Method for transmitting data, terminal device, and network device

Disclosed are a method for transmitting data, a terminal device, and a network device. The method comprises: a first terminal device determining a transmission method for a packet data convergence (PDCP) protocol data unit (PDU), the transmission method comprising a replication-based data transmission method or a single-link based data transmission method; and the first terminal device transmitting the PDCP PDU to a second terminal device or a network device according to the transmission method determined for the PDCP PDU.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is an application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/CN2017/077931 filed on Mar. 23, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of communication, and in particular to a method for data transmission, a terminal device and a network device.

BACKGROUND

In a carrier aggregation scenario, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer in a transmitter may support data duplication, i.e., a PDCP Protocol Data Unit (PDU) is duplicated into two copies (or multiple copies) to improve the reliability of data transmission. In the related art, a data duplication transmission manner is directly adopted, which results in the extremely low resource utilization.

SUMMARY

In view of this, the disclosure provides a method for data transmission, a terminal device and a network device, which facilitates to balance a relationship between the resource utilization and the data transmission reliability.

A first aspect provides a method for data transmission, which includes the following operations. A first terminal device determines a transmission manner of a PDCP PDU. The transmission manner includes a data duplication transmission manner or a single-link transmission manner. The first terminal device sends the PDCP PDU to a second terminal device or a network device according to the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU.

By dynamically switching the transmission manners of data, the resource utilization rate and the data transmission reliability can be effectively balanced.

In at least one embodiment, the solutions in the embodiment of the disclosure may be applied to an uplink data transmission scenario, and may also be applied to a Device-to-Device (D2D) communication scenario.

The data duplication transmission manner indicates that data duplication transmission is used by a PDCP and one PDCP PDU is duplicated into a plurality of copies to be respectively transmitted on a plurality of links. The single-link transmission manner indicates that the data duplication is not used by the PDCP, i.e., the PDCP PDU does not duplicate the data, one PDCP PDU may be transmitted once in one link and may also be divided into a plurality of portions to be transmitted on a plurality of links. In other words, the determination of the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU depends on whether the data duplication transmission function is used by the PDCP.

In at least one embodiment, the PDCP PDU may be a service having a high reliability requirement on the data transmission. That is, when the PDCP PDU of the service is required to be transmitted, it is necessary to determine whether the PDCP PDU is duplicated. For other PDCP PDUs without the high demand on the data transmission, this transmission manner may not be determined, and the single-link transmission manner is adopted directly for transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the first terminal, device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU includes the following action. The first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to channel quality information of at least one link.

The channel quality information of the link may include the following information: a Channel quality indicator (CQI), the number of times of retransmission scheduling within a certain time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling within a certain time period or a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), etc.

The channel quality of the link is associated with the transmission manner, such that the relationship between the resource utilization rate and the data transmission reliability can further be balanced.

In a possible implementation manner, the channel quality information of the at least one link includes a number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within a first time period, a number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within a second time period or an MCS value of the at least one link. The operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the channel quality information of the at least one link includes the following action. The first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within the second time period or the MCS value of the at least one link.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is less than or equal to a first threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or in condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is greater than the a first threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is within a first range, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

The rules based on the first threshold and based on the first range may be adopted independently, and may also be adopted jointly, but a certain priority is provided. For example, the priority of the rule based on the first threshold may be higher than the rule based on the first range.

The first threshold and the first range may be determined by the influence of the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the channel quality of the link within a certain time.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within the second time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or in condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is less than a second threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

Likewise, the second threshold may be determined by the influence of the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the channel quality of the link within a certain time.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the MCS value of the at least one link includes the following action. In condition that the MCS value of any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or in condition that the MCS value of each of the at least one link is less than a third threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

Likewise, the third threshold may be determined by the influence of the MCS value of the link on the channel quality of the link.

In addition, the terminal device may directly select the single-link transmission manner when determining that one channel has a good channel quality, and may also select the data duplication data transmission manner when determining that two or more links have poor channel qualities. The terminal device may further determine the transmission manner after determining the channel qualities of all links.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes the following operation. The first terminal device receives first indication information sent by the second terminal device or the network device. The first indication information is used for indicating the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU. The operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU includes the following action. The first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the first indication information.

