CN115884208A

CN115884208A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN115884208A
Application number: CN202111140338.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙艳; 施迅; 朱浩鹏; 张伟; 邬雄伟
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-28
Filing date: 2021-09-28
Publication date: 2023-03-31
Also published as: WO2023051195A1

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device. The method comprises the steps that a terminal device sends a first service in an uplink mode, the terminal device sends an uplink heartbeat packet before a data packet of the first service arrives, and uplink resource pre-occupation is carried out in advance, wherein the flow characteristic and the sending time of the uplink heartbeat packet are determined based on the flow characteristic of the first service, so that when the data packet of the first service arrives at a terminal, the terminal device can directly send the data packet of the first service by using the pre-occupied uplink resource, and the resource does not need to be applied for data transmission or the probability of applying for the resource for data transmission is reduced, so that the problems of air interface delay access and uplink resource scheduling delay are solved, and the utilization rate of the air interface resource is improved.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a communication method and a communication apparatus.

Background

In the fifth generation (5 th generation,5 g) ToB industry scenario (e.g., a port gantry crane, a steel mill remote control crown block), requirements on a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with delay certainty are high, but due to the influence of Radio Resource Control (RRC) state switching of terminal equipment and random delay introduced by air interface resource scheduling authorization waiting, a network cannot stably meet service delay requirements, resulting in service damage and even equipment shutdown.

The terminal device in 5G has three RRC connection management states, which are RRC _ IDLE, RRC _ INACTIVE, and RRC _ CONNECTED, respectively, and when the terminal device needs to send data, it needs to switch from the IDLE state and the INACTIVE state to the CONNECTED state, which may cause a 10 ms-100 ms delay. For example: the time delay of 100ms is generally required to be increased when the idle state is switched to the connected state, and the time delay of 10ms is generally required to be increased when the deactivated state is switched to the connected state.

In addition, although the uplink intelligent pre-scheduling and uplink unlicensed scheduling can reduce air interface delay to a certain extent, these scheduling manners are globally effective for quality of Service (QoS) class identifier (QCI), which results in serious waste of air interface resources.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can reduce time delay overhead and improve the utilization rate of air interface resources.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be applied to a terminal device and may also be applied to a component (e.g., a chip system, a processor, or the like) in the terminal device, and includes: the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment sends a plurality of data packets of a first service, wherein the first service is a service sent to a mobile edge computing application (MEC) APP by the terminal equipment; the method comprises the steps that the terminal equipment receives second information from a mobile edge computing platform (MEP), wherein the second information comprises flow characteristics of a first heartbeat packet and the starting sending time of the first heartbeat packet, and is used for indicating the terminal equipment to send the first heartbeat packet in an uplink mode, the second information is determined based on the flow characteristics of a first service and an air interface parameter, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal equipment and service network equipment of the terminal equipment; the terminal equipment sends a first heartbeat packet to the network equipment based on the second information; the terminal equipment receives first indication information from the network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating first uplink resources, and the first uplink resources are resources distributed to the terminal equipment by the network equipment based on the first heartbeat packet; the terminal equipment sends a first data packet on the first uplink resource, the first data packet is a data packet which arrives at the terminal equipment after a first heartbeat packet corresponding to the first uplink resource, and the first data packet is a data packet of a first service.

In the above technical solution, the first heartbeat packet is sent in advance before the data packet of the first service reaches the terminal device, on one hand, the terminal device can quickly enter an RRC connection state from other states, so as to eliminate a time delay caused by switching of the terminal device states in a process of establishing data transmission connection by the terminal device, and on the other hand, uplink resource pre-occupation can be performed in advance through the heartbeat packet, so that when the data packet of the first service reaches the terminal device, the terminal device can directly use the pre-occupied uplink resource to send the data packet of the first service without applying for a resource for data transmission or reducing a probability of applying for a resource for data transmission (i.e., without sending an SR or reducing a sending probability of an SR), thereby reducing a time delay overhead caused by uplink resource scheduling. In addition, compared with the prior art that uplink scheduling is globally effective for QCI, the method and the device can accurately identify the service flow characteristics of uplink services of different terminal devices, and then estimate the air interface resources for sending heartbeat packets according to the service flow characteristics, so that the utilization rate of the air interface resources is improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet meets minimum air interface resource consumption.

In one implementation, the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet, which meet the minimum air interface resource consumption, may be obtained based on a multivariate binary algorithm according to the traffic characteristic of the first service and the air interface configuration parameter air interface parameter.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be applied to a network device and may also be applied to a component (e.g., a chip, a system on chip, or a processor) in the network device, and includes: the network equipment receives a first heartbeat packet from a mobile edge computing platform (MEP), the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet are determined based on the flow characteristic of a first service and an air interface parameter, the first service is a service sent to a mobile edge computing application program (MEC APP) by the terminal equipment, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal equipment and service network equipment of the terminal equipment; the network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating second uplink resources, the second uplink resources are resources which are allocated to the terminal device by the network device based on the first heartbeat packet, the second uplink resources are used for sending a first data packet, the first data packet is a data packet of a first service, and the first data packet is a data packet which arrives at the terminal device after the first heartbeat packet corresponding to the second uplink resources.

