obtains authorization parameters of the target service from a policy control function (PCF).

Wherein, the authorization parameter of the target service may include: a multipath parameter (a parameter used to indicate that the data of the target service needs to be transmitted through multiple transmission paths), and/or a multipath number parameter (a parameter used to indicate that the data of the target service needs to parameter for the number of transmission paths).

It should be understood that the time for UE1, UE2, Relay UE1, and Relay UE2 to complete registration and obtain authorization parameters may be different, and putting them all in step 1301 only means that these steps have been completed before UE1 sends the request message.

Step 1302, UE1 receives a request from the application layer, the request includes the ProSe ID of the target service and the QoS requirement of the target service, and UE1 determines that multipath transmission is required according to the authorization parameters and/or QoS requirements of the target service.

Further, UE1 may also determine the number of path transmissions.

Step 1303, UE1 sends a DCR message or a discovery message (the discovery message is taken as an example in FIG. 13), and the message includes multipath indication information (multipath indication).

Wherein, the DCR message or the discovery message sent by UE1 is the request message in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 .

Optionally, the multipath indication information may include the required number of relay UEs or the total number of communication paths).

Step 1304, after receiving the DCR message or discovery message sent by UE1, Relay UE1 and Relay UE2 generate and send a new DCR message or discovery message.

It should be understood that the time at which Relay UE1 and Relay UE2 receive the DCR message or discovery message sent by UE1 may be different, and the time at which a new DCR message or discovery message is sent may also be different.

Step 1305, after UE2 receives a DCR message or a discovery message from UE1, Relay UE1 or Relay UE2, UE2 determines multiple transmission paths according to the multipath indication information in the message.

Assuming that the multipath indication information indicates that two transmission paths need to be established, in FIG. 13 , UE2 chooses to establish a direct transmission path with UE1 and establishes a transmission path through Relay UE1 as an example. Certainly, UE2 may also select other combinations of transmission paths.

Optionally, if the multipath indication information does not indicate the number of transmission paths to be established, UE2 may also determine it according to the authorization parameters of the target service, or determine it according to the QoS requirement of the target service and the transmission capability of the Relay UE.

Step 1306, UE2 sends a DCA message or a discovery response message to UE1 and the selected Relay UE1, and after receiving the DCA message or discovery response message sent by UE2, Relay UE1 generates a new DCA message or discovery response message and sends it to UE1.

It should be understood that the time for UE2 to send the response message to different terminals may be different.

Step 1307. If the message in steps 1303-1305 is a discovery message and the message in step 1306 is a discovery response message, UE1 and UE2 respectively establish a PC5 connection with Relay UE1.

Step 1308, UE1 establishes a transmission path with UE2 through the Relay UE1. For the manner of establishing the transmission path, refer to 6a or 6b in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13 , UE1 determines according to the authorization parameters and/or QoS parameters of the target service, and determines that multiple transmission paths need to be established for the data transmission of the target service, so as to ensure the reliability or transmission rate of the target service data transmission ; and by adding multipath indication information in the discovery message, UE2 can determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established according to the request message, and notify UE1 of multiple transmission paths through a response message without repeating the existing PC5 connection The establishment process is performed multiple times to complete the establishment of multiple transmission paths, which simplifies the process of establishing multiple transmission paths.

Referring to the schematic flowchart of the multipath communication method shown in FIG. 14, the following steps may be included:

Step 1401 is similar to step 1101 in the foregoing embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Step 1402, UE1 and UE2 establish a direct transmission path or establish a transmission path through the Relay UE, and transmit the data of the target service (in Figure 14, UE1 and UE2 establish a direct transmission path as an example).

Step 1403, UE1 determines that the current transmission path cannot meet the QoS requirements of the target service, and determines that another transmission path needs to be established. Wherein, the QoS requirement may be a delay requirement, a reliability requirement, or a rate requirement among QoS parameters.