In at least one embodiment, in condition that the terminal device determines one transmission manner based on the above rules but receives the indication information at some time to directly indicate a transmission manner, and the directly indicated transmission manner is different from the transmission manner determined according to the rules, the terminal device may cover the transmission manner determined based on the rules with the directly indicated transmission manner.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes the following operation. Before the first terminal device sends the PDCP PDU, the first terminal device determines a link for transmission of the PDCP PDU.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the first terminal device determines the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU includes the following action. In condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the single-link transmission manner, the first terminal device determines a link with optimal channel quality in multiple links as the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU; or in condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner, the first terminal device determines several links in the multiple links as links for transmission of duplication data of the PDCP PDU, according to a descending order of priorities of channel quality of the multiple links.

In condition that the single-link transmission manner is determined, the first terminal device may further arbitrarily select a link to transmit the PDCP PDU. In condition that the data duplication transmission manner is determined, the first terminal device may also arbitrarily select a plurality of links to transmit the PDCP PDU.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes the following operation. The first terminal device receives second indication information sent by the second terminal device or the network device. The second indication information is used for indicating a link for transmission of the PDCP PDU. The operation that the first terminal device determines the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU includes the following action. The first terminal device determines the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU according to the second indication information.

The network device may indicate the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU to the terminal device. The terminal device may adopt the link indicated by the network device, and may also select a link for transmission of the PDCP PDU according to its own condition.

When the terminal device selects a part of links to transmit the PDCP PDU, other links may be adopted to transmit other PDCP PDUs.

A second aspect provides a method for data transmission, which includes the following operation. A network device determines a transmission manner of a PDCP PDU of a first terminal device. The transmission manner includes a data duplication transmission manner or a single-link transmission manner. The network device sends first indication information to the first terminal device. The first indication information is used for indicating the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU includes the following action. The network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to channel quality information of at least one link.

In a possible implementation manner, the channel quality information of the at least one link includes a number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within a first time period, a number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within a second time period or an MCS value of the at least one link. The operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the channel quality information of the at least one link includes the following action. The network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within the second time period or the MCS value of the at least one link.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is less than or equal to a first threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or in condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is greater than a first threshold, the second terminal device or the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within the second time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or in condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is less than the second threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In a possible implementation manner, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the MCS value of the at least one link includes the following action. In condition that the MCS value of any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or in condition that the MCS value of each of the at least one link is less than a third threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In a possible implementation manner, in condition of multiple links, the method further includes the following operations. In condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the single-link transmission manner, the network device determines a link with optimal channel quality in the multiple links as the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU; or in condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner, the network device determines several links in the multiple links as links for transmission of the PDCP PDU. The network device sends second indication information to the first terminal device, and the second indication information is used for indicating the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU.

A third aspect provides a terminal device, which is configured to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation mode of the first aspect. The terminal device includes units configured to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation mode of the first aspect.

A fourth aspect provides a network device, which is configured to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation mode of the first aspect. The network device includes units configured to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation mode of the second aspect.

A fifth aspect provides a terminal device, which includes a memory, a processor, an input interface and an output interface. The memory, the processor, the input interface and the output interface are connected through a bus system. The memory is configured to store an instruction. The processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation mode of the first aspect.

A sixth aspect provides a network device, which includes a memory, a processor, an input interface and an output interface. The memory, the processor, the input interface and the output interface are connected through a bus system. The memory is configured to store an instruction. The processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation mode of the second aspect.

A seventh aspect provides a computer storage medium, which is configured to store a computer software instruction to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation mode of the first aspect, or execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation mode of the second aspect, and includes a program configured to execute the above aspects.

These aspects or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent through the following descriptions about the embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in combination with the drawings in the embodiments of the disclosure.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the disclosure may be applied to various nonorthogonal multiple access technology-based communication systems, for example, a Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA) system and a Low Density Signature (LDS) system, and of course, the SCMA system and the LDS system may also have other names in the field of communication. Furthermore, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the disclosure may be applied to multi-carrier transmission systems adopting nonorthogonal multiple access technologies, for example, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Filter Bank Multi-Carrier (FBMC), Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM) and Filtered-OFDM (F-OFDM) systems adopting the nonorthogonal multiple access technologies.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, a terminal device may represent User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile radio station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent or a user device. The access terminal may be a cell phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with a wireless communication function, a computing device or another processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, UE in a future 5G network, UE in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or the like. There are no limits made in the embodiments of the disclosure.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, a network device may be a device configured to communicate with the terminal device. The network device may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in the GSM or the CDMA, may also be a NodeB (NB) in the WCDMA system, may also be an Evolutional Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in the LTE system and may further be a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario. Alternatively, the network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in the future 5G network, a network device in the future evolved PLMN or the like. There are no limits made in the embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 1illustrates a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of the disclosure. A communication system inFIG. 1may include a terminal device10and a network device20. The network device20is configured to provide a communication service for the terminal device10for access to a core network. The terminal device10searches a synchronous signal, broadcast signal and the like sent by the network device20to access the network, thereby communicating with the network. Arrows illustrated inFIG. 1may represent uplink/downlink transmission implemented through a cellular link between the terminal device10and the network device20.

