Patent Description:
Currently, for Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) duplication transmission, only explicit duplication transmission activation/deactivation of a network is supported, which is not flexible enough, and may cause a terminal to perform ping-pong handover between a duplication transmission activation state and a duplication transmission deactivation state.

A 3GPP contribution titled "<NPL>) discloses certain issues regarding the resource efficiency for PDCP duplication.

Patent Application No. <CIT> discloses techniques for operating procedures associated with packet duplication at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity.

Patent Application No. <CIT> discloses a packet duplication and deactivation method.

International Patent Application No. <CIT> discloses a method and a device for transmitting data packet in wireless communication system. The method comprises the steps of: generating a data packet; determining whether to perform duplicate transmission for the data packet; and if it is determined to perform duplicate transmission for the data packet, generating at least two duplicate packets by duplicating the data packet, and transmitting the respective at least two duplicate packets to at least two base stations. <NPL> also form part of the related prior art.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a duplication transmission maintaining methods, a terminal and a network device, so as to solve the issues that the activation/deactivation mode of duplication transmission in the related art is not flexible enough and the terminal may perform a ping-pong switching between the activation and deactivation states of duplication transmission.

The beneficial effect of the present disclosure is:
according to the present disclosure, a duplication transmission timer for a first duplication transmission of a target bearer is maintained, the duplication transmission deactivation can be more flexibly performed through the timer, and the issues that the terminal performs the ping-pong switching between the duplication transmission activation state and the duplication transmission deactivation state can be avoided.

To make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more apparent, the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

Some concepts mentioned in the embodiments of the present disclosure are first explained as follows.

The fifth Generation (<NUM> Generation, <NUM>) New air interface (New Radio, NR) system mainly supports three types of services:.

The models of duplication transmission in Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Dual Connectivity (DC) are shown in <FIG>, respectively.

That is, one Radio Bearer (RB) of the PDCP layer (where one Radio Bearer corresponds to one PDCP entity) is respectively transmitted through a plurality of Logical channels (Logical channels, where each Logical Channel corresponds to one RLC entity) in a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. For the CA model, a plurality of logical channels corresponding to repeatedly transmitted radio bearers are processed by one MAC entity at a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and data from different RLC logical channels are mapped to one or more carriers for transmission. For the DC model, a plurality of logical channels corresponding to RBs enabling duplication transmission are respectively mapped to different MAC entities, and data of the plurality of logical channels are mapped to different carriers for transmission by the different MAC entities. Currently, for PDCP duplication transmission, only explicit activation/deactivation of the network is supported, which is not flexible enough, and may cause a ping-pong handover between the states of activation and deactivation of duplication transmission, so that the enhancement scheme needs to be further considered.

The present disclosure provides a method, a terminal and a network device for maintaining duplication transmission.

As shown in <FIG>, the duplication transmission maintaining method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is applied to a terminal, and includes:
Step <NUM>, maintaining a duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer.

It should be noted that, the target bearer refers to a bearer that has activated the first duplication transmission, where the first duplication transmission includes: one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer duplication transmission, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer duplication transmission, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer duplication transmission, and physical layer duplication transmission; that is, the terminal maintains its corresponding duplication transmission timer for each type of duplication transmission of the target bearer; for example, when both PDCP layer duplication transmission and MAC layer duplication transmission of a target bearer are activated, the terminal needs to maintain a duplication transmission timer corresponding to PDCP layer duplication transmission at the PDCP layer for the target bearer, and also needs to maintain a duplication transmission timer corresponding to MAC layer duplication transmission at the MAC layer for the target bearer.

Further, the timing duration of the duplication transmission timer is preconfigured or configured by the network device, and the timing durations of the duplication transmission timers corresponding to different types of duplication transmission may be the same or different.

The following describes a specific implementation of step <NUM> in detail from different viewpoints for achieving the object.

One, realize the goal that the implicit deactivation.

In this case, the maintenance of the timer mainly includes: starting a timer, restarting the timer and the specific behavior of the terminal when the timer expires.

The terminal mainly starts the timer from the following two aspects:.

In the invention, the terminal mainly starts the timer from the following two aspects:.

For example, during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the RLC layer duplication transmission for a specific bearer, if the terminal receives an activation signaling of the RLC layer duplication transmission sent by the network device for the specific bearer, the terminal restarts the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the RLC layer duplication transmission for the specific bearer.

