Method and related device for controlling radio resource control state of user equipment

文档序号：143111 发布日期：2021-10-22 浏览：25次中文

阅读说明：本技术 用户设备的无线资源控制状态的控制方法及相关装置 (Method and related device for controlling radio resource control state of user equipment ) 是由张梦晨徐海博于 2020-07-15 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请实施例提供一种用户设备UE的无线资源控制RRC状态的控制方法,应用于包括集中单元和至少一个分布单元的网络设备,该方法包括：分布单元接收UE在非连接态下发送的辅助信息；辅助信息用于指示UE与网络设备完成小包数据的传输后UE的数据传输需求；分布单元根据辅助信息得到第一接口消息；分布单元向集中单元发送携带辅助信息的第一接口消息；集中单元根据第一接口消息中的辅助信息得到指示消息；指示消息用于指示UE和网络设备完成上述小包数据的传输后UE的RRC状态；集中单元通过分布单元向UE发送指示消息。采用本申请实施例,能够避免UE在完成上述小包数据的传输后进入不合适的RRC状态,减少UE后续数据传输的影响。(The embodiment of the application provides a method for controlling a Radio Resource Control (RRC) state of User Equipment (UE), which is applied to network equipment comprising a centralized unit and at least one distributed unit, and comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a distribution unit receives auxiliary information sent by UE in a non-connection state; the auxiliary information is used for indicating the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data; the distribution unit obtains a first interface message according to the auxiliary information; the distribution unit sends a first interface message carrying auxiliary information to the central unit; the centralized unit obtains an indication message according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message; the indication message is used for indicating the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data; the central unit sends an indication message to the UE via the distribution unit. By adopting the embodiment of the application, the UE can be prevented from entering an improper RRC state after the transmission of the small packet data is finished, and the influence of the subsequent data transmission of the UE is reduced.)

1. A method for controlling Radio Resource Control (RRC) state of User Equipment (UE) is applied to a network device, the network device comprises a centralized unit and at least one distributed unit, and the method comprises the following steps:

the distribution unit receives auxiliary information sent by the UE in a non-connection state; the auxiliary information is used for indicating the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data;

the distribution unit obtains a first interface message according to the auxiliary information; the first interface message includes the assistance information;

the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the concentration unit;

the centralized unit obtains an indication message according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message; the indication message is used for indicating the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data;

the centralized unit sends the indication message to the UE through the distribution unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the assistance information comprises: the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data and then the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE; or the like, or, alternatively,

the auxiliary information includes: a first bit; indicating the data transmission requirement by the first bit or the value of the first bit; or the like, or, alternatively,

the auxiliary information includes: information of an RRC state that the UE desires to complete the packet data transmission; or the like, or, alternatively,

the auxiliary information includes: and the UE and the network equipment finish the relation between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE and a preset threshold value after the transmission of the packet data is finished.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the data volume information comprises: a first index value; the first index value corresponds to the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data and is positioned in a first range; or the like, or, alternatively,

the data amount information includes: the value of the buffer status report BSR.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein prior to the distribution unit receiving the assistance information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the method further comprises: the network equipment sends a paging message to the UE; the paging message is used for indicating that downlink data exist in the network equipment and sending the downlink data to the UE;

the distribution unit receives auxiliary information sent by the UE in a non-connection state, and the auxiliary information comprises: the distribution unit receives the assistance information sent by the UE in response to the paging message.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the distribution unit receives the assistance information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, and comprises: and the distribution unit receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE when uplink packet data exists and is sent to the network equipment.

6. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the distribution unit receives the assistance information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, and comprises: the distribution unit receives a first request message sent by the UE in the non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container information element RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first request message carries the packet data; the distribution unit sending the first interface message to the concentration unit, including: the distribution unit sends the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information and the packet data to the central unit; or the like, or, alternatively,

the method further comprises the following steps: the distribution unit receives the small packet data sent by the UE in the non-connection state; the distribution unit sending the first interface message to the concentration unit, including: the distribution unit sends the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the concentration unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; restoring the UE context in response to the restore UE context request message; transmitting the packet data to the central unit based on the restored UE context.

8. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the distribution unit receives the assistance information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, and comprises: the distribution unit receives a first request message and the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first request message carries the packet data; before the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the concentration unit, the method further includes: the distribution unit sends a second interface message carrying the first request message to the concentration unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; restoring the UE context in response to the restore UE context request message; the distribution unit sending the first interface message to the concentration unit, including: sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the centralized unit based on the recovered UE context; or the like, or, alternatively,

the method further comprises the following steps: the distribution unit receives the small packet data sent by the UE in the non-connection state; before the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the concentration unit, the method further includes: the distribution unit sends a second interface message carrying the first request message to the concentration unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; restoring the UE context in response to the restore UE context request message; the distribution unit sending the first interface message to the concentration unit, including: sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the centralized unit based on the recovered UE context; the method further comprises the following steps: the distribution unit transmits the packet data to the concentration unit based on the restored UE context.

10. A control method for determining RRC state of UE is characterized in that the method is applied to the UE and comprises the following steps:

the UE sends auxiliary information to a distribution unit of the network equipment in a non-connection state; the auxiliary information is used for indicating the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data;

the UE receives an indication message sent by the distribution unit; the indication message is obtained by the central unit of the network device according to a first interface message sent by the distribution unit, the first interface message includes the auxiliary information, and the indication message is used for indicating the RRC state of the UE after the transmission of the packet data is completed by the UE and the network device;

and the UE enters a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the assistance information comprises: the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data and then the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE; or the like, or, alternatively,

the auxiliary information includes: a first bit; the value of the first bit is used for indicating the data transmission requirement; or the like, or, alternatively,

the auxiliary information includes: information of an RRC state that the UE desires to complete the packet data transmission; or the like, or, alternatively,

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data volume information comprises: a first index value; the first index value corresponds to the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data and is positioned in a first range; or the like, or, alternatively,

the data amount information includes: the value of the buffer status report BSR.

13. The method of any of claims 10-12, wherein prior to the UE sending assistance information to a distribution unit of a network device in a non-connected state, the method further comprises: the UE receives a paging message sent by the network equipment; the paging message is used for indicating that downlink data exist in the network equipment and sending the downlink data to the UE;

the UE sending the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state, including: in response to the paging message, the UE transmits the assistance information to the distribution unit.

14. The method of any of claims 10-12, wherein the UE sending assistance information to a distribution unit of a network device in a non-connected state, comprises: and when uplink packet data exists and is sent to the network equipment, the UE sends the auxiliary information to the distribution unit in the non-connection state.

15. The method of any of claims 10-14, wherein the UE sending assistance information to a distribution unit of a network device in a non-connected state, comprises: the UE sends a first request message to the distribution unit in the non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

16. The method of any of claims 10-14, wherein the UE sending assistance information to a distribution unit of a network device in a non-connected state, comprises: the UE sends a first request message and the auxiliary information to the distribution unit in the non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein the first interface message is an F1 interface message transmitted between the central unit and the distribution unit, and the first request message is an RRC recovery request message or an RRC data early transfer request message.

18. The method of any of claims 15-17, wherein uplink packet data is carried in the first request message and downlink packet data is carried in the indication message.