It should be noted that, in the case that the network device starts the wireless air interface intelligent pre-scheduling function, the scheme can achieve the purpose of reducing the air interface delay. Specifically, a MEP sends a downlink first heartbeat packet to a network device just before a data packet of a first service arrives, which can trigger a wireless air interface intelligent pre-scheduling function, that is, the network device is triggered by the downlink service to allocate uplink resources to a terminal device according to an intelligent pre-scheduling configuration continuously within a certain time, that is, when there is no downlink service, a base station is triggered by the downlink heartbeat packet to actively grant the uplink resources to the terminal device. Therefore, when the data packet of the first service arrives, the terminal device does not need to send the SR, but directly uses the uplink resource allocated by the network device to send the data packet, so that the method reduces the probability of sending the SR by the terminal device, thereby reducing the delay overhead caused by uplink resource scheduling. In addition, compared with the prior art that uplink scheduling is globally effective for QCI, the method and the device can accurately identify the service flow characteristics of the uplink services of different terminal devices, and then estimate the air interface resources for sending heartbeat packets according to the service flow characteristics, so that the utilization rate of the air interface resources is improved.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the traffic of the first heartbeat packet specifically meets minimum air interface resource consumption.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be applied to an MEP and may also be applied to a component (e.g., a chip, a system on a chip, or a processor) in the MEP, and includes: the method comprises the steps that a mobile edge computing platform (MEP) acquires flow characteristics and air interface parameters of a first service, wherein the first service is a service sent to a Mobile Edge Computing Application Program (MECAP) by a terminal device, and the air interface parameters are air interface parameters between the terminal device and service network equipment of the terminal device; the MEP determines the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet according to the flow characteristic of the first service and the air interface parameter; the MEP sends second information to the terminal equipment, the second information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to send a first heartbeat packet in an uplink mode, and the second information comprises the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet; or the MEP sends the first heartbeat packet to the network device based on the traffic characteristics of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet.

For the beneficial effects of the third aspect, reference is made to the description of the first aspect and the second aspect, which is not repeated here.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet satisfies minimum air interface resource consumption.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the acquiring, by the MEP, the traffic characteristic of the first service includes: the MEP receives first information from a user plane function, UPF, network element, the first information including traffic characteristics of the first service.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the MEP receives third information, where the third information is used to indicate that the terminal device corresponding to the current service is different from the terminal device corresponding to the first service; the MEP informs the terminal equipment of stopping sending the first heartbeat packet; alternatively, the MEP stops sending the first heartbeat packet to the network device.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which may be applied to a UPF network element and may also be applied to a component (e.g., a chip system, or a processor) in the UPF network element, and includes: the UPF detects a plurality of data packets of a first service, wherein the first service is a service sent by the terminal equipment to a mobile edge computing application program MECAP; the UPF determines first information according to a plurality of data packets of the first service, wherein the first information comprises the flow characteristics of the first service; the UPF sends the first information to the mobile edge computing platform MEP.

Compared with the prior art, the uplink scheduling is globally effective for QCI, the service flow characteristics can be accurately identified for uplink services of different terminal devices, and the utilization rate of air interface resources is improved.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the traffic characteristics of the first service include a packet sending period and a packet length.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the detecting, by the UPF, a plurality of consecutive data packets of the first service includes: the UPF receives first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises a quadruple, and the quadruple is an identifier of the terminal equipment, a port of the terminal equipment, an identifier of the MECAP and a port of the MECAP; the UPF detects a plurality of data packets of the first service according to the first configuration information.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device having the functionality to implement the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device having the functionality to implement the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device having the functionality to implement the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device having the functionality to implement the method of the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processor, coupled with at least one memory, the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being configured to invoke and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, such that the communication device performs the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one example, the communication device may be a terminal device. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another example, the communication device may be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed in the terminal equipment. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or system of chips. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processor, coupled with at least one memory, the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being configured to invoke and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, such that the communication device performs the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one example, the communication device may be a network device. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another example, the communication device may be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) installed within the network device. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or the system of chips. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being configured to retrieve and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device performs the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one example, the communication device may be an MEP. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another example, the communication device may be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) mounted within the MEP. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or the system of chips. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus comprising at least one processor coupled with at least one memory, the at least one memory storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being configured to invoke and execute the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory so that the communication device performs the method of the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one example, the communication device may be a UPF network element. When the communication device is a terminal equipment, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another example, the communication device may be a component (e.g., a chip or an integrated circuit) that is installed in the UPF. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip or the system of chips. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause a method as in any of the first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of any of the first to fourth aspects, to be performed.

In a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program code to, when run on a computer, cause a method as in any of the first to fourth aspects, or in any possible implementation of any of the first to fourth aspects, to be performed.

A fifteenth aspect provides a wireless communication system comprising one or more of the devices as referred to in the method of any of the first to fourth aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic interaction diagram of a communication method proposed by the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method proposed by the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method proposed by the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided herein.

Fig. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of the communication device 10 provided in the present application.

Detailed Description

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

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5 g) system or a New Radio (NR) and future communication systems, vehicle-to-other devices (vehicle-to-8978 zft 8978X), wherein the V2X may include vehicle-to-internet (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), etc., long term evolution (LTE-V) for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, internet of vehicles (IoT), long term evolution (LTE-M) for machine-to-machine communication, MTC, internet of things (IoT), long term evolution (LTE-M) for machine-to-machine communication, M2M, etc.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application may include a network device and a plurality of terminal devices. The network device may include 1 antenna or multiple antennas. Additionally, the network device can additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

The network device may communicate with a plurality of terminal devices. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as: user Equipment (UE), mobile Station (MS), mobile Terminal (MT), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device, etc.

The terminal device may be a device providing voice/data connectivity to a user, e.g. a handheld device, a vehicle mounted device, etc. with wireless connection capability. Currently, some examples of terminal devices are: a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a wearable device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an Augmented Reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote surgery (remote medical supply), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (smart), a wireless terminal in city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol), SIP) phone, wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capability, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device, terminal device in a 5G network or terminal device in a future-evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and/or any other suitable device for communicating over a wireless communication system, as embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

Wherein, wearable equipment also can be called as wearing formula smart machine, is the general term of using wearing formula technique to carry out intelligent design, developing the equipment that can dress to daily wearing, like glasses, gloves, wrist-watch, dress and shoes etc.. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also realizes powerful functions through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable smart device includes full functionality, large size, and can implement full or partial functionality without relying on a smart phone, such as: smart watches or smart glasses and the like, and only focus on a certain type of application function, and need to be matched with other equipment such as a smart phone for use, such as various smart bracelets for physical sign monitoring, smart jewelry and the like.