In a carrier aggregation scenario, the PDCP may support a data duplication function. That is, the data duplication function of the PDCP enables the duplication data to correspond to two or more logical channels, and finally ensures that the duplicated multiple same PDCP PDUs can be transmitted on different physical layer aggregation carriers to achieve a frequency diversity gain, thus improving the data transmission reliability.

In order to facilitate understanding, scheduling of the duplication data to different physical carriers will be described below simply in combination withFIG. 2.FIG. 2illustrates an architecture diagram of a protocol for data duplication transmission in a carrier aggregation scenario. As illustrated inFIG. 2, PDCP layer has a split bearer duplication function. A data process of the PDCP service data unit1(SDU1) is duplicated and encapsulated into PDCP PDU1and PDCP PDU2. The PDCP PDU1and the PDCP PDU2have the same content, i.e., both of them bear the same data payload and header. The PDCP PDU1and the PDCP PDU2are respectively mapped to different Radio Link Control (RLC) entities, and the RLC entities place the PDCP PDU1and the PDCP PDU2into different logical channels (logical channel1and logical channel2). For Media Access Control (MAC), upon knowing which logical channel transmits the duplication data of a same PDCP PDU, these duplication data are transmitted on different carriers via different Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) entities. For example, the duplication data carried in the logical channel1are transmitted on the physical carrier1via the HARQ entity1, and the duplication data carried in the logical channel2are transmitted on the physical carrier2via the HARQ entity2.

Although the duplication data transmission of the PDCP layer can effectively improve the reliability of data transmission by using the diversity gain, the obvious defect is that the method has the extremely low system resource utilization rate, i.e., different resources are required to transmit the same content.

FIG. 3illustrates a schematic block diagram of a method100for data transmission according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the method100may include the following operations.

At S110, a first terminal device determines a transmission manner of a PDCP PDU, and the transmission manner includes a data duplication transmission manner or a single-link transmission manner.

At S120, the first terminal device sends the PDCP PDU to a second terminal device or a network device according to the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU.

It is to be noted that the embodiment of the disclosure may be applied to a communication scenario from a terminal device to a network device, and may also be applied to a communication scenario from a terminal device to another terminal device.

The terminal device may flexibly determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU, i.e., determining whether the data duplication function is used in the PDCP. The data duplication transmission manner may be a manner that a PDCP layer of the terminal device duplicates a PDCP PDU into multiple copies and instructs to an MAC layer, and the MAC layer respectively schedules the duplication data of the PDCP PDU to multiple links (i.e., physical layer carriers inFIG. 2) for transmission. The single-link transmission manner may be a manner that a PDCP layer of the terminal device does not duplicate a PDCP PDU and instructs to an MAC layer, and the MAC layer schedules the PDCP PDU to one or more links for transmission. After determining the transmission manner, the terminal device may transmit the PDCP PDU by adopting the determined transmission manner. For example, in condition that the terminal device determines that the transmission manner is the single-link transmission manner, the terminal device may transmit the PDCP PDU by adopting one link; and in condition that the terminal device determines that the transmission manner is the data duplication transmission manner, the terminal device may select multiple links to transmit the duplication data of the PDCP PDU.

It should be understood that the PDCP PDU may be a service having a requirement on high reliability of data transmission. That is, when the PDCP PDU of the service needs to be transmitted, it is necessary to determine whether the PDCP PDU is required to be duplicated. For other PDCP PDUs without the high demand on the data transmission, this transmission manner may not be determined, and the single-link transmission manner is adopted directly for transmission.