19. The method according to any of claims 15-17, wherein uplink packet data is data sent by said UE to said distribution unit together with said first request message in said non-connected state, and downlink packet data is data sent by said distribution unit to said UE together with said indication message.

20. The method of any one of claims 15-17, wherein the first request message is an RRC message sent by the UE based on resources allocated by a random access response sent by the network device, wherein the random access response is a message sent by the network device based on a random access preamble response sent by the UE; or the like, or, alternatively,

the first request message is an RRC message which is sent together when the UE sends a random access preamble to the network equipment; or the like, or, alternatively,

the first request message is an RRC message sent by the UE to the network equipment based on the pre-configured uplink resource.

21. A network device comprising a transceiver, a processor and a memory for storing a computer program, the processor invoking the computer program for performing the method of any one of claims 1-9.

22. A user equipment comprising a transceiver, a processor and a memory for storing a computer program, the processor invoking the computer program for performing the method of any one of claims 10-20.

23. A computer storage medium, characterized in that the computer storage medium stores a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of claims 1-9 or the method of any of claims 10-20.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and a related apparatus for controlling a radio resource control state of a user equipment.

Background

In a communication system, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer may be included in a communication protocol stack between a User Equipment (UE) and a network device. There are currently three RRC states for a UE, namely RRC idle (RRC idle) state, RRC inactive (RRC INACTIVE) state, and RRC CONNECTED (RRC CONNECTED) state.

Generally, when the UE is in the RRC CONNECTED state, data can be transmitted between the UE and the network device. However, in some scenarios, the data packets to be transmitted by the UE in the RRCIDLE state or the RRC INACTIVE state are very small, and such data packets may be referred to as packet data, such as instant messaging messages, heartbeat packets, and periodic data. And the signaling required for the UE to enter the RRC CONNECTED state from the RRC idle state or RRC INACTIVE state is even larger than the packet data, thereby causing unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead for the UE. In order to avoid the above situation, the UE in the RRC state or RRC INACTIVE state may transmit packet data during the random access procedure, or may transmit packet data based on the preconfigured uplink resource without entering the RRC CONNECTED state and then transmitting packet data.

However, after the UE and the network device complete one transmission of uplink and/or downlink packet data, the central unit of the network device cannot know whether the UE needs to transmit data subsequently, so that the UE may enter an unsuitable RRC state under the instruction of the central unit, thereby affecting the subsequent data transmission of the UE. For example, if there is no data transmission requirement for the UE subsequently or a data packet transmitted by the UE subsequently is still a small packet of data, but the UE enters the RRC CONNECTED state under the instruction of the central unit, the power consumption of the UE is high. If the number of subsequent data packets to be transmitted by the UE is large, but the UE enters RRC INACTIVE state or RRCIDLE state under the instruction of the central unit, the UE needs to re-initiate the random access process for normal data transmission, thereby causing unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead. Therefore, how to avoid the UE entering into an unsuitable RRC state after completing the transmission of the packet data is a problem being studied by those skilled in the art to reduce the impact on the UE in subsequent data transmission.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a control method and a related device for controlling an RRC (radio resource control) state of User Equipment (UE), which can avoid that the UE enters an improper RRC state after completing transmission of small packet data, and reduce the influence on subsequent data transmission of the UE.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE, which is applied to a network device, where the network device includes a centralized unit and at least one distributed unit, and the method includes: the distribution unit receives auxiliary information sent by the UE in a non-connection state; the auxiliary information is used for indicating the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data; the distribution unit obtains a first interface message according to the auxiliary information; the first interface message includes the auxiliary information; the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the concentration unit; the central unit obtains an indication message according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message; the indication message is used for indicating the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data; the centralized unit transmits the indication message to the UE through the distribution unit.

In the embodiment of the present application, for a network device including a central unit and a distribution unit, a UE in a non-connection state may report auxiliary information while requesting to perform the packet data with the network device. The centralized unit may obtain, through the auxiliary information, a data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. And, the central unit may determine, by referring to the data transmission requirement of the UE, an indication message for indicating the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. Therefore, the problem that the centralized unit indicates the UE to enter an improper RRC state under the condition that the centralized unit cannot know the data transmission requirement of the UE after the packet data transmission is finished is avoided as much as possible. The method reduces the influence on the subsequent data transmission of the UE, and effectively avoids unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the auxiliary information includes: the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data and then the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE; or, the auxiliary information includes: a first bit; indicating the data transmission requirement by the value of the first bit; or, the auxiliary information includes: information of an RRC state that the UE desires to complete the packet data transmission; or, the auxiliary information includes: and the relation between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE and a preset threshold value after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data.

In a possible implementation manner, the data amount information includes: a first index value; the first index value corresponds to that the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data is in a first range; or, the data amount information includes: the value of the buffer status report BSR.

In the embodiment of the application, the information included by the auxiliary information can be in various forms, the implementation is flexible, and the application scene is wider. For example, if the network device cannot effectively identify the assistance information of the RRC state that the UE wishes to complete the above packet data transmission, the UE may feed back the assistance information including the value of the first index or the BSR.

In a possible implementation manner, before the distribution unit receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the method further includes: the network equipment sends a paging message to the UE; the paging message is used for the network equipment to indicate that downlink data exists and send the downlink data to the UE; the above-mentioned distribution unit receives the auxiliary information that UE sends under the non-connected state, including: the distribution unit receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE in response to the paging message.

Specifically, the central unit may send downlink packet data to the distribution unit after the distribution unit recovers the UE context, and send the downlink packet data to the UE through the distribution unit.

Specifically, the central unit may receive uplink packet data sent by the UE through the distribution unit. Wherein the uplink packet data is sent to the distribution unit together when the UE sends the auxiliary information in the non-connected state.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving, by the distribution unit, the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state includes: the distribution unit receives a first request message sent by the UE in the non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container information element RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

In the embodiment of the present application, the auxiliary information may be carried in the first request message, and therefore, an additional RRC message may not be required to be added between the UE and the distribution unit. Moreover, the auxiliary information carried in the first request message may be placed in the RRC Container IE of the first interface message, so that the first interface message may not need to add an IE, and the processing logic of the distribution unit may be changed less. The use scene of the auxiliary information is less limited, and the application range is wider.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message carries the packet data; the sending, by the distribution unit, the first interface message to the concentration unit includes: the distribution unit transmits the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information and the packet data to the central unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the distribution unit receives the packet data transmitted by the UE in the non-connected state; the sending, by the distribution unit, the first interface message to the concentration unit includes: the distribution unit sends the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the concentration unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; responding to the UE context restoring request message, restoring the UE context; and transmitting the packet data to the centralized unit based on the restored UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving, by the distribution unit, the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state includes: the distribution unit receives a first request message and the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