For example, the actual delay value of the data transmission of the target service between UE1 and UE2 through measurement is greater than the delay value in the QoS parameter, or the reliability guarantee of data transmission does not meet the reliability requirements in the QoS parameter, or the actual transmission rate is less than The rate requirement in the QoS parameter.

UE1 can establish another transmission path with UE2 in one of the following three possible ways:

Mode 1: Refer to steps 1103-1108 in the foregoing embodiments to establish other transmission paths.

Method 2: Establish other transmission paths according to the process shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7;

Mode 3, as shown in steps 1404-1408 in Figure 14:

Step 1404, UE1 discovers available Relay UEs, such as Relay UE1 and Relay UE2, through a discovery process.

Step 1405, UE1 sends a request message to UE2 to request the establishment of other communication paths, the request includes multipath indication information (multipath indication), the identification of the candidate Relay UE (such as the identification of Relay UE1 and the identification of Relay UE2) . The request message is transmitted through the existing transmission path between UE-1 and UE-2.

Optionally, the identifier of the candidate Relay UE can also be used as a form of multipath indication information. When the request message includes the identifier of the candidate Relay UE, UE2 can determine that a new transmission path needs to be established.

Step 1406, UE2 selects a Relay UE for establishing another transmission path from identifiers of candidate Relay UEs.

Optionally, UE2 can first determine whether it has established a unicast connection with the candidate Relay UE, if not established, then initiate a discovery process to discover the Relay UE, if a unicast connection has been established, UE2 has already established a unicast connection Connect and select the Relay UE that is currently used to establish other transmission paths from the Relay UEs that can be discovered through the discovery process.

Step 1407, UE2 sends a response message to UE1. The response message can be transmitted through the existing transmission path between UE-1 and UE-2.

The response message includes the identifier of the Relay UE selected by UE2, and the selection of Relay UE1 is taken as an example in FIG. 14 .

Step 1408, UE1 and UE2 establish a transmission path through the selected Relay UE. For details, refer to step 5, step 6a, and step 6b in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 .

In the embodiment shown in Figure 14, after UE1 establishes a transmission path with UE2, it determines that the currently established transmission path cannot meet the QoS requirements of the target service, so it requests to establish a new transmission path with UE2, so that multiple transmission The path transmits the data of the target service, ensuring the QoS requirements of the target service; and by adding multi-path indication information in the discovery message, when multiple transmission paths need to be newly established, UE2 can determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established according to the request message , and determine multiple transmission paths and notify the source terminal through a response message, without repeating the existing PC5 connection establishment process multiple times to complete the establishment of multiple transmission paths, simplifying the process of establishing multiple transmission paths. In mode 3, UE1 sends a request to UE2 in a unicast manner, which helps to reduce signaling overhead and save transmission resources.

Referring to Figure 15, it is a schematic diagram of the multi-path communication process in the Layer 2 relay mode, as shown in the figure, including the following steps:

In step 1501, UE1 and UE2 negotiate through established transmission paths, and determine a main transmission path among multiple transmission paths.

For example, UE2 may indicate to UE1 which transmission path is the main communication path in step 1106 in the foregoing embodiment; or after step 1106, UE1 determines the main communication path and notifies UE2; In the case of the default direct transmission path is the main transmission path.

Step 1502, UE1 and UE2 establish a QoS flow through the main transmission path, and negotiate QoS parameters of the QoS flow.

Specifically, the ProSe layer of UE1 can configure the PFI of the QoS flow and the corresponding QoS parameters to the AS layer of UE1, and the AS layer generates AS layer configurations (such as RLC channels, logical channels, and data radio bearers) according to the QoS parameters, and establishes the PFI Association with data radio bearers, association of data radio bearers with RLC channels/logical channels.

Step 1503, UE1 determines the multipath transmission mode (redundant transmission or split transmission).

Specifically, UE1 can determine it according to the QoS parameters of the QoS flow. For example, high reliability in the QoS parameter corresponds to the redundant transmission mode, and high rate in the QoS parameter corresponds to the offload transmission mode; business, the current target business requires redundant transmission or shunt transmission.