In addition, in the embodiment of the application, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an internet of things system, the IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and the main technical characteristic is that an article is connected with a network through a communication technology, so that man-machine interconnection and intelligent network of object-object interconnection are realized.

In addition, in this embodiment of the application, the terminal device may further include sensors such as an intelligent printer, a train detector, and a gas station, and the main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal device), receiving control information and downlink data of the network device, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to the network device.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and the network device may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a base station B (nodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, an evolved base station B (eNB, or eNodeB) in an LTE system, a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a home base station controller (e.g., home evolved nodeB, or home nodeB, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), or the network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device in a 5G network or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, and the like, may be an Access Point (AP), a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a Transmission Point (TP), or a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) in a WLAN, may be a gNB or a transmission point (TRP or TP) in a new radio, NR) system, or one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or may also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU), a Distributed Unit (DU), or the like, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may further include an Active Antenna Unit (AAU). The CU implements part of the function of the gNB, and the DU implements part of the function of the gNB, for example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a packet data convergence layer (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing a physical layer protocol and a real-time service, and implements functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements part of the physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing and active antenna related functions. Since the information of the RRC layer eventually becomes or is converted from the information of the PHY layer, the higher layer signaling, such as the RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the DU + AAU under this architecture. It is to be understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the network device may include a base station (gNB), such as a macro station, a micro base station, an indoor hotspot, a relay node, and the like, and functions to transmit radio waves to the terminal device, on one hand, implement downlink data transmission, and on the other hand, transmit scheduling information to control uplink transmission, and receive radio waves transmitted by the terminal device, and receive uplink data transmission.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a few terms referred to in the present application will be briefly described below.

(1) Scheduling Request (SR): if the UE has no uplink data to transmit, the base station does not need to allocate uplink resources for the UE, otherwise, resources are wasted. Therefore, the UE needs to tell the base station whether there is uplink data to transmit, so that the base station decides whether to allocate uplink resources to the UE, and therefore an SR mechanism is provided to achieve this function.

(2) Buffer Status Report (BSR): the UE tells the base station whether uplink resources are needed through the SR, but does not tell the base station how much uplink data needs to be sent, so the base station needs to report the size of the data to be sent through the BSR. Generally, after receiving the SR, the base station allocates how much uplink resources to the UE depends on the implementation of the base station, and it is a common practice that at least the base station allocates enough resources for the UE to send a BSR to the UE.

(3) Discontinuous Reception (DRX): packet-based data streams are typically bursty, and power consumption can be reduced by turning off the receiving circuitry of the UE when there is no data transmission, thereby increasing battery life. The basic mechanism of DRX is to configure one DRX cycle, which consists of an active period and a dormant period: in the "active period", the UE monitors and receives a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); during the "sleep period", the UE does not receive data of the downlink channel to save power consumption.

(4) Wireless air interface intelligent pre-scheduling function: the function is triggered by downlink service, once the base station sends downlink data to the terminal, the base station considers that the terminal has corresponding reply and has uplink data transmission, at the moment, the base station can actively give uplink authorization to the terminal within a certain time, and meanwhile, the DRX characteristic does not need to be turned off, so that the effect of saving power for the UE is achieved.

(5) Uplink grant-free scheduling (non-dynamic scheduling): the activation and deactivation of the uplink authorization-free resource of the UE are performed by Downlink Control Information (DCI), when the authorization-free resource of the UE is activated, the UE can automatically and directly send Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) data on the authorization-free resource without reporting SR and BSR first, so that the purpose of shortening the time delay is achieved, and under the condition that the UE does not receive the deactivation indication, the resource specified by the first uplink authorization is always used for uplink transmission.

(6) Moving Edge Computing (MEC): the mobile edge computing means that an IT service environment and cloud computing capability are provided at the edge of a mobile network, network services are sunk to a wireless access network side closer to a mobile user, delay is reduced, efficient network management and control and service distribution are achieved, and user experience is improved.

(7) An MEC host: the system is composed of a virtualization infrastructure and an MEC Platform (MEP) and used for bearing various MEC applications (MECAP). The virtualization infrastructure data plane is responsible for executing the traffic rules received by the mobile edge platform and realizing traffic forwarding. The MEP provides middleware capabilities such as integration deployment, network opening and the like of the MEC application, and can host MEC services such as 5G network capabilities, business capabilities and the like.

(8) The MECAP: virtual machines running on the MEC hosting virtualization infrastructure support interacting with the MEPs to build and provide MEC services. The MEC application carries a set of rules and requirements including resources required, maximum latency, services available, etc.

The method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic interaction diagram of a communication method proposed in the present application. For convenience of understanding, in the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device is taken as a UE, and a network device is taken as a gNB for example.

S201, the UE sends a plurality of data packets of a first service, where the first service is a service between the UE and the mecpap.

It should be understood that the transmission path of the first traffic is UE → gNB → UPF → MEC APP.

S202, the UPF detects a plurality of data packets of the first service, and determines first information according to the plurality of data packets of the first service, where the first information includes a traffic characteristic of the first service.

Alternatively, the traffic characteristics may include the transmission period and the packet length.

In a specific implementation manner, the detection by the UPF of the data packet of the first service may be: the UPF receives first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises a quadruplet, the quadruplet comprises an IP (Internet protocol) and a port of terminal equipment and an IP and a port of an MEC APP, the MEC APP synchronizes the first configuration information to the UPF through the MEP, and the UPF can match a data packet of a first service from a service flow of the first service sent by the UE according to the first configuration information.

In a specific implementation manner, the determining, by the UPF, the first information according to the plurality of data packets of the first service may be: the UPF may analyze the received data packet of the first service to obtain a traffic characteristic of the first service. For example: if the time when the 1 st data packet of the first service is received by the UPF is T1 and the time when the 2 nd data packet of the first service is received is T2, the packet sending period of the first service is T2-T1 according to the receiving time of the two data packets.