In the embodiment of the present application, the auxiliary information may be sent together with the first request message, and the auxiliary information may include more information and may also be in a more flexible form. The centralized unit can also obtain more comprehensive auxiliary information, thereby further avoiding the problem that the centralized unit indicates the UE to enter an improper RRC state under the condition that the centralized unit cannot know the data transmission requirement of the UE after completing the packet data transmission. The method reduces the influence on the subsequent data transmission of the UE, and effectively avoids unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message carries the packet data; before the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the concentration unit, the method further includes: the distribution unit sends a second interface message carrying the first request message to the concentration unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; responding to the UE context restoring request message, restoring the UE context; the sending, by the distribution unit, the first interface message to the concentration unit includes: and sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the centralized unit based on the recovered UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the distribution unit receives the packet data transmitted by the UE in the non-connected state; before the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the concentration unit, the method further includes: the distribution unit sends a second interface message carrying the first request message to the concentration unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; responding to the UE context restoring request message, restoring the UE context; the sending, by the distribution unit, the first interface message to the concentration unit includes: sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the central unit based on the recovered UE context; the method further comprises the following steps: the distribution unit transmits the packet data to the concentration unit based on the restored UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, the first interface message is an F1 interface message transmitted between the central unit and the distribution unit, and the first request message is an RRC recovery request message or an RRC data early-transfer request message.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, and the downlink packet data is carried in the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is data that the UE sends to the distribution unit together with the first request message in the non-connected state, and the uplink packet data is data that the distribution unit sends to the concentration unit after recovering the UE context; the downlink packet data is data that the central unit transmits to the UE through the distribution unit after the distribution unit recovers the UE context, and the downlink packet data is data that the distribution unit transmits to the UE together with the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message is an RRC message sent by the UE based on resources allocated by a random access response sent by the network device, where the random access response is a random access preamble response sent by the network device based on the UE; or, the first request message is an RRC message that is sent together when the UE sends a random access preamble to the network device; or, the first request message is an RRC message that is sent by the UE to the network device based on a preconfigured uplink resource.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first request message carrying the auxiliary information, or the first request message sent together with the auxiliary information may be an RRC message in multiple application scenarios. Accordingly, the auxiliary information can be applied to various application scenarios, and the application range is wider.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another method for controlling an RRC state of a UE, where the method is applied to the UE, and the method includes: the UE sends auxiliary information to a distribution unit of the network equipment in a non-connection state; the auxiliary information is used for indicating the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data; the UE receives an indication message sent by the distribution unit; the indication message is obtained by the central unit of the network device according to a first interface message sent by the distribution unit, where the first interface message includes the auxiliary information, and the indication message is used to indicate the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data; and the UE enters a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the auxiliary information includes: the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data and then the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE; or, the auxiliary information includes: a first bit; the value of the first bit is used for indicating the data transmission requirement; or, the auxiliary information includes: information of an RRC state that the UE desires to complete the packet data transmission; or, the auxiliary information includes: and the relation between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE and a preset threshold value after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data.

In a possible implementation manner, before the UE sends the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state, the method further includes: the UE receives a paging message sent by the network equipment; the paging message is used for the network equipment to indicate that downlink data exists and send the downlink data to the UE; the sending, by the UE, the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state includes: in response to the paging message, the UE transmits the assistance information to the distribution unit.

Specifically, the UE may receive downlink packet data sent by the central unit through the distribution unit. The downlink packet data is data sent by the central unit to the distribution unit after the distribution unit recovers the UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the UE, the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state includes: when there is uplink packet data to send to the network device, the UE sends the auxiliary information to the distribution unit in the non-connected state.

Specifically, the UE may send the uplink packet data to the distribution unit together when sending the auxiliary information in the non-connected state, so that the uplink packet data is sent to the central unit through the distribution unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the UE, the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state includes: the UE sends a first request message to the distribution unit in the non-connected state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the UE, the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state includes: the UE sending a first request message and the auxiliary information to the distribution unit in the non-connected state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, and the downlink packet data is carried in the indication message.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including a centralized unit and at least one distributed unit, where: the distribution unit is configured to receive auxiliary information sent by the UE in a non-connected state; the auxiliary information is used for indicating the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data; the distribution unit is configured to obtain a first interface message according to the auxiliary information; the first interface message includes the auxiliary information; the distribution unit is configured to send the first interface message to the central unit; the centralized unit is configured to obtain an indication message according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message; the indication message is used for indicating the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data; the centralized unit is configured to send the indication message to the UE through the distribution unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the central unit is further configured to page, by the distribution unit, a message to the UE before the distribution unit receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state; the paging message is used for the network equipment to indicate that downlink data exists and send the downlink data to the UE; the distribution unit is configured to, when receiving the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, specifically: and receiving the auxiliary information sent by the UE in response to the paging message.

In a possible implementation manner, when the distribution unit is configured to receive the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the distribution unit is specifically configured to: and receiving the auxiliary information sent by the UE when uplink packet data exists and is sent to the network equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, when the distribution unit is configured to receive the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the distribution unit is specifically configured to: receiving a first request message sent by the UE in the non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message carries the packet data; the distribution unit is configured to, when sending the first interface message to the central unit, specifically: and sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information and the packet data to the central unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the distribution unit is further configured to: receiving the packet data transmitted by the UE in the non-connected state; the distribution unit is configured to, when sending the first interface message to the central unit, specifically: sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the central unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; responding to the UE context restoring request message, restoring the UE context; and transmitting the packet data to the centralized unit based on the restored UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, when the distribution unit is configured to receive the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the distribution unit is specifically configured to: receiving a first request message and the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message carries the packet data; the distribution unit is further configured to send a second interface message carrying the first request message to the central unit before the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the central unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; responding to the UE context restoring request message, restoring the UE context; the distribution unit is configured to, when sending the first interface message to the central unit, specifically: and sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the centralized unit based on the recovered UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, the distribution unit is further configured to: receiving the packet data transmitted by the UE in the non-connected state; the distribution unit is further configured to send a second interface message carrying the first request message to the central unit before the distribution unit sends the first interface message to the central unit; receiving a UE context recovery request message sent by the centralized unit; responding to the UE context restoring request message, restoring the UE context; the distribution unit is configured to, when sending the first interface message to the central unit, specifically: sending the first interface message carrying the auxiliary information to the central unit based on the recovered UE context; the distribution unit is further configured to: and transmitting the packet data to the centralized unit based on the restored UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, and the downlink packet data is carried in the indication message.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a user equipment UE, including: a first sending unit, configured to send the auxiliary information to a distribution unit of the network device in a non-connected state; the auxiliary information is used for indicating the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data; a first receiving unit, configured to receive the indication message sent by the distribution unit; the indication message is obtained by the central unit of the network device according to a first interface message sent by the distribution unit, where the first interface message includes the auxiliary information, and the indication message is used to indicate the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data; and a state setting unit, configured to enter a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the auxiliary information includes: the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data and then the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE; or, the auxiliary information includes: a first bit; the value of the first bit is used for indicating the data transmission requirement; or, the auxiliary information includes: information of an RRC state that the UE desires to complete the packet data transmission; or, the auxiliary information includes: and the relation between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE and a preset threshold value after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data.