Therefore, the method for the data transmission in this embodiment of the disclosure is beneficial to balancing a relationship between the resource utilization and the data transmission reliability.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU includes the following action. The first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to channel quality information of at least one link.

The at least one link may be all links for the terminal device, and may also be a part of links for the terminal device. For example, in condition that a terminal device includes five links, the terminal device may determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to respective channel quality information of the five links. The terminal device may also determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to respective channel quality information of a part of the five links.

The channel quality information of the at least one link may be notified to the terminal device by the network device. For example, after knowing uplink channel estimation on each link, the network device may feed it to the terminal device; or after knowing uplink resource usage on each link, the network device may also feed it back to the terminal device. The channel quality information of the link may include the following information: a channel quality indicator (CQI), the number of times of retransmission scheduling within a certain time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling within a certain time period or a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), etc., which is not limited to the above information in this embodiment of the disclosure.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is less than or equal to a first threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is greater than the first threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is within a first range, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

A rule may be configured via Radio Resource Control (RRC). The rule may be that different relationships between the number of times of retransmission scheduling on respective links and a threshold correspond to different transmission manners. The statistics may be made on the number of times of retransmission scheduling on different links, and the number of times of retransmission scheduling is associated with the channel quality. For example, in condition that it is found that when the number of times of retransmission scheduling within a certain time period is less than 5 times, the channel quality is obviously good, then the threshold for the rule may be set as 5. The terminal device may periodically count the number of times of retransmission scheduling. For example, the terminal device may count the number of times of retransmission scheduling every 100 ms, and the terminal device may determine whether the number of times of retransmission scheduling in the previous 100 ms is within the threshold when a PDCP PDU is to be transmitted. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling is within the threshold, it may be at least proved that the channel quality on the link is good and the data transmission reliability is high, and the terminal device may select the single-link transmission manner. The terminal device may determine to adopt the data duplication transmission manner according to the condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on one link is greater than the threshold, and the terminal device may also determine to adopt the data duplication transmission manner according to the condition that the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling on a plurality of links are greater than the threshold. The relationships between the threshold and the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling on several links, the number of which may be determined based on the terminal device, may be determined by the terminal device. There are no limits made in the embodiments of the disclosure.

The terminal device may further be based on another rule. That is, the terminal device may determine that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link is within a range and then determines the transmission manner of PDCP PDU to be transmitted as the data duplication transmission manner. For example, in condition that the range is within 5-10 times, the terminal device may judge whether the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling on a plurality of links are within 5-10 times. In condition that the terminal device judges that the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling on the plurality of links are within 5-10 times, it may be determined that the transmission manner is the data duplication transmission manner.

It should be understood that the solutions based on the first range and the first threshold may be configured for the terminal device jointly. In other words, two rules for determining the transmission manners are provided but there is a priority for the two schemes. For example, in condition that the priority of the rule based on the first threshold is higher than the rule based on the first range, when the terminal device has a PDCP PDU to be transmitted, the terminal device may first determines whether the number of times of retransmission scheduling on one of the links is greater than the first threshold. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the link is less than the first threshold, the terminal device directly determines that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the single-link transmission manner. In condition that the terminal device determines that the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling on two links are greater than the first threshold, the terminal device may directly determines that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner; or the terminal device determines whether the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling on the two links are within the first range, in condition that the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling on the two links are within the first range, the terminal device may determine that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner.

It should be further understood that the number of times of retransmission scheduling may be the number of times of retransmission scheduling within a previous time period, and may also be an average value of the numbers of times of retransmission scheduling within several previous time periods. The manner for obtaining the number of times of retransmission scheduling is not limited by this embodiment of the disclosure.

The above is merely an example of the rule for configuring the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each link, which does not form any limit to this embodiment of the disclosure.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each link within the second time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner. In condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is less than the second threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

A rule may be configured via RRC. The rule may be that different relationships between the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on respective links and a threshold correspond to, different transmission manners. The statistics may be made on the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on different links, and the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling is associated with the channel quality. For example, in condition that it is found that when the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling within a certain time period is less than 5 times, the channel quality is obviously good, then the threshold for the rule may be set as 5. The terminal device may periodically count the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling. For example, the terminal device may count the number of times of retransmission scheduling every 100 ms, and the terminal device may determine whether the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling in the previous 100 ms is out of the threshold when a PDCP PDU is to be transmitted. In condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling is out of the threshold, it may be at least proved that the channel quality on the link is good and the data transmission reliability is high, and the terminal device may select the single-link transmission manner. The terminal device may determine to adopt the data duplication transmission manner according to the condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on one link is less than the threshold, and the terminal device may also determine to adopt the data duplication transmission manner according to the condition that the numbers of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on a plurality of links are less than the threshold. The relationships between the threshold and the numbers of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on several links, the number of which may be determined based on the terminal device, may be determined by the terminal device. There are no limits made in the embodiments of the disclosure.