Step 1504, UE1 notifies UE2 of the multipath transmission mode.

The above step 1503 and step 1504 are only one way of determining the multi-path transmission mode, and these two steps may also be replaced by UE1 and UE2 negotiating the multi-path transmission mode. In addition, the negotiation step can also be performed simultaneously with step 1502, that is, the QoS parameters and the multipath transmission mode of the QoS flow are negotiated between the UEs at the same time.

Step 1505, the ProSe layer of UE1 indicates to the AS layer of UE1 that the QoS flow in the main transmission path is also transmitted on other transmission paths. Optionally, a multipath transmission mode may also be indicated.

The interlayer interaction between the ProSe layer and the AS layer in this step can be performed simultaneously with the interlayer interaction in step 2.

Step 1506, the AS layer of UE1 generates an AS layer configuration, that is, associates the data radio bearer corresponding to the QoS flow (PFI) in the main transmission path with the AS layer (RLC channel/logical channel) in other transmission paths. Wherein, the AS layer configuration in other transmission paths is generated according to the QoS parameters corresponding to the QoS flows in the main transmission path.

Step 1507, the ProSe layer of UE2 indicates to the AS layer of UE2 that the QoS flow in the main transmission path is also transmitted on other transmission paths.

Step 1508, the AS layer of UE2 generates an AS layer configuration, that is, associates the data radio bearer corresponding to the QoS flow (PFI) in the main transmission path with the AS layer (RLC channel/logic channel) in other transmission paths.

Step 1509, when UE1 sends data to UE2, the ProSe layer of UE1 sends the data packet carrying the main transmission path identifier (PC5Link 1) and the QoS flow identifier (PFI) to the AS layer.

Step 1510, the AS layer of UE1 sends data packets through different transmission paths according to different RLC channels associated with data radio bearers corresponding to the PFI.

Further, how to allocate data packets to different RLC channels may also be determined according to the multipath transmission mode.

Step 1511, the AS layer of UE2 receives data packets through different transmission paths.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, UE1 and UE2 use Layer 2 relay mode for data transmission. In this case, UE1 and UE2 do not need to establish a QoS flow on each transmission path. A QoS flow is established on the transmission path, and then the wireless data bearer corresponding to the QoS flow is associated with the access layer configuration of other transmission paths, so that multiple transmission paths can jointly transmit a QoS flow.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, the above step 1501-step 1511 is included; in another embodiment, step 1501 and step 1502 may not be included; or, in other embodiments, step 1503-step 1501 may not be included ; Alternatively, other implementations may also exist.

Referring to Figure 16, it is a schematic diagram of the multi-path communication process in the Layer 3 relay mode, as shown in the figure, including the following steps:

Step 1601, UE1 and UE2 establish multiple transmission paths.

Step 1602, UE1 negotiates with UE2 to determine whether to adopt the transmission mode based on ATSSS-LL functionality or the transmission mode based on MPTCP functionality.

Specifically, UE1 and UE2 can exchange their respective distribution capabilities, that is, whether to support ATSSS-LL functionality/MPTCP functionality, and then determine which transmission mode to use according to the distribution capability information.

Optionally, step 1602 can be performed simultaneously with step 1601, that is, add offload capability information in the DCR/discovery message.

Step 1603, in the case of using a transmission method based on MPTCP functionality, UE1 and UE2 exchange address information (link-specific multipath address/prefixes) of each transmission path, that is, each transmission path has an address on each UE ( For example, IP@1 and IP@2 in Figure 12).

Optionally, step 1603 can also be performed simultaneously with step 1601, that is, address information is added in the DCR/discovery message.

Step 1604, UE1 generates a distribution rule. The distribution rule is used to indicate how the data of the target service is distributed among multiple transmission paths.

Step 1605, UE2 generates a distribution rule.

Step 1606, when sending the data packets of the target service, UE1 determines the transmission path corresponding to each data packet according to the distribution rule.