In a possible implementation manner, the UE further includes: a second receiving unit, configured to receive a paging message sent by the network device; the paging message is used for the network equipment to indicate that downlink data exists and send the downlink data to the UE; the first sending unit is specifically configured to send, in response to the paging message, the auxiliary information to the distribution unit by the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the first sending unit is specifically configured to send the auxiliary information to the distribution unit in the non-connection state when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the first sending unit is specifically configured to send a first request message to the distribution unit in the non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first sending unit is specifically configured to send a first request message and the auxiliary information to the distribution unit in the non-connected state; the first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, and the downlink packet data is carried in the indication message.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including a transceiver, a processor, and a memory; the memory is configured to store a computer program code, where the computer program code includes a computer instruction, and the processor invokes the computer instruction to cause the network device to execute the method for controlling the RRC state of the UE provided in any one of the implementation manners of the first aspect and the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a user equipment UE, including a transceiver, a processor, and a memory; the memory is configured to store a computer program code, where the computer program code includes a computer instruction, and the processor invokes the computer instruction to cause the UE to execute the method for controlling the RRC state of the UE provided in any one of the implementation manners of the second aspect and the second aspect of the embodiment of the present application.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage medium stores a computer program, where the computer program includes program instructions, and the program instructions, when executed by a processor, are configured to perform the method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to any one of the implementation manners of the first aspect, the second aspect, the first aspect, or the second aspect of the present application.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which when run on a communication device, causes the communication device to execute the method for controlling an RRC state of a UE provided in any one implementation manner of the first aspect, the second aspect, the first aspect, or the second aspect of the present application.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip, where the chip includes at least one processor and an interface circuit, and optionally, the chip further includes a memory; the memory, the interface circuit and the at least one processor are interconnected by a circuit, and the at least one memory stores a computer program; the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the method for controlling RRC state of UE provided in any one of the implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect. In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, where the electronic device includes an apparatus for performing the method described in any embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device is for example a chip.

It is to be understood that the network device provided in the fifth aspect provided above, the user equipment provided in the sixth aspect provided above, the computer storage medium provided in the seventh aspect, the computer program product provided in the eighth aspect, and the chip provided in the ninth aspect are all configured to execute the method for controlling the RRC state of the UE provided in the first and second aspects. Therefore, the beneficial effects that can be achieved by the method can refer to the beneficial effects in the control method of the RRC state of the UE provided in the first aspect and the second aspect, and are not described herein again.

Drawings

The drawings used in the embodiments of the present application are described below.

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

fig. 2 is a schematic architecture diagram of a new radio access NR system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is an architectural diagram of a communication protocol stack of an NR system;

fig. 4 is an architectural diagram of a communication protocol stack of yet another NR system;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a transition of a radio resource control RRC state of a user equipment UE;

6-11 are flow diagrams of some packet data transmission processes provided by embodiments of the present application;

fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic flowchart of a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiment of the present application, the network device may be a device for sending or receiving information. Such as but not limited to: a base station, a User Equipment (UE), a wireless Access Point (AP), a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), a relay device, or other network devices having the function of the base station. Also, the network device may include a Central Unit (CU) and at least one Distributed Unit (DU).

A base station is a device deployed in a Radio Access Network (RAN) for providing a wireless communication function. The names of the base stations may be different in different wireless access systems. Such as, but not limited to, Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in global system for mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Node Bs (NB) in Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), evolved node bs (eNodeB) in Long Term Evolution (LTE), and also fifth generation mobile communication technologies (5G), i.e., next generation base stations (gnode B, gNB) in new radio access (NR), or base stations in other future network systems.

In the embodiment of the present application, the UE is a device having a communication function, and may be, but is not limited to, a mobile terminal having a wireless communication function. In some scenarios, a UE may also be referred to as a terminal, mobile station, access terminal, user agent, etc. For example, the UE is a terminal in the form of a handheld device, a wearable device, a computing device, a portable device, or a vehicle mounted device. For example, the UE is specifically a device such as a cellular phone, a smart phone, smart glasses, a laptop, a personal digital assistant, or a cordless phone.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication system may be, but is not limited to, GSM, CDMA, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), time-division code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), LTE, NR, or other future network systems.

As shown in fig. 1, the communication system may include a core network 110, a base station 120, and a UE 130. The core network 110 may be connected to at least one base station 120, the base station 120 may provide wireless communication services for at least one UE130, and the UE130 may be connected to any one of the base stations 120 through an air interface. The core network 110 is a key control node in the communication system, and is mainly responsible for signaling processing functions, such as but not limited to functions for implementing access control, mobility management, session management, and the like. The core network 110 may send downlink data to the UE130 through the base station 120, and the UE130 may also send uplink data to the core network 110 through the connected base station 120. Corresponding to the description of the network device, the base station 120 may be a distributed base station, and may include a CU and at least one DU. For the descriptions of the base station 120 and the UE130, reference may be made to the descriptions of the network device and the UE, which are not described herein again. It should be noted that the forms and numbers of the core network, the base stations and the UEs shown in fig. 1 are only used for example, some base stations in the communication system may not be distributed base stations, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

For convenience of understanding, in the embodiments of the present application, a communication system in which LTE and/or NR are mainly applied is mainly used, and a network device is taken as an example of a base station. However, the LTE technology is mature, and the related descriptions of the system architecture and the communication protocol stack will not be explained in detail. Next, the system architecture and communication protocol stack of NR will be mainly explained.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an NR system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NR system may include a 5G core network (5GCore, 5GC)210, a NR-RAN node 220, and a UE230, and the NR-RAN node 220 may include at least one gNB2200 connected to the 5GC210 through an NG interface. Wherein, the 5GC210 corresponds to the core network 110 in fig. 1, the gNB2200 corresponds to the base station 120 in fig. 1, and the UE230 corresponds to the UE130 in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 2, the gNB2200 may include one CU2201 (hereinafter, referred to as gNB-CU for ease of distinction) and at least one DU2202 (hereinafter, referred to as gNB-DU for ease of distinction). Of course, the gNB2200 may also include a plurality of CNs 2201, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. The gNB-CU2201 and the gNB-DU2202 can be connected through an F1 interface. For the NR-RAN220, the gnbs 2200 may be connected by an Xn-C interface. The UE230 may be connected to any one of the gNB-DUs 2202 in the gNB2200 through the Uu interface, and may communicate with the 5GC210 through the gNB 2200. It should be noted that the shapes and numbers of the 5GC, NR-RAN node, gNB-CU, gNB-DU, and UE shown in fig. 2 are only used for example, part of the gNB in the NR system may not be a distributed base station, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

In a mobile communication system, a communication protocol stack between a UE and a base station may be divided into a control plane protocol stack for control information transmission and a user plane protocol stack for data transmission. The architectures of the control plane protocol stacks of the LTE system and the NR system are consistent, and for the architecture of the user plane protocol stack, the NR system adds a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer more than the LTE system. Next, a user plane protocol stack and a control plane protocol stack of the NR system will be mainly explained.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a user plane protocol stack of an NR system. The user plane protocol stack may include a Physical (PHY) layer, a Media Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture of a control plane protocol stack of the NR system. The control plane protocol stack may include a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RLC layer, a PDCP layer, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, a non-access stratum (NAS).

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the PHY layer may provide a data transmission service to a higher layer (e.g., a MAC layer) through a physical channel. At the PHY layer, data may be transmitted through a physical channel. The PHY layer may also be connected to the MAC layer via a transport channel, through which data may be transmitted between the MAC layer and the PHY layer.