It should be further understood that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling may be the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling within a previous time period, and may also be an average value of the numbers of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling within several previous time periods. The manner for obtaining the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling is not limited by this embodiment of the disclosure.

It should be further understood that the rule based on the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling is similar to the rule based on the number of retransmission times, which will not be elaborated herein for the briefness.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the MCS value of each link includes the following action. In condition that the MCS value of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner. In condition that the MCS value of each of the at least one link is less than the third threshold, the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

A rule may be configured via RRC. The rule may be that different relationships between the MCS values of respective links and a threshold correspond to different transmission manners. The MCS values on different links may be associated with the channel quality. For example, in condition that it is found that when an MCS is greater than a threshold, the channel quality is obviously good, then the threshold for the rule may be set as the MCS value. The terminal device may determine whether an MCS value in downlink control, information sent by the network device is greater than the threshold in the rule when a PDCP PDU is to be transmitted. In condition that the MCS value is greater than the threshold, it may be at least proved that the channel quality on the link is good and the data transmission reliability is high, and the terminal device may select the single-link transmission manner. The terminal device may determine to adopt the data duplication transmission manner according to the condition that the MCS value of one link is less than the threshold, and the terminal device may also determine to adopt the data duplication transmission manner according to the condition that the MCS values of a plurality of links are less than the threshold. The relationships between the threshold and the MCS values on several links, the number of which may be determined based on the terminal device, may be determined by the terminal device. There are no limits made in the embodiments of the disclosure.

It should be further understood that the rule based on the MCS value is similar to the rule based on the number of retransmission times, which will not be elaborated herein for the briefness.

It should be further understood that the above are to determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling and the MCS value. The above rules may be implemented independently, and may also be implemented in combination. Information relevant to the channel quality all are within the protection scope of the embodiments of the disclosure.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the method further includes the following operation. The first terminal device receives first indication information sent by the second terminal device or the network device, The first indication information is used for indicating the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU. The operation that the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU includes: the first terminal device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the first indication information.

The network device may also determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the above rules, and the determined transmission manner is directly instructed to the terminal device. For example, the network device and the terminal device may agree to indicate the transmission manner by using 1 bit in the downlink control information, and agrees that in condition that the 1-bit value is 0, it is indicated that the transmission manner is the single-link transmission manner, and in condition that the 1-bit value is 1, it is indicated that the transmission manner is the data duplication transmission manner. Those skilled in the art may understand that the above are merely schematic descriptions, which does not form any limit to the embodiments of the disclosure.

In at least one embodiment, when the terminal device determines one transmission manner based on the above rules but receives the indication information at some time to directly indicate a transmission manner, and the directly indicated transmission manner is different from the transmission manner determined via the rules, the terminal device may cover the transmission manner determined based on the rules with the directly indicated transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the method further includes the following operation. The first terminal device determines a link for transmitting the PDCP PDU.

Before the PDCP PDU is transmitted, an MAC layer of the terminal device may select a transmission link first, i.e., the MAC layer of the terminal device select a physical layer carrier on which the PDCP PDU is scheduled. For example, in condition that the terminal device determines that the transmission manner is the single-link transmission manner, the terminal device may select any one link for transmission, and may also directly use a link with the number of times of retransmission scheduling less than the threshold to transmit the PDCP PDU. The terminal device may also determine the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each link respectively, and transmits the PDCP PDU by using a link with the smallest number of times of retransmission scheduling in all links. In condition that the terminal device determines that the transmission manner is the data duplication transmission manner, the terminal device may select any two or more links to transmit the duplication data of the PDCP PDU. The terminal device may further determines the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each link respectively, and may transmit the PDCP PDU by using first several links in all links ranked in descending order of the number of times of continuous initial transmission. The terminal device may select the link for transmission the PDCP. PDU by determining the MCS value. The method for determining the transmission manner for transmission of the PDCP PDU by the terminal device is not limited in the disclosure.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the method further includes the following operations. The first terminal device receives second indication information sent by the second terminal device or the network device, and the second indication information is used for indicating a link for transmission of the PDCP PDU. The first terminal device determines the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU according to the second indication information.