S203, the UPF sends the first information to the MEP.

Correspondingly, the MEP receives the first information from the UPF.

It should be noted that the traffic characteristics of the first service may change. Taking the packet sending period as an example, it is assumed that the first service includes 100 data packets, the period of the first 30 data packets is 10ms, and the period of the last 70 data packets is 15ms.

In an implementation manner, the UPF may periodically send the first service traffic feature to the MEP, where a sending period may be preset or determined by two network elements, which is not specifically limited in this application.

In another implementation, after the UPF sends the traffic characteristics of the first service to the MEP for the first time, the UPF may send the new traffic characteristics of the first service to the MEP again after the traffic characteristics of the first service are changed.

Alternatively, if the traffic characteristics of the first service are relatively clear, for example: if the first service is a timer task, S202 and S203 may be skipped, and the flow characteristics of the first service may be configured directly on the MEP interface.

And S204, the MEP acquires air interface parameters between the UE and the gNB.

The air interface parameters include, but are not limited to, an SR configuration cycle, a periodic BSR configuration cycle, an uplink and downlink timeslot proportion, radio protocol stack packet parameters, and the like.

And S205, the MEP determines the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet according to the flow characteristic of the first service and the air interface parameter.

Compared with the prior art that uplink scheduling is globally effective for QCI, the method and the device can accurately identify the service flow characteristics of uplink services of different UEs, and then estimate the air interface resources for sending heartbeat packets according to the service flow characteristics, so that the utilization rate of the air interface resources is improved.

In a specific implementation manner, the MEP obtains, according to the traffic characteristics and air interface parameters of the first service, the traffic characteristics of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet, which meet the minimum air interface resource consumption, based on a multivariate binary algorithm.

S206, the MEP sends second information to the UE, the second information is used for indicating the UE to send the first heartbeat packet in an uplink mode, and the second information comprises the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet.

Correspondingly, the UE receives the second information from the MEP.

And S207, the UE sends the first heartbeat packet to the gNB according to the second information.

Optionally, if the first service is a periodic persistent packet-sending service, the UE may continuously send the first heartbeat packet during the first service packet-sending period; if the first service is a non-continuous regular packet sending service, the UE can intermittently send a first heartbeat packet.

It should also be understood that the periodic persistent packet transmission service refers to a periodic packet transmission service with a small packet transmission interval, and the non-continuous regular packet transmission service refers to a periodic packet transmission service with a large packet transmission interval. For example: taking 25ms as a judgment standard, if the packet sending period of the periodic packet sending service a is less than or equal to 25ms, the service a can be regarded as a periodic continuous packet sending service, and if the packet sending period of the service a is greater than 25ms, the service a can be regarded as a non-continuous regular packet sending service.

For convenience of understanding, the first service is taken as a non-continuous regular packet sending service as an example to describe how the UE intermittently sends the first heartbeat packet. For example: the packet sending period of the first service is 30 minutes, the UE has just sent the nth data packet of the first service at present, the UE has sent the (N + 1) th data packet again at an interval of 30 minutes, and has sent the (N + 2) th data packet again at an interval of 30 minutes, so that the UE can intermittently send the first heartbeat packet in a plurality of discontinuous time periods. Specifically, the UE may know how long to send the first heartbeat packet before the N +1 th data packet is sent according to the sending time of the first heartbeat packet in the second information, and stop sending the first heartbeat packet when the N +1 th data packet arrives at the UE or after the N +1 th data packet arrives at the UE, and similarly, send the first heartbeat packet before the N +2 th data packet is sent, and stop sending the first heartbeat packet when the N +2 th data arrives at the UE or after the N +2 th data arrives at the UE, so that the first heartbeat packet based on the traffic characteristics of the first heartbeat packet is sent only before and after the data packet is sent under the condition that the first service packet sending period is long, thereby avoiding resource waste caused by continuous sending of the heartbeat packet in the non-continuous periodic packet sending service.

Optionally, the MEP may subscribe to the UE IP change notification from the UPF or other devices, and when the UE IP changes due to movement or the like, the MEP may sense and notify the UE to stop sending the first heartbeat packet through the subscription event, thereby avoiding waste of resources.

S208, the UE receives first indication information from the gNB, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first uplink resource, and the first uplink resource is a resource allocated to the UE by the gNB based on the first heartbeat packet.

S209, the UE sends a first data packet on the first uplink resource, where the first data packet is a data packet that arrives at the UE after a first heartbeat packet corresponding to the first uplink resource, and the first data packet is a data packet of the first service.

In the above technical solution, the UE can quickly enter the RRC connected state from another state by sending the uplink first heartbeat packet, so as to eliminate a time delay caused by UE state switching in the process of establishing the data transmission connection by the UE. In addition, the uplink resource pre-occupation can be performed in advance by sending the first heartbeat packet in advance before the data packet of the first service reaches the UE, so that when the data packet of the first service reaches the terminal, the UE can directly send the data packet of the first service by using the pre-occupied uplink resource without applying for the resource for data transmission or reducing the probability of applying for the resource for data transmission (i.e. without sending the SR or reducing the sending probability of the SR), thereby reducing the delay overhead caused by uplink resource scheduling.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic interaction diagram of another communication method proposed by the present application. For convenience of understanding, in the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device is taken as a UE, and a network device is taken as a gNB for example.

S301 to S305 refer to descriptions in S201 to S205 in fig. 2, and are not described again here.

And S306, the MEP sends the first heartbeat packet to the gNB based on the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet.

Correspondingly, the gNB receives the first heartbeat packet from the MEP.

Optionally, if the first service is a periodic persistent packetization service, the MEP may continuously and uninterruptedly transmit the first heartbeat packet during the packetization of the first service; the MEP may intermittently transmit the first heartbeat packet if the first service is a non-continuous regular packet transmission service. For the explanation of intermittent transmission, see the description in S206, which is not repeated here.