The MAC layer may provide services to a higher layer (e.g., RLC layer) via logical channels. The MAC may provide a function of mapping a plurality of logical channels to a plurality of transport channels, and may also provide a function of logical channel multiplexing for mapping a plurality of logical channels to a single transport channel. The logical channels may be classified into a control channel for transmitting control information in a control plane and a traffic channel for transmitting user data in a user plane according to the type of transmission information. The control channel may include, but is not limited to, a Common Control Channel (CCCH) and a Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH). The traffic channel may include, but is not limited to, a Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH). The CCCH may be present all the time and may be used by UEs that do not have an RRC connection with the RAN node. The DCCH may be used for transmission of dedicated control information between the UE and the RAN node. The DTCH may be used for the transmission of user data between the UE and the RAN node. Generally, DCCH and DTCH do not always exist, but after a base station connected to a UE restores a UE context (UE context), the DCCH and DTCH can be used for communication between the UE and the base station. The UE context includes, but is not limited to, an identifier of a terminal, a Radio Bearer (RB) related configuration, a security encryption related configuration, a quality of service related configuration, and the like.

The RLC layer may provide services for higher layers (e.g., PDCP layer), such as retransmission services through automatic retransmission request (ARQ), to ensure reliability of data transmission. The PDCP layer may provide security functions, such as ciphering and integrity protection of information carried on the RB at the PDCP layer. Wherein, the RB may be a service provided by the RLC layer for a higher layer (e.g., RRC layer). The RB may be a connection format set between the UE and the RAN node and may include the relevant configuration of physical channels, transport channels, and logical channels. The RB may be divided into a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) for transmitting control information in the control plane and a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for transmitting user data in the user plane.

As shown in fig. 4, the RRC layer may be used to transmit RRC messages between the UE and the base station. For example, but not limited to, an RRC resume request (RRCResumeRequest) message in the NR may be used for the UE to request resumption of the RRC connection that has been suspended, thereby transmitting data with the base station. For the RRC layer, there are currently three RRC states of the UE, namely, an RRC idle (RRC idle) state, an RRC inactive (RRC INACTIVE) state, and an RRC CONNECTED (RRC CONNECTED) state. The UE performs most of the different operations in different RRC states, and the three states of the transition process may specifically refer to the example in fig. 5.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating RRC state transition of a UE. Specifically, when the UE is in the RRC CONNECTED state, an RRC connection exists between the UE and the base station, so that information such as user data can be transmitted and received. The UE may enter the RRC IDLE state from the RRC CONNECTED state at the direction of the base station. When the UE is in the RRC IDLE state, there is no RRC connection between the UE and the base station. For example, after the UE receives the RRC connection release message sent by the base station, the RRC connection between the UE and the base station may be stopped, and the RAN node may delete the UE context of the UE.

RRC INACTIVE state is the newly added RRC state in NR. Generally, for a UE with infrequent data transmission, the base station will normally keep the UE in RRC INACTIVE state. The UE may also enter RRC INACTIVE state from RRC CONNECTED state at the direction of the base station. For example, after the UE receives an RRC connection release message with a suspend indication sent by the base station, the RRC connection between the UE and the base station may be suspended, but at least one RAN node retains the UE context of the UE. Therefore, the UE enters the RRC CONNECTED state from the RRC INACTIVE state faster than it enters the RRC CONNECTED state from the RRC IDLE state. The UE may also enter the RRC IDLE state from the RRC INACTIVE state under the instruction of the base station, and the specific procedure is similar to the above-mentioned entering of the RRC IDLE state from the RRC CONNECTED state.

When there is uplink data to be transmitted to the base station, the UE in the RRC IDLE state or RRC INACTIVE state may perform a random access procedure and then enter a corresponding RRC state under the instruction of the base station. The message sent by the UE to the base station in the third step of the random access procedure may be referred to as message 3, which is abbreviated as msg 3. The msg3 (i.e., RRC messages) are different when the UE is in different RRC states and in different traffic scenarios. For example, if there is a large amount of data to be sent to the base station by the UE in RRC INACTIVE state, msg3 is an rrcresumrequest message, so as to request to resume the RRC connection that has been suspended and enter RRC CONNECTED state to transmit data with the base station. It should be noted that, the base station does not only indicate the RRC state of the UE according to the message (e.g., msg3) sent by the UE, but also needs to determine the indicated RRC state of the UE by comprehensively considering network conditions such as network congestion, resource scheduling, resource occupation, and the like.

As shown in fig. 4, the NAS layer may be used to provide session management, mobility management, and the like. The 5GC may include access and mobility management functions (AMFs). The AMF is used to take charge of mobility management functions in the control plane, for example, but not limited to, the AMF device may perform NAS signaling security, NAS signaling termination, and the like.

It can be understood that, compared with the user plane protocol stack of LTE, the user plane protocol stack of NR has an additional SDAP layer, but the architectures of other layers are consistent, and the specific description is similar and will not be repeated. The control plane protocol stack of LTE and the control plane protocol stack of NR have the same architecture, and the specific description of each layer is similar and will not be described again.

It is to be understood that the architecture and the service scenario described in this application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of this application, and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solution provided in this application, and it is known to those skilled in the art that as the network architecture evolves and a new service scenario appears, the technical solution provided in this application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

Based on the above description of fig. 1-5, it can be obtained that: generally, if uplink data exists in the UE in the RRC IDLE state or RRC INACTIVE state and is transmitted to the base station, or the UE in the RRC IDLE state or RRC INACTIVE state receives a Paging (Paging) message transmitted by the base station, where the Paging message is used by the base station to indicate that downlink data exists and is transmitted to the UE, the UE needs to perform a random access procedure and enter an RRC CONNECTED state, and then transmit data with the base station in the RRC CONNECTED state. However, the above method is more suitable for a case where the amount of data transmitted between the UE and the base station is large. If the transmitted data packet is small, the data packet can be called small packet data (smalrdata), and signaling required in the process of switching the state of the UE is even larger than the small packet data, thereby causing unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

In this embodiment of the application, the packet data may be, but is not limited to, a data packet whose data amount is smaller than a preset threshold (for example, the size of a transmission block indicated by the base station), a data packet whose data label is packet data, a data packet whose data type belongs to packet data, and the like. Wherein, the data tag and/or the data type may be negotiated by the UE and the network device. For example, the data tag may include a large packet of data and a small packet of data. For example, data of which the data type is a heartbeat packet is packet data, and data of which the data type is a file, video or audio is not packet data. Packet data is for example but not limited to: the method comprises the steps of instant messaging messages such as WeChat and QQ, infrequent prompt messages such as push messages of an application program, and periodic data such as heartbeat packages, step number detection, heart rate detection and readings of an intelligent electric meter of the application program.

In order to avoid the above situation, the UE in the RRC idle state or the RRC INACTIVE state (which may be referred to as a non-CONNECTED state hereinafter) may perform packet data transmission with the network device through the first request message, for example, transmit uplink packet data when the first request message is transmitted, so that the UE may not need to enter the RRC CONNECTED state and then transmit the packet data. The first request message may be an RRC message in any one of the following three cases.

In case one, the first request message is an RRC message (i.e., the msg3 described above) sent by the UE to the base station in the third step of the four-step random access procedure. Specifically, the RRC message is a message sent by the UE based on a resource allocated by a Random Access Response (RAR) sent by the base station, and the RAR is a message sent by the base station based on a random access preamble (random access preamble) sent by the UE. For example, Early Data Transmission (EDT) of LTE may enable a UE to transmit small packet data in an RRC IDLE state. For an example of the transmission process of the packet data, refer to fig. 6 and fig. 7 specifically, fig. 6 is a flowchart of the transmission process under the control plane, and fig. 7 is a flowchart of the transmission process under the user plane.