In other words, the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU may be directly indicated by the network device. In such a case, the terminal device may not determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU and perform transmission of the PDCP PDU directly via the link indicated by the network device. In other words, the indication information indicates a link, and the terminal device directly performs transmission of the PDCP PDU via the link indicated by the indication information; the indication information indicates a plurality of links, and the terminal device may directly performs transmission of the PDCP PDU via the plurality of links indicated by the indication information. The terminal device may also determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the determination regarding whether the link indicated by the network device is a single link. For example, in condition that the indication information indicates one link, it may be indicated that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the single-link transmission manner, and the terminal device may perform transmission of the PDCP PDU via the link indicated by the network device and may also transmit the PDCP PDU by adopting the other link. In condition that the indication information indicates two or more links, it may be indicated that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner, and the terminal device may transmit the duplication data of the PDCP PDU by adopting the links indicated by the network device, may also transmit the duplication data of the PDCP PDU by adopting part of the links indicated by the network device, and may further transmit the duplication data of the PDCP PDU by adopting other links. In conclusion, the network device may indicate the link(s) for transmitting the PDCP PDU to the terminal device. The terminal device may adopt the link indicated by the network device for transmission of the PDCP PDU, and may also select a link for transmission of the PDCP PDU according to its own condition.

Further, the indication information may indicate the switching from the data duplication transmission manner to a PDCP layer data duplication transmission manner. The switching may be that the physical layer carriers, to which the duplication data of the PDCP PDU is mapped, are updated, i.e., the links for transmission of the duplication data change. The indication information may further indicate the switching from the data duplication transmission manner to the single-link transmission manner, and indicates the link on which the PDCP PDU is transmitted. The indication information may further indicate the switching from the single-link transmission manner to the data duplication transmission manner, and indicates the link on which the duplication data of the PDCP PDU are transmitted. The indication information may further indicate that a transmission link is updated from the single-link transmission manner to the single-link transmission manner.

When the terminal device selects a part of links to transmit the PDCP PDU, other links may be adopted to transmit other PDCP PDUs, such as some PDCP PDUs without the high demand on the data transmission reliability.

Therefore, the method for the data transmission in the embodiments of the disclosure may dynamically switch the transmission manners of the PDCP PDU, such that the resource utilization and the data transmission reliability can be balanced well.

FIG. 4illustrates a schematic block diagram of a method200for data transmission according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 4, the method200may include the following operations.

At S210, a network device determines a transmission manner of a PDCP PDU of a first terminal device, and the transmission manner includes a data duplication transmission manner or a single-link transmission manner.

At S220, the network device sends first indication information to the first terminal device, and the first indication information is used for indicating the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU.

Therefore, the method for the data transmission in this embodiment of the disclosure can balance the resource utilization and the data transmission reliability well.

It should be understood that the network device may also not notify, upon the determination of the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU, the terminal device of the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU. Likewise, the terminal device may determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU via a configured rule.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU of the first terminal device includes the following action. The network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to channel quality information of at least one link.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the channel quality information of the at least one link includes the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within a first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within a second time period or an MCS value of each link. The operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to channel quality information of the at least one link includes the following action. The network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each link within the second time period or an MCS value of each link.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is less than or equal to a first threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner. In condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is greater than the first, threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within the second time period includes the following action. In condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner. In condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is less than the second threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the MCS value of the at least one link includes the following action. In condition that the MCS value of any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner. In condition that the MCS value of each of the at least one link is less than the third threshold, the network device determines the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one link is multiple links, and the method further includes the following operations. In condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the single-link transmission manner, the network device determines a link with the optimal channel quality in the multiple links as the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU. In condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner, the network device determines, according to a descending order of priorities of channel quality of the multiple links, several links in the multiple links as links for transmission of the PDCP PDU. The network device sends second indication information to the first terminal device. The second indication information is used for indicating the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU.