A122, in the running period of a duplication transmission timer corresponding to a first duplication transmission carried by the target, restarting the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission once every time the terminal performs the first duplication transmission;
it should be noted that, the terminal may perform the first duplication transmission for the specific bearer multiple times, and in a period of operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission, the terminal needs to restart the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission for the specific bearer once the terminal performs the first duplication transmission for the specific bearer.

A13, detailed behavior of terminal when the timer expire It should be noted that in the invention, when the duplication transmission timer expires, the first duplication transmission is deactivated for the target bearer.

That is, when the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the terminal expires, indicating that the first duplication transmission cannot be continuously maintained in the active state, the terminal needs to directly deactivate the first duplication transmission.

It should be noted that, in the above implementation manner, the terminal may autonomously determine whether to deactivate the corresponding duplication transmission according to the running condition of the duplication transmission timer, thereby implementing implicit deactivation of the duplication transmission, so that the duplication transmission activation/deactivation manner is more flexible.

Secondly, the purpose of avoiding the ping-pong switching of the terminal in the state of duplication transmission activation/deactivation is realized.

In this case, the maintenance of the timer mainly includes: starting a timer, running the timer, and the specific behavior of the terminal when the timer times out.

A212, the terminal determines to activate or deactivate the first duplication transmission for the target bearer, and starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer;
it should be noted that the activation/deactivation of the duplication transmission in this way is controlled by the terminal itself; when the terminal determines that the first duplication transmission needs to be activated or deactivated for the target bearer, the terminal automatically starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission; for example, when the terminal determines that the MAC layer duplication transmission needs to be activated for a certain bearer, the terminal automatically starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the MAC layer duplication transmission for the bearer; for example, when the terminal determines that physical layer duplication transmission needs to be deactivated for the bearer, the terminal automatically starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to physical layer duplication transmission for the bearer.

It should be noted that, during the running of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, the terminal is prohibited from activating or deactivating the first duplication transmission.

That is to say, during the period when the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission is running, the terminal does not change the state of the first duplication transmission, and even if the terminal receives the activation or deactivation signaling sent by the network device, the terminal does not perform the activation or deactivation of the first duplication transmission; for example, a terminal receives a deactivation signaling sent by a network device and addressed to duplication transmission of an RLC layer of a certain bearer, starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer, and during the running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of the bearer, the terminal cannot change the duplication transmission state of the RLC layer for the bearer, that is, during the running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of the bearer, the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of the bearer is always in a deactivation state; for example, the terminal receives an activation signaling sent by the network device for the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of a certain bearer, starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer, and during the running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of the bearer, the terminal cannot change the state of the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer, that is, during the running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of the bearer, the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of the bearer is always in an activation state.

It should be noted that, after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer expires, the terminal is allowed to activate or deactivate the first duplication transmission.

That is to say, after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission expires, the terminal may change the state of the first duplication transmission according to the indication of the network device or the specific requirement of the terminal itself; for example, the terminal receives a deactivation signaling sent by the network device and directed to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of a certain bearer, starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer for the bearer, and after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer for the bearer expires, the terminal may activate the duplication transmission of the RLC layer for the bearer according to an activation signaling sent by the network device and directed to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer for the bearer; for example, the terminal receives an activation signaling sent by the network device and addressed to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of a certain bearer, starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer, and after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer expires, the terminal may deactivate the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer according to a deactivation signaling sent by the network device and addressed to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer.

It should be noted that, in this implementation manner, a behavior of activating/deactivating the first duplication transmission by the terminal may be restricted, and during an operation period of the timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission, the terminal may not change the state of the first duplication transmission, and only if the timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission is expire, the state of the duplication transmission may be changed, so that it may be avoided that the terminal performs ping-pong switching between the first duplication transmission activation state and the first duplication transmission deactivation state. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, by maintaining the duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission, not only the ping-pong switching between the activated state and the deactivated state when the terminal autonomously activates the duplication transmission can be avoided, but also the problem that the cell used for data transmission is limited and the resource cannot be effectively utilized because the terminal maintains the activated state for a long time without the requirement of the duplication transmission can be avoided, thereby ensuring the effective utilization of the resource and the effective transmission of the data.

As shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal <NUM>, including:
a first maintaining module <NUM>, configured to maintain a duplication transmission timer for a first duplication transmission of a target bearer.

Specifically, the target bearer is a bearer that has activated the first duplication transmission.