In the second case, the first request message is an RRC message sent by the UE to the base station in the first step of the two-step random access procedure, and may be referred to as messageA, which is abbreviated as msgA. Specifically, the RRC message is an RRC message that is sent together when the UE sends a random access preamble to the base station. For an example of the transmission process of the packet data in case two, refer to fig. 8 and fig. 9 specifically, fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of the transmission process under the control plane, and fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of the transmission process under the user plane.

In case three, the first request message is an RRC message that the UE sends to the base station based on the preconfigured uplink resource. For an example of the transmission process of the packet data in case three, specifically, refer to fig. 10 and fig. 11, fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of the transmission process under the control plane, and fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of the transmission process under the user plane.

Referring to fig. 6 and 7, fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission process of packet data under a control plane according to an embodiment of the present application, and fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission process of packet data under a user plane according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 6, the transmission procedure under the control plane shown in fig. 6 includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s601: and the UE sends random access preamble to the base station.

S602: and responding to the random access preamble, and sending the RAR to the UE by the base station.

S603: and based on the resources distributed by the RAR, the UE sends an RRC message carrying the uplink packet data to the base station.

S604: and the base station sends uplink packet data to the core network.

S605: the base station transmits a response message to the UE.

Specifically, when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the base station, the UE may initiate a four-step random access process, and in a third step of the four-step random access process, send msg3 (i.e., the RRC message) carrying the uplink packet data to the base station. For example, the msg3 sent by the UE may be an RRC data early request (RRCEarlyDataRequest) message.

The RRC messages may be different when the UE is in different RRC states and in different service scenarios. For example, the msg3 sent by the UE in the RRC IDLE state (optionally, the UE may store UE context such as configuration information for obtaining a key used to encrypt the uplink packet data at this time) may be an RRC connection request (RRCConnectionRequest) message, an RRC connection recovery request (RRCConnectionResumeRequest) message, an rrcearrydatarequest message, an rrcresumererequest message, an RRC setup request (RRCSetupRequest) message, or another RRC message having the same function but not standardized by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP). The msg3 sent by the UE in state RRC INACTIVE may also be an RRCConnectionRequest message, an rrcconnectionresumerrequest message, an RRCEarlyDataRequest message, an rrcresumrequest message, an RRCSetupRequest message, or other RRC messages with the same functionality but not standardized by 3 GPP.

The uplink packet data may be carried in the RRC message and transmitted on the CCCH. For example, the uplink packet data may be carried in an IE (e.g., dedicated information NAS (dedicatedinfonas)) related to the NAS layer included in the RRCEarlyDataRequest message, and transmitted on the CCCH. Accordingly, the base station may send the uplink packet data to the core network through the msg3 carrying the uplink packet data. For example, the base station may transmit the uplink packet data to the core network by forwarding the NAS layer related IE included in the msg 3.

The base station may then send a response message to the UE. In some embodiments, before S605, if the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send the downlink packet data to the base station. Then, in S605, the base station may send the downlink packet data to the UE through a response message carrying the downlink packet data. Wherein, the downlink packet data may be carried in the response message and transmitted on the CCCH. For example, the response message is an RRC data early complete (RRCEarlyDataComplete) message, and the downlink packet data may be carried in an IE related to the NAS layer included in the RRCEarlyDataComplete message and transmitted on the CCCH.

And if the UE does not receive any response message, the uplink packet data transmission is considered to be unsuccessful. If the UE receives the response message sent by the base station, the UE may obtain whether the uplink packet data is successfully transmitted according to the response message. For example, the response message sent by the base station may be an RRCEarlyDataComplete message or an RRC connection setup (RRCConnectionSetup) message, and the UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the response message.

In some embodiments, if the core network does not have a need for further data transmission, the response message may be used to indicate that the UE has successfully transmitted the uplink packet data, and indicate that the UE remains in the current non-connected state. For example, the response message is an RRCEarlyDataComplete message, an RRC connection release (RRCConnectionRelease) message, an RRC release (RRCRelease) message, or other RRC messages having the same function but not standardized by 3 GPP. The UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the response message.

In some embodiments, if the core network has a need for further data transmission, and the core network may trigger an indication procedure of connection establishment, the response message may be used to indicate that the UE falls back to the RRC CONNECTED state. For example, the response message is an RRCConnectionSetup message, an RRC connection recovery (rrcconnectionsesume) message, an RRC setup (RRCSetup) message, an RRC recovery (rrcreesume) message, or other RRC messages having the same function but not standardized by 3 GPP. The UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the response message.

In some embodiments, the response message is used to indicate that the UE fails to transmit the uplink packet data, and indicate that the UE remains in a current non-connected state. For example, the response message is an RRC connection reject (RRCConnectionReject) message, an RRC reject (RRCReject) message, or other RRC messages having the same function but not standardized by 3 GPP. The UE may obtain the failure of the uplink packet data transmission according to the response message.

As shown in fig. 7, the transmission process under the user plane shown in fig. 7 includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s701: and the UE sends random access preamble to the base station.

S702: and responding to the random access preamble, and sending the RAR to the UE by the base station.

S703: and based on the resources allocated by the RAR, the UE sends uplink packet data and an RRC message to the base station.

S704: and the base station recovers the context of the UE and sends uplink packet data to the core network.

S705: the base station transmits a response message to the UE.

Specifically, when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the base station, the UE may initiate a four-step random access procedure, and in a third step of the random access procedure, send msg3 (i.e., the above-mentioned RRC message) and the uplink packet data to the base station together. For example, the msg3 sent by the UE may be a rrcconnectionresumerrequest message or a rrcresumererequest message. The RRC messages may be different when the UE is in different RRC states and in different service scenarios, and specifically refer to an example of the RRC message in fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

The uplink packet data may be transmitted on a DTCH, and the RRC message may be transmitted on a CCCH. Accordingly, the base station may restore the UE context and send the received uplink packet data to the core network.

The base station may then send a response message to the UE. In some embodiments, before S705, if the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send the downlink packet data to the base station. Then, in S705, the base station may transmit the downlink packet data to the UE together when transmitting the response message. Wherein, the downlink packet data can be transmitted on DTCH and multiplexed with the response message transmitted on DCCH.

And if the UE does not receive any response message, the uplink packet data transmission is considered to be unsuccessful. If the UE receives the response message sent by the base station, the UE may obtain whether the uplink packet data is successfully transmitted according to the response message. For example, the response message sent by the base station may be an RRCConnectionRelease message, an rrcconnectionresponse message, an RRCConnectionSetup message, an rrcelease message, an rrcreesume message, or an RRCSetup message, and the UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the response message. The description of the response message may specifically refer to the description of the response message in fig. 6, and is not repeated herein.

Fig. 6 and fig. 7 illustrate an example where the UE performs S601 and/or S701 when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the base station, that is, the UE actively initiates a transmission process of the packet data. However, in a specific implementation, there is also a case where the UE passively initiates a transmission process of the packet data under the instruction of the base station, for example, a terminal terminated (MT) EDT (MT-EDT for short) in LTE. The transmission process in this case is similar to the transmission process shown in fig. 6 and 7, with the following differences:

before S601, when the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send a paging message to the base station. Optionally, the paging message may carry data amount information of downlink packet data. Accordingly, the base station may send a paging message to the UE to enable the UE to initiate a four-step random access procedure, i.e., perform the above-mentioned S601-S603. For example, the base station may trigger the MT-EDT according to the paging message and send a paging message carrying the MT-EDT indication to the UE, so that the UE triggers the MO-EDT for the MT-EDT. The difference between the above process of actively initiating packet data transmission by the UE is that: in S603, the RRC message sent by the UE to the base station may not carry uplink packet data, and optionally, may also carry reason information for triggering MT-EDT. Accordingly, S604 may be changed to the base station receiving the downlink packet data sent by the core network. In S605, the response message sent by the base station to the UE carries the downlink packet data.