It should be understood that interaction between the network device and the terminal device and related properties, functions and the like described from the network device correspond to related properties, functions and the like of the terminal device. In other words, any information sent to the network device by the terminal device will be received by the network device correspondingly. The related contents have been described, for simplicity, will not be elaborated herein.

It should be further understood that, in various embodiments of the disclosure, a magnitude of a sequence number of each process does not mean an execution sequence and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and an internal logic and should not form any limit to an implementation process of the embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 5illustrates a schematic block diagram of a terminal device300for data transmission according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 5, the terminal device300may include a processing unit310and a sending unit320.

The processing unit310is configured to determine a transmission manner of a PDCP PDU. The transmission manner includes a data duplication transmission manner or a single-link transmission manner.

The sending unit320is configured to send the PDCP PDU to a second terminal device or a network device according to the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU.

Therefore, the method for the data transmission in this embodiment of the disclosure may dynamically switch the transmission manners of the PDCP PDU, such that the resource utilization rate and the data transmission reliability can be balanced well.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit310may be configured to determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to channel quality information of at least one link.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the channel quality information of the at least one link may include the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within a first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within a second time period or an MCS value of the at least one link. The processing unit310may be configured to determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within the second time period or an MCS value of the at least one link.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit310may be configured to determine, in condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is less than or equal to a first threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or determine, in condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is greater than the first threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit310may be configured to determine, in condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or determine, in condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is less than the second threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit310may be configured to determine, in condition that the MCS value of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or determine, in condition that the MCS value of each of the at least one link is less than the third threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the terminal device300may further include a receiving unit330. The receiving unit is configured to receive first indication information sent by the second terminal device or the network device. The first indication information is used for indicating the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU. The processing unit310is configured to determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the first indication information.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one link may be multiple links. The processing unit310may further be configured to determine, in condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the single-link transmission manner, a link with the optimal channel quality in the multiple links as the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU; or determine, in condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner, several links in the multiple links as links for transmission of duplication data of the PDCP PDU according to a descending order of priorities of channel quality of the multiple links.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the receiving unit330may further be configured to receive second indication information sent by the second terminal device or the network device. The second indication information is used for indicating a link for transmission of the PDCP PDU. The processing unit is configured to determine the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU according to the second indication information.

It should be understood that the terminal device300for the data transmission according to the embodiment of the disclosure may correspond to the terminal device in the method embodiments of the disclosure and the above-mentioned and other operations and/or functions of each unit in the terminal device300are adopted to implement the corresponding processes executed by the terminal device in the method inFIG. 3respectively, which will not be elaborated herein for simplicity.

FIG. 6illustrates a schematic block diagram of a network device400for data transmission according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 6, the network device400may include a processing unit410and a sending unit420.

The processing unit410is configured to determine a transmission manner of a PDCP PDU of a first terminal device. The transmission manner includes a data duplication transmission manner or a single-link transmission manner.

The sending unit42Q is configured to send first indication information to the first terminal device. The first indication information is used for indicating the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU.

Therefore, the method for the data transmission in this embodiment of the disclosure may dynamically switch the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU, such that the resource utilization rate and the data transmission reliability can be balanced well.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit410may be configured to determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to channel quality information of at least one link.

In at least one embodiment, of the disclosure, the channel quality information of the at least one link may include the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within a first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on the at least one link within a second time period or an MCS value of each link. The processing unit410may be configured to determine the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU according to the number of times of retransmission scheduling on the at least one link within the first time period, the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each link within the second time period or an MCS value of each link.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit410may be configured to determine, in condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is less than or equal to a first threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or determine, in condition that the number of times of retransmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is greater than the first threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit410may be configured to determine, in condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or determine, in condition that the number of times of continuous initial transmission scheduling on each of the at least one link is less than the second threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing unit410may be configured to determine, in condition that the MCS value of any of the at least one link is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the single-link transmission manner; or determine, in condition that the MCS value of each of the at least one link is less than the third threshold, the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU as the data duplication transmission manner.

In at least one embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one link may be multiple links. The processing unit410may further be configured to determine, in condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the single-link transmission manner, a link with the optimal channel quality in the multiple links as the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU; or determine, in condition that the transmission manner of the PDCP PDU is the data duplication transmission manner, several links in the multiple links as links for transmission of the PDCP PDU according to a descending order of priorities of channel quality of the multiple links. The sending unit420may further be configured to send second indication information to the first terminal device. The second indication information is used for indicating the link for transmission of the PDCP PDU.