Alternatively, the MEP may subscribe to the UE IP change notification from the UPF or other device, and when the UE IP changes due to movement or the like, the MEP may sense and stop the transmission of the first heartbeat packet through the subscription event.

It should be noted that, in this step, when the gNB starts the wireless air interface intelligent pre-scheduling function, the gNB may continue to actively give uplink authorization to the UE for a certain time by sending a downlink heartbeat packet, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing air interface delay.

S307, the gNB sends second indication information to the UE, where the second indication information is used to indicate a second uplink resource, the second uplink resource is a resource allocated to the UE by the network device based on the first heartbeat packet, the second uplink resource is used to send a first data packet, the first data packet is a data packet of the first service, and the first data packet is a data packet that arrives at the UE after the first heartbeat packet corresponding to the second uplink resource.

Correspondingly, the UE receives the second indication information.

S308, the UE sends the first data packet on the second uplink resource.

Specifically, the MEP sends a downlink first heartbeat packet to the gNB immediately before a data packet of the first service arrives, which can trigger the wireless air interface intelligent pre-scheduling function, that is, the gNB is triggered by the downlink service to allocate uplink resources to the UE within a certain time according to the intelligent pre-scheduling configuration, that is, when there is no downlink service, the base station is triggered by sending the heartbeat packet in the downlink to actively grant the uplink resources to the UE. Then, when the data packet of the first service arrives, the UE does not need to send the SR again, but directly uses the uplink resource allocated by the gNB to send the data packet, so that the method reduces the probability of sending the SR by the UE, thereby reducing the delay overhead caused by uplink resource scheduling.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic interaction diagram of yet another communication method proposed by the present application. For convenience of understanding, in the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device is taken as a UE, and a network device is taken as a gNB for example.

S401 to S405 refer to descriptions in S201 to S205 in fig. 2, and are not described again here.

S406, the MEP sends fourth information to the gNB, where the fourth information includes a traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet.

Correspondingly, the UE receives the fourth information from the gNB.

And S407, the gNB determines that the UE sends the first heartbeat packet in an uplink mode or the MEP sends the first heartbeat packet in a downlink mode according to the fourth information.

The process of transmitting the first heartbeat packet uplink by the UE or downlink by the MEP and the corresponding scheme have the beneficial effects that the description is not repeated here.

The communication method provided by the present application is explained in detail above, and the communication apparatus provided by the present application is described below.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided herein.

In one possible design, as shown in fig. 5, communication apparatus 1000 includes a transmitting unit 1100, a receiving unit 1200, and a processing unit 1300. The communication apparatus 1000 may implement the steps or processes executed by the terminal device corresponding to the above method embodiments, for example, the communication apparatus 1000 may be the terminal device, or may also be a chip or a circuit configured in the terminal device. The transmitting unit 1100 is configured to perform the transmitting related operation of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment, the receiving unit 1200 is configured to perform the receiving related operation of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment, and the processing unit 1300 is configured to perform the processing related operation of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment.

A sending unit 1100, configured to send multiple data packets of a first service, where the first service is a service sent by a terminal device to a mobile edge computing application mecap; a receiving unit 1200, configured to receive second information from a mobile edge computing platform MEP, where the second information includes a traffic characteristic of a first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet, and the second information is used to instruct the terminal device to send the first heartbeat packet uplink, where the second information is determined based on the traffic characteristic of the first service and an air interface parameter, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal device and a serving network device of the terminal device; a processing unit 1300, configured to send the first heartbeat packet to the network device based on the second information; the receiving unit 1200 is further configured to receive first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first uplink resource, and the first uplink resource is a resource allocated to the terminal device by the network device based on the first heartbeat packet; the sending unit 1100 is further configured to send the first data packet on the first uplink resource, where the first data packet is a data packet that arrives at the terminal device after a first heartbeat packet corresponding to the first uplink resource, and the first data packet is a data packet of the first service.

Optionally, the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet satisfies minimum air interface resource consumption.

Optionally, the traffic characteristics include a packet sending period and a packet length.

Alternatively, the transmitting unit 1100 and the receiving unit 1200 may be integrated into a transceiver unit, and have functions of receiving and transmitting, which is not limited herein.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 1000 may be a terminal device in a method embodiment. In this implementation, the sending unit 1100 may be a transmitter and the receiving unit 1200 may be a receiver. The receiver and the transmitter may also be integrated into one transceiver. The processing unit 1300 may be a processing device.

In another implementation, the communication apparatus 1000 may be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in a terminal device. In such an implementation, the receiving unit 1200 and the transmitting unit 1100 may be communication interfaces or interface circuits. For example, the sending unit 1200 is an output interface or an output circuit, the receiving unit 1300 is an input interface or an input circuit, and the processing unit 1300 may be a processing device.

The functions of the processing device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. For example, the processing device may include a memory and a processor, where the memory is used for storing a computer program, and the processor reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device 1000 performs the operations and/or processes performed by the terminal device in the method embodiments. Alternatively, the processing means may comprise only the processor, the memory for storing the computer program being located outside the processing means. The processor is connected to the memory via the circuitry/wires to read and execute the computer programs stored in the memory. Also for example, the processing device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In another possible design, communications apparatus 1000 includes a receiving unit 1200 and a transmitting unit 1100. The communication apparatus 1000 may implement the steps or processes executed by the network device corresponding to the above method embodiments, for example, the communication apparatus 1000 may be a network device, or may also be a chip or a circuit configured in a network device. The receiving unit 1200 is configured to perform receiving related operations of the network device in the foregoing method embodiment, and the transmitting unit 1100 is configured to perform transmitting related operations of the network device in the foregoing method embodiment.