Similarly, before S701, when the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send a paging message to the base station. Optionally, the paging message may carry data amount information of downlink packet data. Accordingly, the base station may send a paging message to the UE, so that the UE initiates a four-step random access procedure, i.e., performs the above-mentioned S701-S703. The difference between the above process of actively initiating packet data transmission by the UE is that: in S703, the UE may only send an RRC message to the base station, and does not send uplink packet data, and optionally, may also carry reason information for triggering MT-EDT. Accordingly, S704 may be changed to the base station receiving the downlink packet data sent by the core network. S705 may be modified to send a response message and downlink packet data to the UE.

Referring to fig. 8 and 9, fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a transmission process of another type of under-control packet data provided in an embodiment of the present application, and fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a transmission process of another type of under-user-plane packet data provided in an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 8, the transmission procedure under the control plane shown in fig. 8 includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s801: and the UE sends random access preamble and RRC message carrying uplink packet data to the base station.

S802: and the base station sends uplink packet data to the core network.

S803: the base station transmits a response message to the UE.

Specifically, when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the base station, the UE may initiate two random access processes, and in a first step of the two random access processes, send a random access preamble and msgA (i.e., the RRC message) carrying the uplink packet data to the base station. For example, the msgA sent by the UE may be a RRCResumeRequest message. The RRC messages may be different when the UE is in different RRC states and in different service scenarios, and specifically refer to an example of the RRC message in fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

The RRC message carrying the uplink packet data may be carried in a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) load, and the RRC message carrying the uplink packet data may be transmitted on the CCCH. Accordingly, the base station may send the uplink packet data to the core network through the RRC message carrying the uplink packet data, for example, the base station may send the uplink packet data to the core network through forwarding the rrcresumererequest message carrying the uplink packet data.

The base station may then send a response message to the UE. In some embodiments, before S803, if the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send the downlink packet data to the base station. Then, in S803, the base station may send the downlink packet data to the UE through a response message carrying the downlink packet data. Wherein, the downlink packet data may be carried in the response message and transmitted on the CCCH.

And if the UE does not receive any response message, the uplink packet data transmission is considered to be unsuccessful. If the UE receives the response message sent by the base station, the UE may obtain whether the uplink packet data is successfully transmitted according to the response message. For example, the response message sent by the base station may be an rrcreelease message, an RRCSetup message, or an rrcreesume message, and the UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the response message. The description of the response message may specifically refer to the description of the response message in fig. 6, and is not repeated herein.

As shown in fig. 9, the transmission process under the user plane shown in fig. 9 includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s901: and the UE sends random access preamble, RRC message and uplink packet data to the base station.

S902: and the base station recovers the context of the UE and sends uplink packet data to the core network.

S903: the base station transmits a response message to the UE.

Specifically, the process of S901 is similar to S801 of fig. 8. In contrast, in S901, the uplink packet data is not carried in the RRC message, but is transmitted together with the RRC message. In S901, the RRC message and the uplink packet data may be carried in a PUSCH payload. The uplink packet data may be transmitted on a DTCH, and the RRC message may be transmitted on a CCCH. Accordingly, the base station may restore the UE context and send the received uplink packet data to the core network. The RRC messages may be different when the UE is in different RRC states and in different service scenarios, and specifically refer to an example of the RRC message in fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

The base station may then send a response message to the UE. In some embodiments, before S903, if the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send the downlink packet data to the base station. Then, in S903, the base station may transmit downlink packet data to the UE together when transmitting the response message. Wherein, the downlink packet data can be transmitted on DTCH and multiplexed with the response message transmitted on DCCH.

And if the UE does not receive any response message, the uplink packet data transmission is considered to be unsuccessful. If the UE receives the response message sent by the base station, the UE may obtain whether the uplink packet data is successfully transmitted according to the response message. For example, the response message sent by the base station may be an rrcreelease message, an RRCSetup message, or an rrcreesume message, and the UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the response message. The description of the response message may specifically refer to the description of the response message in fig. 6, and is not repeated herein.

Fig. 8 and 9 illustrate the case where the UE performs S801 and/or S901 when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the base station, that is, the UE actively initiates a transmission process of the packet data. However, in a specific implementation, there is also a case where the UE passively initiates a transmission process of the packet data under the instruction of the base station. The transmission process in this case is similar to the transmission process shown in fig. 8 and 9, with the following differences:

before S801, when the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send a paging message to the base station. Optionally, the paging message may carry data amount information of downlink packet data. Accordingly, the base station may transmit a paging message to the UE to cause the UE to initiate a two-step random access procedure, i.e., perform S801 described above. The difference between the above process of actively initiating packet data transmission by the UE is that: in S801, the RRC message sent by the UE to the base station may not carry uplink packet data. Accordingly, S802 may be changed to receive downlink packet data sent by the core network. In S803, the response message sent by the base station to the UE carries the downlink packet data.

Similarly, before S901, when the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send a paging message to the base station. Optionally, the paging message may carry data amount information of downlink packet data. Accordingly, the base station may transmit a paging message to the UE to cause the UE to initiate a two-step random access procedure, i.e., perform the above S901. The difference between the above process of actively initiating packet data transmission by the UE is that: in S901, the UE may only send random access preamble and RRC message to the base station, and does not send uplink packet data. Accordingly, S902 may be changed to receive downlink packet data sent by the core network. S903 may be modified to send a response message and downlink packet data to the UE.

Referring to fig. 10 and fig. 11, fig. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a transmission process of another type of under-control packet data provided in an embodiment of the present application, and fig. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a transmission process of another type of under-user-plane packet data provided in an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 10, the transmission procedure under the control plane shown in fig. 10 includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s101: the UE determines that a pre-configured uplink resource can be used.

S102: and based on the preconfigured uplink resource, the UE sends an RRC message carrying uplink packet data to the base station.

S103: and the base station sends uplink packet data to the core network.

S104: the base station transmits a response message to the UE.

Specifically, the preconfigured uplink resource may be, but is not limited to, a Preconfigured Uplink Resource (PUR) or a configured resource Type one (CG Type 1). The CG Type 1 may be an uplink resource directly configured by the RRC layer, and may include, but is not limited to, a period of the uplink resource. Next, the PUR will be described as an example. The precondition for the UE to determine that the PUR can be used may be, but is not limited to: the UE may send a PUR configuration information (purconfiguration request) message to the base station when in the RRC CONNECTED state, so that when the base station indicates that the UE switches from the RRC CONNECTED state to the RRCIDLE state, the sent RRC message (for example, RRCConnectionRelease message) carries detailed PUR configuration information or PUR release indication information. The UE determines specific operations that may use the PUR, including, for example and without limitation: determining that the PUR has been started in a cell, aligning the valid times, determining that there is a valid Time Advance (TA) amount, and the like.