It is to be understood that the network device400for the data transmission according to the embodiment of the disclosure may correspond to the network device in the method embodiment of the disclosure and the abovementioned and other operations and/or functions of each unit in the network device400are adopted to implement the corresponding processes executed by the network device in the method inFIG. 4respectively, which will not be elaborated herein for simplicity.

As illustrated inFIG. 7, an embodiment of the disclosure further provides a terminal device500for data transmission. The terminal device500may be the terminal device300inFIG. 5, and may be configured to execute operations of the terminal device corresponding to the method100inFIG. 3. The terminal device500includes an input interface510, an output interface520, a processor530and a memory540. The input interface510, the output interface520, the processor530and the memory540may be connected through a bus system. The memory540is configured to store a program, an instruction or a code. The processor530is configured to execute the program, instruction or code in the memory540to control the input interface510to receive a signal, control the output interface520to send a signal and complete operations in the above method embodiments.

Therefore, the terminal device for data transmission provided by this embodiment of the disclosure may dynamically switch the transmission manners of the PDCP PDU, such that the resource utilization rate and the data transmission reliability can be balanced well.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the processor530may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor530may further be other universal processors, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and a Field Programmable Gate. Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, and discrete hardware component, etc. The universal processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

The memory540may include a Read Only Memory (ROM) and a Random Access Memory (RAM) and provides instructions and data for the processor530. A part of the memory540may further include a nonvolatile RAM. For example, the memory540may further store information on a device type.

During an implementation process, the operations of the above methods may be accomplished by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor530or an instruction in a software form. The operations of the methods disclosed in combination the embodiments of the disclosure may be directly embodied to be executed and accomplished by a hardware processor or executed and accomplished using a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art, such as an RAM, a flash memory, an ROM, a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a register. The storage medium is located in the memory540. The processor530reads information from the memory540and completes the operations of the foregoing methods in combination with the hardware of the processor. In order to avoid repetition, the above will not be elaborated herein.

In one implementation, the sending unit320in the terminal device300may be implemented by the output interface520inFIG. 7, the processing unit310in the terminal device300may be implemented by the processor530inFIG. 7, and the receiving unit330in the terminal device300may be implemented by the input interface510inFIG. 7.

As illustrated inFIG. 8, an embodiment of the disclosure further provides a network device600for data transmission. The network device600may be the network device400inFIG. 6, and may be configured to execute operations of the network device corresponding to the method200inFIG. 4. The network device600includes an input interface610, an output interface620, a processor630and a memory640. The input interface610, the output interface620, the processor630and the memory640may be connected through a bus system. The memory640is configured to store a program, an instruction or a code. The processor630is configured to execute the program, instruction or code in the memory640to control the input interface610to receive a signal, control the output interface620to send a signal and complete operations in the above method embodiments.

Therefore, the network device for data transmission provided by this embodiment of the disclosure may dynamically switch the transmission manners of the PDCP PDU, such that the resource utilization rate and the data transmission reliability can be balanced well.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the processor630may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor630may further be other universal processors, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, and discrete hardware component, etc. The universal processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

The memory640may include a Read Only Memory (ROM) and a Random Access Memory (RAM) and provides instructions and data for the processor630. A part of the memory640may further include a nonvolatile RAM. For example, the memory640may further store information on a device type.

During an implementation process, the operations of the above methods may be accomplished by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor630or an instruction in a software form. The operations of the methods disclosed in combination the embodiments of the disclosure may be directly embodied to be executed and accomplished by a hardware processor or executed and accomplished using a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art, such as an RAM, a flash memory, an ROM, a PROM, an EEPROM or a register. The storage medium is located in the memory640. The processor630reads information from the memory640and completes the operations of the foregoing methods in combination with the hardware of the processor. In order to avoid repetition, the above will not be elaborated herein.

In one implementation, the processing unit410in the network device400may be implemented by the processor630inFIG. 8, and the sending unit420may be implemented by the output interface620inFIG. 8.

Those skilled in the art may clearly learn about that specific working processes of the system, device and unit described above may make reference to the corresponding processes in the method embodiment and will not be elaborated herein for convenient and brief description.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the disclosure may be integrated into a processing unit, each unit may also physically exist independently, and two or more than two units may also be integrated into a unit.