Step 1607, UE1 sends data to UE2 through multiple transmission paths.

Step 1608, UE2 receives data through multiple transmission paths.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16 , UE1 and UE2 use Layer 3 relay mode for data transmission, that is, UE1 and UE2 only perform data plane transmission and do not need to perform control plane transmission. In this case, it can further determine whether to transmit data based on ATSSS-LL functionality or based on MPTCP functionality, so as to transmit data through multiple transmission paths.

In the multi-path communication method provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, multiple transmission paths are established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, so that the same data can be transmitted through different transmission paths, so as to improve the reliability of data transmission; or , Different data can also be transmitted through multiple transmission paths at the same time to increase the bandwidth, improve the data transmission rate, and meet the timeliness of data transmission. In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the request message sent by the source terminal includes multi-path indication information, so that the destination terminal can determine that multiple transmission paths need to be established according to the request message, and notify the source of the determined multiple transmission paths through a response message terminal, so that it is convenient for the source terminal and the destination terminal to establish multiple transmission paths without repeating the existing PC5 connection establishment process multiple times to complete the establishment of multiple transmission paths, which simplifies the process of establishing multiple transmission paths and contributes to Shorten the establishment time of multiple transmission paths and improve user experience.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application also provides a multipath communication device. As shown in FIG. 17 , the communication device may include a transceiver module 1701 and a processing module 1702 . The transceiver module 1701 is used for sending and receiving processing of messages, and the processing module 1702 is used for realizing processing of messages by the communication device. It should be understood that the processing module 1702 in this embodiment of the present application may be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component (or called a processing circuit), and the transceiver module 1701 may be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component.

Exemplarily, the multi-path communication device may be a communication device device, or a chip applied to the communication device device, or other combined devices, components, etc. having the functions of the above-mentioned communication device device.

Exemplarily, the multipath communication device may be the source terminal in the foregoing method embodiments, or may be the destination terminal in the foregoing method embodiments.

When the multi-path communication device is the source terminal, the processing module 1702 sends a request message through the transceiver module 1701, the request message includes multi-path indication information, and the multi-path indication information is used to indicate the establishment of multiple transmission paths with the destination terminal; Receive a response message from at least one terminal, where the at least one terminal is at least one of the destination terminal and one or more relay terminals; send target service data to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, and the multiple transmission paths The transmission paths include: a transmission path established between the one or more relay terminals and the destination terminal, and/or a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal.

In addition, the above modules can also be used to support other processes performed by the source terminal in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 16 . For the beneficial effect, reference may be made to the foregoing description, and details are not repeated here.

When the multi-path communication device is the destination terminal, the processing module 1702 receives a request message from at least one terminal through the transceiver module 1701, the request message includes multi-path indication information, and the multi-path indication information is used to indicate to establish a multi-path communication with the source terminal. transmission paths, the at least one terminal being at least one of the source terminal and one or more relay terminals; sending a response message to one or more of the at least one terminal according to the multipath indication information receiving the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, the multiple transmission paths include: the transmission path established between the source terminal and the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals, And/or, the transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal.

In addition, the above modules can also be used to support other processes performed by the destination terminal in the embodiments shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 16 . For the beneficial effect, reference may be made to the foregoing description, and details are not repeated here.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application also provides a multipath communication device. The communication device includes a processor 1801 as shown in FIG. 18 , and a communication interface 1802 connected to the processor 1801 .

The processor 1801 can be a general processor, a microprocessor, a specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or one or more integrated circuits used to control the execution of the program of this application, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the methods disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

Communication interface 1802, using any device such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (radio access network, RAN), wireless local area networks (wireless local area networks, WLAN), etc. .

In this embodiment of the present application, the processor 1801 is configured to call the communication interface 1802 to perform a function of receiving and/or sending, and execute the method described in any one of the preceding possible implementation manners.

Further, the communication device may further include a memory 1803 and a communication bus 1804 .