Specifically, the first duplication transmission includes: one of packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer duplication transmission, radio link control RLC layer duplication transmission, medium access control MAC layer duplication transmission, and physical layer duplication transmission.

Optionally, the first maintaining module <NUM> is configured to perform at least one of:.

Further, the first maintaining module <NUM> is further configured to perform at least one of:.

Further, the first maintaining module <NUM> is further configured to perform:
deactivating the first duplication transmission for a target bearer when the duplication transmission timer expires.

Further, the first maintaining module <NUM> is further configured to perform at least one of: during the running period of a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, prohibiting the terminal from activating or deactivating the first duplication transmission;
after a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission carried by the target is expire, allowing the terminal to activate or deactivate the first duplication transmission.

Specifically, the timing duration of the duplication transmission timer is preconfigured or configured by the network device.

It should be noted that the terminal embodiment is a terminal corresponding to the above method embodiment one to one, and all implementation manners in the above method embodiment are applicable to the terminal embodiment, and the same technical effect can also be achieved.

As shown in <FIG>, the present embodiment further provides a terminal <NUM>, which includes a processor <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and a program stored in the memory <NUM> and operable on the processor <NUM>; the transceiver <NUM> is connected to the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM> through a bus interface, where the processor <NUM> is configured to read a program in the memory and perform the following processes:
maintaining a duplication transmission timer for a first duplication transmission of a target bearer.

It should be noted that in <FIG>, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor <NUM> and various circuits represented by memory <NUM> being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver <NUM> may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. For different senders, the user interface <NUM> may also be an interface capable of interfacing externally to a desired device, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc. The processor <NUM> is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory <NUM> may store data used by the processor <NUM> in performing operations.

Optionally, when the processor performs the program for maintaining the duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, at least one of the following is implemented:.

Further and in the invention, when the processor performs the program for maintaining the duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, at least one of the following is also implemented:.

Further and in the invention, when the processor performs the program for maintaining the duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, the processor further implements:
deactivating the first duplication transmission for a target bearer when the duplication transmission timer expires.

Further, when the processor performs the program for maintaining the duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, at least one of the following is also implemented:.

The disclosed embodiments also provide a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when performed by a processor, implements the steps of the duplication transmission maintaining method applied to a terminal.

As shown in <FIG>, the duplication transmission maintaining method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is applied to a network device, and includes: Step <NUM>, maintaining a duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer.

Further, the timing durations of the duplication transmission timers corresponding to different types of duplication transmission may be the same or different.

The following describes specific implementation of step <NUM> in detail from different implementation objectives.

The network device mainly starts the timer from the following two aspects:.

B112, the receiving terminal determines to activate the indication information of the first duplication transmission for the target bearer, and starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer;
it should be noted that the activation/deactivation of the duplication transmission in this manner is controlled by the terminal itself, and when the terminal determines that the first duplication transmission needs to be activated for the target bearer, and when the terminal activates the first duplication transmission, the terminal sends indication information to the network device, so as to inform the network device that the first duplication transmission of the target bearer is in an activated state, and when the network device receives the indication information, the network device starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer. For example, when the terminal determines that it needs to activate MAC layer duplication transmission for a certain bearer, and when the terminal activates MAC layer duplication transmission, it sends indication information to the network device to notify the network device that MAC layer duplication transmission for the bearer is already in an activated state, and when the network device receives the indication information, it starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to MAC layer duplication transmission for the bearer.

In the invention, the network device mainly starts the timer from the following two aspects:.

For example, during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the RLC layer duplication transmission for a particular bearer, if the network device sends the activation signaling for the RLC layer duplication transmission for the particular bearer again, the network device restarts the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the RLC layer duplication transmission for the particular bearer. B <NUM>, in the running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, restarting the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission once every time the first duplication transmission sent by the terminal is received.

It should be noted that, the terminal may perform the first duplication transmission for the target bearer multiple times, and the corresponding network device may also receive the first duplication transmission multiple times, and during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, the network device needs to restart the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer once it receives the first duplication transmission one time, that is, in this case, the network device needs to restart the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission several times when receiving several first duplication transmissions for the target bearer.

It should be noted that in the invention, when the duplication transmission timer expires, it is determined that the first duplication transmission of the target bearer is in a deactivated state.

That is, when the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the network device times out, which indicates that the first duplication transmission cannot be continuously maintained in the activated state, the network device directly determines that the first duplication transmission of the terminal is in the deactivated state.