A receiving unit 1200, configured to receive a first heartbeat packet from a mobile edge computing platform MEP, where a traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet are determined based on a traffic characteristic of a first service and an air interface parameter, where the first service is a service that is sent to a mobile edge computing application MEC APP by a terminal device, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal device and a service network device of the terminal device;

a sending unit 1100, configured to send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a second uplink resource, the second uplink resource is a resource that the network device allocates to the terminal device based on the first heartbeat packet, the second uplink resource is used to send a first data packet, the first data packet is a data packet of a first service, the first service is a service that the terminal device sends to a mobile edge computing application MEC APP, and the first data packet is a data packet that arrives at the terminal device after the first heartbeat packet corresponding to the second uplink resource.

Optionally, the first heartbeat packet is a heartbeat packet that satisfies minimum air interface resource consumption.

Optionally, the communications apparatus 1000 may further include a processing unit 1300, where the processing unit 1300 is configured to execute the processing-related operations of the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. For example: the processing unit 1300 is configured to start the wireless air interface intelligent pre-scheduling function before receiving the first heartbeat packet.

Alternatively, the transmitting unit 1100 and the receiving unit 1200 may be integrated into a transmitting and receiving unit, and have the functions of receiving and transmitting, which is not limited herein.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 1000 may be a network device in a method embodiment. In this implementation, the sending unit 1100 may be a transmitter and the receiving unit 1200 may be a receiver. The receiver and the transmitter may also be integrated into one transceiver. The processing unit 1300 may be a processing device.

In another implementation, the communication apparatus 1000 may be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in a network device. In such an implementation, the receiving unit 1200 and the transmitting unit 1100 may be communication interfaces or interface circuits. For example, the sending unit 1200 is an output interface or an output circuit, the receiving unit 1300 is an input interface or an input circuit, and the processing unit 1300 may be a processing device.

The functions of the processing device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. For example, the processing device may include a memory for storing a computer program and a processor that reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device 1000 performs the operations and/or processes performed by the network device in the method embodiments. Alternatively, the processing means may comprise only the processor, the memory for storing the computer program being located outside the processing means. The processor is connected to the memory through the circuit/wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. Also for example, the processing device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In yet another possible design, communications apparatus 1000 includes a receiving unit 1200 and a transmitting unit 1100. The communication device 1000 may implement the steps or processes executed by the MEP corresponding to the above method embodiments, for example, the communication device 1000 may be the MEP, or may also be a chip or circuit in the MEP. The receiving unit 1200 is configured to perform the receiving related operation of the MEP in the above method embodiment, and the transmitting unit 1100 is configured to perform the transmitting related operation of the MEP in the above method embodiment.

A receiving unit 1200, configured to obtain a traffic characteristic and an air interface parameter of a first service, where the first service is a service that is sent by a terminal device to a mobile edge computing application mecap, and the air interface parameter is an air interface parameter between the terminal device and a service network device of the terminal device; a processing unit 1300, configured to determine a traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet according to the traffic characteristic of the first service and the air interface parameter; a sending unit 1100, configured to send the second information to the terminal device, where the second information is used to instruct the terminal device to send a first heartbeat packet in an uplink, and the second information includes a traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet; or, the sending unit 1100 is configured to send the first heartbeat packet to the network device based on the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet.

Optionally, the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

Optionally, the receiving unit 1200 is specifically configured to: and receiving first information from a user plane function network element UPF, wherein the first information comprises the flow characteristics of the first service.

Optionally, the receiving unit 1200 is further configured to receive third information, where the third information is used to indicate that a terminal device corresponding to the current service is different from a terminal device corresponding to the first service; the sending unit 1100 is further configured to notify the terminal device to stop sending the first heartbeat packet; or, the sending unit 1100 is further configured to stop sending the first heartbeat packet to the network device.

In one implementation, the communication device 1000 may be a MEP in a method embodiment. In this implementation, the sending unit 1100 may be a transmitter and the receiving unit 1200 may be a receiver. The receiver and the transmitter may also be integrated into one transceiver. The processing unit 1300 may be a processing device.

In another implementation, the communication device 1000 may be a chip or integrated circuit mounted in the MEP. In such an implementation, the receiving unit 1200 and the transmitting unit 1100 may be communication interfaces or interface circuits. For example, the sending unit 1200 is an output interface or an output circuit, the receiving unit 1300 is an input interface or an input circuit, and the processing unit 1300 may be a processing device.

The functions of the processing device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. For example, the processing device may include a memory for storing a computer program and a processor that reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device 1000 performs the operations and/or processes performed by the MEP in the method embodiments. Alternatively, the processing means may comprise only the processor, the memory for storing the computer program being located outside the processing means. The processor is connected to the memory through the circuit/wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. Also for example, the processing device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In yet another possible design, communications apparatus 1000 includes a receiving unit 1200 and a transmitting unit 1100. The communication apparatus 1000 may implement the steps or the flow executed by the UPF network element corresponding to the above method embodiment, for example, the communication apparatus 1000 may be the UPF network element, or may also configure a chip or a circuit in the UPF network element. The receiving unit 1200 is configured to perform the receiving related operation of the UPF network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the sending unit 1100 is configured to perform the sending related operation of the UPF network element in the foregoing method embodiment.

A processing unit 1300, configured to detect multiple data packets of a first service, where the first service is a service sent by a terminal device to a mobile edge computing application mecap; the processing unit 1300 is further configured to determine first information according to the multiple data packets of the first service, where the first information includes a traffic characteristic of the first service; a sending unit 1100, configured to send the first information to a mobile edge computing platform MEP.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 1000 may be a UPF network element in a method embodiment. In this implementation, the sending unit 1100 may be a transmitter and the receiving unit 1200 may be a receiver. The receiver and the transmitter may also be integrated into one transceiver. The processing unit 1300 may be a processing device.

In another implementation, the communication device 1000 may be a chip or an integrated circuit installed in a UPF network element. In such an implementation, the receiving unit 1200 and the transmitting unit 1100 may be communication interfaces or interface circuits. For example, the sending unit 1200 is an output interface or an output circuit, the receiving unit 1300 is an input interface or an input circuit, and the processing unit 1300 can be a processing device.