The memory 1803 is configured to store program instructions and/or data, so that the processor 1801 invokes the instructions and/or data stored in the memory 1803 to implement the above functions of the processor 1801 . The memory 1803 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or other types that can store information and instructions A dynamic storage device that can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM) or can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be stored by the computer Any other medium, but not limited to. The memory 1803 may exist independently, such as an off-chip memory, and is connected to the processor 1801 through the communication bus 1804 . The memory 1803 can also be integrated with the processor 1801.

Communication bus 1804 may include a path for communicating information between the components described above.

When the multipath communication device is the source terminal, the processor 1801 is configured to perform the following steps through the communication interface 1802: sending a request message, the request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information is used to indicate and The destination terminal establishes multiple transmission paths; receives a response message from at least one terminal, and the at least one terminal is at least one of the destination terminal and one or more relay terminals; sends the response message to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths For the data of the target service, the multiple transmission paths include: a transmission path established between the one or more relay terminals and the destination terminal, and/or, a transmission directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal path.

In addition, each of the above components can also be used to support other processes performed by the source terminal in the above method embodiments. For the beneficial effect, reference may be made to the foregoing description, and details are not repeated here.

When the multipath communication device is the destination terminal, the processor 1801 is configured to perform the following steps through the communication interface 1802: receive a request message from at least one terminal, the request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information It is used to indicate the establishment of multiple transmission paths with the source terminal, and the at least one terminal is at least one of the source terminal and one or more relay terminals; according to the multipath indication information, send the at least one terminal to the at least one terminal One or more terminals send a response message; receive the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, and the multiple transmission paths include: the source terminal communicates with the source terminal through the one or more relay terminals The transmission path established by the destination terminal, and/or the transmission path directly established by the source terminal and the destination terminal.

An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, where the computer program includes instructions for executing the foregoing method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when run on a computer, enable the above method embodiments to be executed.

In the description of the embodiments of the present application, "and/or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there may be three types of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which may mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and There are three cases of B. A plurality referred to in this application refers to two or more than two.

In addition, it should be understood that in the description of this application, terms such as "first", "second", and "third" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions, and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance. Neither should it be construed as indicating or implying an order. Reference to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" or the like in this specification means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," "in other embodiments," etc. in various places in this specification are not necessarily All refer to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments" unless specifically stated otherwise. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to", unless specifically stated otherwise.

The embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, and the computer program includes instructions for executing the above-mentioned method embodiment.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the above method embodiments.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowcharts and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that each procedure and/or block in the flowchart and/or block diagram, and a combination of procedures and/or blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagram can be realized by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or processor of other programmable data processing equipment to produce a machine such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment produce a An apparatus for realizing the functions specified in one or more procedures of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to operate in a specific manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising instruction means, the instructions The device realizes the function specified in one or more procedures of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, causing a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow chart or blocks of the flowchart and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

While preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional changes and modifications to these embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art once the basic inventive concept is appreciated. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be construed to cover the preferred embodiment and all changes and modifications which fall within the scope of the application.

Apparently, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present application. In this way, if the modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A multipath communication method, characterized in that, comprising:

The source terminal sends a request message, the request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information is used to instruct the establishment of multiple transmission paths with the destination terminal;

The source terminal receives a response message from at least one terminal, and the at least one terminal is the destination terminal or one or more relay terminals;

The source terminal sends data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple established transmission paths, and the multiple established transmission paths include: the source terminal communicates with the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals The transmission path established by the terminal, and/or, the transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal.
The method according to claim 1, wherein before the source terminal sends the request message, the method further comprises:

The source terminal determines to establish the multiple transmission paths with the destination terminal according to the multipath parameters of the target service.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, before the source terminal sends the request message, the method further comprises:

The source terminal determines that the current transmission path established with the target terminal cannot meet the QoS requirement of the target service.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that,

The sending of the request message by the source terminal includes: broadcasting the request message by the source terminal;