It should be noted that, in the above implementation manner, the network device may autonomously determine whether the duplication transmission has been deactivated according to the operation condition of the duplication transmission timer, so as to perform implicit determination whether the duplication transmission is deactivated. Secondly, the purpose of avoiding the ping-pong switching of the network device in the state of duplication transmission activation/deactivation is realized In this case, the maintenance of the timer mainly includes: starting a timer, running the timer, and the specific behavior of the terminal when the timer times out.

B212, the receiving terminal determines the indication information for activating or deactivating the first duplication transmission for the target bearer, and starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer.

It should be noted that the activation/deactivation of the duplication transmission in this way is controlled by the terminal itself; when the terminal determines that the first duplication transmission needs to be activated for the target bearer, and when the terminal activates or deactivates the first duplication transmission, the terminal sends indication information to the network device, so as to inform the network device that the first duplication transmission is in an activated state or a deactivated state, and when the network device receives the indication information, the network device starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission. For example, when the terminal determines that it needs to activate MAC layer duplication transmission for a certain bearer, and when the terminal activates MAC layer duplication transmission, it sends indication information to the network device, so as to inform the network device that MAC layer duplication transmission for the bearer is in an activated state, and when the network device receives the indication information, it starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to MAC layer duplication transmission for the bearer; for example, when the terminal determines that the RLC layer duplication transmission needs to be deactivated for a certain bearer, and when the terminal deactivates the RLC layer duplication transmission, the terminal sends indication information to the network device, so as to inform the network device that the RLC layer duplication transmission for the bearer is in a deactivated state, and when the network device receives the indication information, the terminal starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the RLC layer duplication transmission for the bearer.

It should be noted that, during the running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, the network device is prohibited from sending the activation signaling or the deactivation signaling of the first duplication transmission to the terminal.

That is, the network device cannot change the state of the first duplication transmission during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission; for example, when the network device sends a deactivation signaling for duplication transmission of the RLC layer of a certain bearer, the network device starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer for the bearer, and during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of the bearer, the network device cannot change the state of the duplication transmission of the RLC layer for the bearer (i.e., cannot send an RLC layer duplication transmission activation signaling for the bearer to the terminal), that is, during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of the bearer, the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of the bearer is always in a deactivation state; for example, when the network device sends activation signaling for duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of a certain bearer, a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer is started for the bearer, and during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of the bearer, the network device cannot change the state of the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer (i.e., cannot send a duplication transmission deactivation signaling for the PDCP layer of the bearer to the terminal), that is, during the operation of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer for the bearer, the duplication transmission of the PDCP layer of the bearer is always in an activation state.

It should be noted that, after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer expires, the network device is allowed to send the activation signaling or the deactivation signaling of the first duplication transmission.

That is to say, after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission is expire, the network device may change the state of the first duplication transmission according to its specific requirement; for example, when the network device sends a deactivation signaling for duplication transmission of the RLC layer of a certain bearer, the network device starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer for the bearer, and after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the RLC layer of the bearer expires, the network device may send an activation signaling for duplication transmission of the RLC layer, and activate the duplication transmission of the RLC layer; for example, after the network device sends an activation signaling for the PDCP layer duplication transmission of the bearer, starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the PDCP layer duplication transmission of the bearer, and after the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the PDCP layer duplication transmission of the bearer expires, the network device may send a deactivation signaling for the PDCP layer duplication transmission of the bearer, and deactivate the PDCP layer duplication transmission of the bearer.

It should be noted that, in this implementation manner, a behavior of the network device for activating/deactivating the first duplication transmission may be restricted, and during a running period of a timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission, the network device may not send an activation or deactivation signaling of the first duplication transmission, and only if the timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission is expire, the activation or deactivation signaling of the first duplication transmission may be sent, so that the network device may be prevented from performing ping-pong handover between a first duplication transmission activation state and a first duplication transmission deactivation state.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, by maintaining the duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission, not only can ping-pong switching between the activated state and the deactivated state when the terminal autonomously activates the duplication transmission be avoided, but also the problem that the cell used for data transmission is limited and the resource cannot be effectively utilized because the terminal maintains the activated state for a long time without the requirement of the duplication transmission can be avoided, thereby ensuring the effective utilization of the resource and the effective transmission of the data.

As shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network device <NUM>, including:
a second maintaining module <NUM>, configured to maintain a duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer.