The functions of the processing device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. For example, the processing device may include a memory for storing a computer program and a processor that reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device 1000 performs the operations and/or processes performed by the UPF network element in the method embodiments. Alternatively, the processing means may comprise only the processor, the memory for storing the computer program being located outside the processing means. The processor is connected to the memory through the circuit/wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. Also for example, the processing device may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment, a traffic characteristic detection service module may be further built in the UPF, and is responsible for aggregating service traffic characteristic analyses, such as service packet sending intervals and message lengths, and periodically sending the aggregated service traffic characteristics to the hot connection control service to complete judgment of the heartbeat message start-stop policy.

Optionally, integrating a hot connection control service on the MEP, controlling the sending and stopping strategies of the heartbeat message, when the service application APP subscribes to the service, obtaining service flow characteristics by calling a flow characteristic detection service, calculating to obtain a heartbeat message packet sending interval and a heartbeat message packet length by optimal cost, and starting heartbeat sending; when the UE IP changes due to movement and the like, the hot connection control service senses and stops heartbeat transmission through a subscription event.

Optionally, the edge MEC collaboration service module at the MEP deployment end (terminal) serves as a platform service, and an Application Programming Interface (API) is opened to the business application MEC APP through apigw. The end edge cooperation service module is used for realizing operations such as end edge cooperation, basic operation and maintenance and the like with an end side integrated management (agent) module (an agent deployed on the terminal device and responsible for interactive use with an MEC interface) by using a lightweight protocol (LWM 2M) of the Internet of things device.

Optionally, an end-side integrated management (agent) module is configured to interface with the end-side collaboration service module to perform functions such as end-side access authentication, configuration management, and software status monitoring.

Optionally, the hot connection execution module is integrated on the terminal device and is responsible for sending the uplink heartbeat message, or the hot connection execution module is integrated on the MEP and is responsible for sending the downlink heartbeat message, or the hot connection execution module is integrated on the network device and is responsible for sending the heartbeat message (sent by the control terminal or the MEP side).

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device 10 provided in the present application. The apparatus 10 comprises a processor 11, the processor 11 is coupled to a memory 12, the memory 12 is used for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data, the processor 11 is used for executing the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 12 or reading the data stored in the memory 12 to execute the method in the above method embodiments.

Optionally, the processor 11 is one or more.

Optionally, the memory 12 is one or more.

Optionally, the memory 12 is integrated with the processor 11, or is provided separately.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 6, the apparatus 10 further comprises a transceiver 13, and the transceiver 13 is used for receiving and/or transmitting signals. For example, the processor 11 is used to control the transceiver 13 to receive and/or transmit signals.

As a solution, the apparatus 10 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 11 is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory 12 to implement the relevant operations of the terminal device in the above embodiments of the method. For example, the method performed by the terminal device in any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 2 to 4.

As a solution, the apparatus 10 is used to implement the operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiments.

For example, processor 11 is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory 12 to implement relevant operations of the network device in the above embodiments of the methods. For example, fig. 2 is directed to a method performed by a network device in any of the embodiments illustrated in fig. 5.

As an alternative, the apparatus 10 is used to implement the operations performed by the MEPs in the above respective method embodiments.

For example, the processor 11 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 12 to implement the related operations of the MEP in the above various method embodiments. For example, the method performed by the MEP in any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 2-4.

As a solution, the apparatus 10 is configured to implement the operations performed by the UPF network element in the foregoing method embodiments.

For example, the processor 11 is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory 12 to implement the relevant operations of the UPF network element in the above embodiments of the methods. For example, fig. 2 is directed to a method performed by a UPF network element in any of the embodiments shown in fig. 5.

Optionally, the processor and the memory in the foregoing device embodiments may be physically separate units, or the memory may be integrated with the processor, which is not limited herein.

In addition, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer instructions are stored, and when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the operations and/or processes executed by the terminal device in the method embodiments of the present application are executed.

The present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions for causing operations and/or processes performed by a network device in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed when the computer instructions are executed on a computer.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the operations and/or processes performed by the MEPs in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed.

The present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer instructions are stored, and when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the operations and/or processes performed by the UPF network element in the method embodiments of the present application are executed.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions to cause the operations and/or processes performed by the terminal device in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed when the computer program code or instructions are run on a computer.

The present application also provides a computer program product including computer program code or instructions to cause operations and/or processes performed by the network device in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed when the computer program code or instructions are run on a computer.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions to cause the operations and/or processes performed by the MEPs in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed when the computer program code or instructions are run on a computer.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions to cause the operations and/or processes performed by the UPF network element in the method embodiments of the present application to be performed when the computer program code or instructions are run on a computer.

In addition, the present application also provides a chip including a processor. A memory for storing the computer program is provided separately from the chip, and a processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the operations and/or processes performed by the respective devices or network elements in any one of the method embodiments are performed.

Further, the chip may also include a communication interface. The communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, or the like. Further, the chip may further include the memory.

In addition, the present application also provides a communication system including one or more of the devices or network elements referred to in the embodiments of the present application.

The processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having the capability of processing signals. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, or discrete hardware components. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware encoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the encoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

The memory in the embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one type of logical functional division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

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

The term "and/or" in this application is only one kind of association relationship describing the association object, and means that there may be three kinds of relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. A, B and C may be singular or plural, and are not limited.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a mobile edge computing platform (MEP) acquires flow characteristics and air interface parameters of a first service, wherein the first service is a service sent to a Mobile Edge Computing Application Program (MECAP) by a terminal device, and the air interface parameters are air interface parameters between the terminal device and service network equipment of the terminal device;

the MEP determines the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet according to the flow characteristic of the first service and the air interface parameter;

the MEP sends second information to the terminal equipment, the second information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to send a first heartbeat packet in an uplink mode, and the second information comprises flow characteristics of the first heartbeat packet and sending time of the first heartbeat packet;

or,

and the MEP sends the first heartbeat packet to the network equipment based on the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet satisfies a minimum air interface resource consumption.

4. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the MEP obtaining the traffic characteristics of the first service comprises:

the MEP receives first information from a User Plane Function (UPF) network element, wherein the first information comprises the flow characteristics of the first service.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

the MEP receives third information, wherein the third information is used for indicating that terminal equipment corresponding to the current service is different from terminal equipment corresponding to the first service;

the MEP informs the terminal equipment to stop sending the first heartbeat packet; or,

the MEP stops sending the first heartbeat packet to the network device.

6. A method of communication, comprising:

a terminal device sends a plurality of data packets of a first service, wherein the first service is a service sent by the terminal device to a mobile edge computing application program MECAP;

the terminal device receives second information from a mobile edge computing platform (MEP), wherein the second information comprises flow characteristics of a first heartbeat packet and sending time of the first heartbeat packet, and the second information is used for indicating the terminal device to send the first heartbeat packet in an uplink manner, wherein the second information is determined based on the flow characteristics of the first service and an air interface parameter, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal device and service network equipment of the terminal device;

the terminal device sends the first heartbeat packet to the network device based on the second information;

the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating first uplink resources, and the first uplink resources are resources allocated to the terminal device by the network device based on the first heartbeat packet;

and the terminal equipment sends the first data packet on the first uplink resource, wherein the first data packet is a data packet which arrives at the terminal equipment after a first heartbeat packet corresponding to the first uplink resource, and the first data packet is a data packet of the first service.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet satisfies minimum air interface resource consumption.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

9. A method of communication, comprising:

the network equipment starts a wireless air interface intelligent pre-scheduling function;

the network equipment receives a first heartbeat packet from a mobile edge computing platform (MEP), wherein the flow characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet are determined based on the flow characteristic of a first service and an air interface parameter, the first service is a service sent to a mobile edge computing application program (MEC APP) by terminal equipment, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal equipment and service network equipment of the terminal equipment;

the network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a second uplink resource, the second uplink resource is a resource allocated to the terminal device by the network device based on the first heartbeat packet, the second uplink resource is used to send a first data packet, the first data packet is a data packet of a first service, and the first data packet is a data packet that arrives at the terminal device after the first heartbeat packet corresponding to the second uplink resource.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the flow of the first heartbeat packet meets minimum air interface resource consumption.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

12. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to obtain a traffic characteristic and an air interface parameter of a first service, where the first service is a service sent by a terminal device to a mobile edge computing application mecap, and the air interface parameter is an air interface parameter between the terminal device and a service network device of the terminal device;

a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the traffic characteristic of the first service and the air interface parameter, the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet;

a sending unit, configured to send second information to the terminal device, where the second information is used to instruct the terminal device to send a first heartbeat packet in an uplink manner, and the second information includes a traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet;

or,

a sending unit, configured to send the first heartbeat packet to the network device based on the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and the sending time of the first heartbeat packet.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet satisfies a minimum air interface resource consumption.

15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the receiving unit is specifically configured to:

and receiving first information from a User Plane Function (UPF) network element, wherein the first information comprises the flow characteristics of the first service.

16. The apparatus of any one of claims 12 to 15,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive third information, where the third information is used to indicate that a terminal device corresponding to the current service is different from a terminal device corresponding to the first service;

the sending unit is further configured to notify the terminal device to stop sending the first heartbeat packet;

or,

the sending unit is further configured to stop sending the first heartbeat packet to the network device.

17. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send multiple data packets of a first service, where the first service is a service sent by a terminal device to a mobile edge computing application mecap;

a receiving unit, configured to receive second information from a mobile edge computing platform MEP, where the second information includes a traffic characteristic of a first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet, and the second information is used to instruct a terminal device to send the first heartbeat packet uplink, where the second information is determined based on the traffic characteristic of the first service and an air interface parameter, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal device and a service network device of the terminal device;

the processing unit is used for sending the first heartbeat packet to the network equipment based on the second information;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first uplink resource, and the first uplink resource is a resource allocated to the terminal device by the network device based on the first heartbeat packet;

the sending unit is further configured to send the first data packet on the first uplink resource, where the first data packet is a data packet that arrives at the terminal device after a first heartbeat packet corresponding to the first uplink resource, and the first data packet is a data packet of the first service.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet satisfies a minimum air interface resource consumption.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

20. A communications apparatus, comprising:

the processing unit starts an intelligent pre-scheduling function of the wireless air interface;

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first heartbeat packet from a mobile edge computing platform MEP, where a traffic characteristic of the first heartbeat packet and a sending time of the first heartbeat packet are determined based on a traffic characteristic of a first service and an air interface parameter, where the first service is a service sent by a terminal device to a mobile edge computing application MEC APP, and the air interface parameter is a parameter between the terminal device and a service network device of the terminal device;

a sending unit, configured to send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a second uplink resource, the second uplink resource is a resource that the network device allocates to the terminal device based on the first heartbeat packet, the second uplink resource is used to send a first data packet, the first data packet is a data packet of a first service, the first service is a service that the terminal device sends to a mobile edge computing application MEC APP, and the first data packet is a data packet that arrives at the terminal device after the first heartbeat packet corresponding to the second uplink resource.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first heartbeat packet is a heartbeat packet that satisfies minimum air interface resource consumption.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the traffic characteristics include a transmission period and a packet length.

23. A communications apparatus, comprising at least one processor coupled with at least one memory, the at least one processor to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the at least one memory to cause the communications apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-11.

24. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 11 when the computer instructions are run on a computer.

25. A computer program product, characterized in that computer program code is included in the computer program product, the method according to any of claims 1 to 11 being performed when the computer program code runs on a computer.