The source terminal receiving a response message from at least one terminal includes: the source terminal receiving a first response message from the destination terminal through each of the relay terminals, where the first response message is used to indicate that the source The terminal establishes a transmission path with the destination terminal through the relay terminal that sends the first response message; and/or, the source terminal receives a second response message sent by the destination terminal, and the second response message is used for Instructing the source terminal to directly establish a transmission path with the destination terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the sending of the request message by the source terminal includes:

The source terminal sends a request message to the destination terminal, where the request message further includes identifiers of one or more candidate relay terminals, and the identifiers of the one or more candidate relay terminals include the one or more Identification of multiple relay terminals;

The source terminal receives a response message from at least one terminal, including:

The source terminal receives a third response message sent by the destination terminal, where the third response message includes identifiers of the one or more relay terminals, and is used to instruct the source terminal to pass through the one or more relay terminals. The relay terminal establishes a transmission path with the destination terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the method further comprises:

The source terminal determines the number of transmission paths to be established according to the multipath number parameter of the target service, or the source terminal determines the number of transmission paths to be established according to the QoS parameter of the target service;

The source terminal establishes the multiple transmission paths according to the number.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the method further comprises:

The source terminal determines a multi-path transmission mode according to the QoS parameter of the target service, or the source terminal determines a multi-path transmission mode corresponding to the target service, and the multi-path transmission mode includes a redundant transmission mode or offloading transfer method;

The source terminal sends target service data to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

The source terminal sends the data of the target service to the destination terminal through the multiple transmission paths according to the multipath transmission mode.
The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the multipath indication information includes multipath transmission mode indication information.
The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein, before the source terminal sends data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further comprises:

The source terminal establishes a unicast connection with the one or more relay terminals;

If the Layer 2 relay mode is adopted, the source terminal establishes a unicast connection with the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals; or

If the Layer 3 relay mode is adopted, the source terminal acquires the IP address of the destination terminal from the one or more relay terminals or the destination terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein before the source terminal sends data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further comprises:

The source terminal associates the data radio bearer corresponding to the QoS flow with the access layer configuration on each of the multiple transmission paths, and the QoS flow is used to bear the data of the target service.
The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the method further comprises:

The source terminal negotiates the parameters of the QoS flow with the destination terminal through the main transmission path among the multiple transmission paths.
The method according to claim 11, wherein when the multiple transmission paths include a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the main transmission path is between the source terminal and the a transmission path established directly by the destination terminal; or

The main transmission path is determined by the source terminal from the multiple transmission paths.
The method according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the source terminal sends target service data to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

The source terminal determines the corresponding wireless data bearer according to the QoS flow identifier corresponding to the target service;

The source terminal sends the data of the target service to the destination terminal through the multiple transmission paths according to the access layer configuration associated with the wireless data bearer.
The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the method further comprises:

The source terminal determines an offload type according to the offload capability of the source terminal and/or the offload capability of the destination terminal, and the offload type includes a multiplex control protocol type, and/or access traffic layering, switching, Split the underlying ATSSS-LL type;

The source terminal sends target service data to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

The source terminal sends the data of the target service to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the distribution type.
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method further comprises:

When the offloading type determined by the source terminal is the multiplex transmission control protocol type, the source terminal obtains the address information of the destination terminal on each of the transmission paths;

The source terminal sends target service data to the destination terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

The source terminal sends the data of the target service to the destination terminal through the multiple transmission paths according to the address information on each of the transmission paths.
A multipath communication method, characterized in that, comprising:

The destination terminal receives a request message from at least one terminal, the request message includes multipath indication information, and the multipath indication information is used to indicate establishment of multiple transmission paths with the source terminal, the at least one terminal being the source terminal, or one or more relay terminals;

The destination terminal sends a response message;

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, and the multiple transmission paths include: the source terminal establishes with the destination terminal through the one or more relay terminals A transmission path, and/or, a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal.
The method according to claim 16, wherein the destination terminal receives a request message from at least one terminal, comprising:

The destination terminal receives a request message broadcast from the source terminal;

The destination terminal sends a response message according to the multipath indication information, including:

The destination terminal sends a response message to the source terminal through each relay terminal of the one or more relay terminals, and the response message is used to indicate that the source terminal sends the response message through the relay terminal that sends the response message. establishing a transmission path with the destination terminal; and/or,

The destination terminal sends a response message to the source terminal, where the response message is used to instruct the source terminal to directly establish a transmission path with the destination terminal.
The method according to claim 16, wherein the destination terminal receives a request message from at least one terminal, comprising:

The destination terminal receives the request message sent by the source terminal, and the request message further includes identifiers of one or more candidate relay terminals, and the identifiers of the one or more candidate relay terminals include the the identification of one or more relay terminals;

The destination terminal sends a response message, including:

The destination terminal sends a response message to the source terminal, where the response message includes identifiers of the one or more relay terminals, and is used to instruct the source terminal to contact the source terminal through the one or more relay terminals. The destination terminal establishes a transmission path.
The method according to any one of claims 16-18, wherein the method further comprises:

The destination terminal determines a multipath transmission mode according to the parameters of the QoS flow of the target service, or the destination terminal determines the multipath transmission mode corresponding to the target service; the multipath transmission includes a redundant transmission mode or shunt transmission method;

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through the multiple transmission paths according to the multipath transmission mode.
The method according to any one of claims 16-18, wherein the multipath indication information includes multipath transmission mode indication information, and the multipath transmission includes redundant transmission mode or split transmission mode;

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through the multiple transmission paths according to the multipath transmission mode.
The method according to any one of claims 16-20, wherein before the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further comprises:

The destination terminal establishes a unicast connection with the one or more relay terminals;

If the Layer 2 relay mode is adopted, the destination terminal establishes a unicast connection with the source terminal through the one or more relay terminals; or

If the Layer 3 relay mode is adopted, the destination terminal obtains the IP address of the source terminal from the one or more relay terminals or the source terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 16-21, wherein before the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further comprises:

The target terminal associates the data radio bearer corresponding to the QoS flow with the access layer configuration on the multiple transmission paths, and the QoS flow is used to bear the data of the target service.
The method according to claim 22, further comprising:

The destination terminal negotiates the parameters of the QoS flow with the source terminal through the main transmission path among the multiple transmission paths.
The method according to claim 23, wherein when the multiple transmission paths include a transmission path directly established between the source terminal and the destination terminal, the main transmission path is the transmission path between the source terminal and the destination terminal. a transmission path established directly by the destination terminal; or

The main transmission path is determined by the destination terminal from the multiple transmission paths.
The method according to any one of claims 22-24, wherein the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

When the destination terminal receives data through any one of the multiple transmission paths, it determines the access layer configuration of the transmission path that receives the data and the data radio bearer associated with the access layer configuration.
The method according to any one of claims 16-21, wherein before the destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, the method further comprises:

The destination terminal determines an offload type according to the offload capability of the source terminal and/or the offload capability of the destination terminal, where the offload type includes a multiplex transmission control protocol type, and/or an ATSSS-LL type;

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths, including:

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the distribution type.
The method according to claim 26, further comprising:

When the offloading type determined by the destination terminal is a multiplex transmission control protocol type, the destination terminal obtains the address information of the source terminal on each of the transmission paths;

The destination terminal receives the data of the target service sent by the source terminal through multiple transmission paths according to the address information.
A multi-path communication device, characterized in that it includes: a processor, and a memory and a communication interface respectively coupled to the processor; the communication interface is used to communicate with other devices; the processor is used to Execute the instructions or programs in the memory, and execute the method according to any one of claims 1-15 through the communication interface.
A multi-path communication device, characterized in that it includes: a processor, and a memory and a communication interface respectively coupled to the processor; the communication interface is used to communicate with other devices; the processor is used to Execute the instructions or programs in the memory, and execute the method according to any one of claims 16-27 through the communication interface.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are run on a computer, the computer is made to perform the operation described in any one of claims 1-27. Methods.