Optionally, the second maintaining module <NUM> is configured to perform at least one of: sending an activation signaling of the first duplication transmission of the target bearer to a terminal, and starting a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer;
the receiving terminal determines the indication information for activating the first duplication transmission for the target bearer and starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer.

Further and in the invention, the second maintaining module <NUM> is further configured to perform at least one of:.

Further and also in the invention, the second maintaining module <NUM> is further configured to perform:
when the duplication transmission timer expires, determining that the first duplication transmission of the target bearer is in a deactivation state.

Optionally, the second maintaining module <NUM> is configured to perform at least one of: sending an activation signaling or a deactivation signaling for first duplication transmission of a target bearer to a terminal, and starting a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer;
the receiving terminal determines the indication information for activating or deactivating the first duplication transmission for the target bearer and starts a duplication transmission timer corresponding to the first duplication transmission of the target bearer.

Further, the second maintaining module <NUM> is further configured to perform at least one of:.

As shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a network device <NUM>, which includes a processor <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and a program stored in the memory <NUM> and operable on the processor <NUM>; the transceiver <NUM> is connected to the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM> through a bus interface, where the processor <NUM> is configured to read a program in the memory and perform the following processes:
a duplication transmission timer is maintained for a first duplication transmission of a target bearer.

It should be noted that in <FIG>, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor <NUM> and various circuits represented by memory <NUM> being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver <NUM> may be a plurality of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor <NUM> is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory <NUM> may store data used by the processor <NUM> in performing operations.

Further, when the processor performs the program for maintaining the duplication transmission timer for the first duplication transmission of the target bearer, the processor further implements:
when the duplication transmission timer expires, determining that the first duplication transmission of the target bearer is in a deactivation state.

The disclosed embodiments also provide a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when performd by a processor, implements the steps of the duplication transmission maintaining method applied to a network device.

It should be noted that the division of each module is only a logical division, and all or part of the actual implementation may be integrated into one physical entity or may be physically separated. And these modules can all be implemented in the form of software invoked by a processing element; or can be implemented in the form of hardware; and part of the modules can be realized in the form of calling software by the processing element, and part of the modules can be realized in the form of hardware. For example, the determining module may be a processing element separately set up, or may be integrated into a chip of the apparatus, or may be stored in a memory of the apparatus in the form of program code, and a processing element of the apparatus calls and performs the function of the determining module. The other modules are implemented similarly. In addition, all or part of the modules can be integrated together or can be independently realized. The processing element described herein may be an integrated circuit having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, each step of the above method or each module above may be implemented by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor element or an instruction in the form of software.

For example, the various modules, units, sub-units or sub-modules may be one or more integrated circuits configured to perform the above methods, such as: one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or one or more microprocessors (DSPs), or one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), among others. For another example, when some of the above modules are implemented in the form of a Processing element scheduler code, the Processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or other processor that can call the program code. As another example, these modules may be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims of the present disclosure are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged under appropriate circumstances such that embodiments of the disclosure described herein may be implemented, for example, in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein. Moreover, the terms "includes," "including," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that includes a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, the use of "and/or" in the specification and claims means that at least one of the connected objects, such as a and/or B and/or C, means that <NUM> cases are included that include a alone, B alone, C alone, and both a and B, B and C, a and C, and A, B and C. Similarly, the use of "at least one of A and B" in the specification and claims is to be understood as "A alone, B alone, or both A and B present".

Claim 1:
A duplication transmission maintaining method, applied to a terminal and comprising:
maintaining (<NUM>) a duplication transmission timer for a duplication transmission of a target bearer;
wherein the maintaining (<NUM>) the duplication transmission timer for the duplication transmission of the target bearer comprises at least one of:
receiving an activation signaling for the duplication transmission of the target bearer and sent by a network device, and starting the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the target bearer; or
the terminal determining to activate duplication transmission for the target bearer and starting the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the target bearer;
and,
characterized in that
the maintaining (<NUM>) the duplication transmission timer for the duplication transmission of the target bearer further comprises at least one of:
during a running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the target bearer, the terminal receiving the activation signaling for the duplication transmission of the target bearer and sent by the network device, and restarting the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission;
or
during the running period of the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission of the target bearer, the terminal restarting the duplication transmission timer corresponding to the duplication transmission every time the terminal performs the duplication transmission;
or
deactivating the duplication transmission of the target bearer when the duplication transmission timer expires.