When the UE has uplink packet data to send to the base station and the UE determines that the preconfigured uplink resource can be used, the UE may send an RRC message carrying the uplink packet data to the base station based on the preconfigured uplink resource. The RRC message in S102 and the RRC message in S603 of fig. 6 may be the same RRC message, except that the RRC message in S102 is transmitted based on the preconfigured uplink resource, and the RRC message in S603 of fig. 6 is transmitted based on the resource allocated by the RAR. For the description of the RRC message, reference may be specifically made to the description of the RRC message in fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

Accordingly, the process of S103-S104 is similar to the process of S604-S605 of FIG. 6, and reference is made specifically to the description of S603-S605 of FIG. 6. And different from S605 of fig. 6: in some embodiments, the response message in S104 may also be a Layer one acknowledgement message (Layer 1Ack), a time Advance Command MAC Control Element (Timing Advance Command MAC Control Element), or other non-standardized response message. Among them, Layer 1Ack and Timing Advance Command MAC Control Element may be used to terminate the current procedure and update the TA of the UE. In some embodiments, before S104, if the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the transmission condition at this time is also similar to the transmission condition described in fig. 6 if the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, and details are not repeated here.

As shown in fig. 11, the transmission process under the user plane shown in fig. 11 includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s111: the UE determines that a pre-configured uplink resource can be used.

S112: and based on the pre-configured uplink resources, the UE sends uplink packet data and RRC messages to the base station.

S113: and the base station recovers the context of the UE and sends uplink packet data to the core network.

S114: the base station transmits a response message to the UE.

Specifically, for a description of the preconfigured uplink resource, reference may be made to the description of fig. 10, which is not described herein again.

Specifically, when the UE has uplink packet data to transmit to the base station and the UE determines that the preconfigured uplink resource can be used, the UE may transmit the uplink packet data and the RRC message to the base station based on the preconfigured uplink resource. The RRC message in S112 and the RRC message in S703 of fig. 7 may be the same RRC message, except that the RRC message in S112 is transmitted based on the preconfigured uplink resource, and the RRC message in S703 of fig. 7 is transmitted based on the resource allocated by the RAR. For the description of the RRC message, reference may be specifically made to the description of the RRC message in fig. 7, which is not described herein again.

Accordingly, the process of S113-S114 is similar to the process of S704-S705 of FIG. 7, and reference may be made specifically to the description of S703-S705 of FIG. 7. And unlike S705 of fig. 7: in some embodiments, the response message in S114 may also be a Layer 1Ack, Timing Advance Command MAC Control Element, or other non-standardized response message. Among them, Layer 1Ack and Timing Advance Command MAC Control Element may be used to terminate the current procedure and update the TA of the UE. Before S114, if the core network has a transmission condition that downlink packet data is sent to the UE, the transmission condition is similar to that described in fig. 7, and details are not described here.

Fig. 10 and 11 illustrate an example where the UE performs S101 and/or S111 when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the base station, that is, the UE actively initiates a transmission process of the packet data. However, in a specific implementation, there is also a case where the UE passively initiates a transmission process of the packet data under the instruction of the base station. The transmission process in this case is similar to the transmission process shown in fig. 10 and 11, with the following differences:

before S101, when the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send a paging message to the base station. Optionally, the paging message may carry data amount information of downlink packet data. Accordingly, the base station may transmit a paging message to the UE to cause the UE to perform the above-described S101-S102. The difference between the above process of actively initiating packet data transmission by the UE is that: in S102, the RRC message sent by the UE to the base station may not carry uplink packet data, and optionally, may also carry reason information for triggering MT-EDT. Accordingly, S103 may be changed to receive downlink packet data sent by the core network for the base station. In S104, the response message sent by the base station to the UE carries the downlink packet data.

Similarly, before S111, when the core network has downlink packet data to send to the UE, the core network may send a paging message to the base station. Optionally, the paging message may carry data amount information of downlink packet data. Accordingly, the base station may transmit a paging message to the UE to cause the UE to perform the above-described S111-S112. The difference between the above process of actively initiating packet data transmission by the UE is that: in S112, the UE may only send an RRC message to the base station, and does not send uplink packet data, and optionally, may also carry reason information for triggering MT-EDT. Accordingly, S113 may be changed to receive the downlink packet data sent by the core network for the base station. S114 may be modified to send the response message and the downlink packet data to the UE.

For the base station including the CU and the DU, after the UE and the base station complete the transmission of the packet data, the CU cannot know whether the UE needs to transmit data subsequently. This may cause the UE to enter an unsuitable RRC state under the instruction of the CU, thereby affecting the transmission of subsequent data by the UE, resulting in unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead by the UE. For example, the UE and the base station perform the transmission process described in fig. 6 and 7, or the UE and the base station perform the transmission process described in fig. 8 and 9, or the UE and the base station perform the transmission process described in fig. 10 and 11.

Therefore, in order to avoid the foregoing situation, embodiments of the present application provide a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE based on assistance information sent by the UE, so as to ensure transmission of subsequent data by the UE. Next, the above-described method will be explained based on some embodiments shown in fig. 1 to 11 described above.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 12 is a flowchart of the transmission process of the method under the user plane. The method may be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, and the network device in the method may be the base station 120 in the communication system shown in fig. 1. The method may also be applied to the NR system shown in fig. 2, and the network device in the method may also be the gNB2200 in the NR system shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto. The network device in the method may include a CU and at least one DU. The method includes, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s1201: and the UE sends a first request message carrying auxiliary information and uplink packet data to the DU in a non-connection state.

Specifically, the unconnected state may be RRC INACTIVE state shown in fig. 5 or RRC IDLE state. The first request message may be for the UE to request data transmission with the network device. Wherein, the first request message sent by the UE in the RRC INACTIVE state and the first request message sent by the UE in the RRC IDLE state may be the same. For example, the first request message sent by the UE in the RRC IDLE state (optionally, at this time, the UE may further store UE context such as configuration information for obtaining a key used to encrypt the uplink packet data) and the first request message sent by the UE in the RRC INACTIVE state may both be rrcresumrequest messages. The first request message sent by the UE in RRC INACTIVE state and the first request message sent by the UE in RRC IDLE state may also be different. For example, the first request message sent by the UE in the RRC INACTIVE state is an RRCResumeRequest message, and the first request message sent by the UE in the RRC IDLE state is an RRCConnectionResumeRequest message or an RRCEarlyDataRequest message.

Specifically, the first request message may be an RRC message sent by the UE based on a resource allocated by a RAR sent by the network device, where the RAR is a message responded by the network device based on a random access preamble sent by the UE, and a specific example may refer to the RRC message in S703 of fig. 7 (i.e., the msg 3). The first request message may also be an RRC message that is sent together when the UE sends the random access preamble to the network device, for a specific example, see the RRC message in S901 of fig. 9 (i.e., the msgA). The first request message may also be an RRC message sent by the UE to the network device based on the preconfigured uplink resource, and a specific example may refer to the RRC message in S112 of fig. 11, which is not limited thereto.

In particular, the assistance information may be used to indicate: and the UE and the network equipment complete the data transmission requirement of the UE after the transmission of the packet data. The first request message may include a newly added first Information Element (IE), the auxiliary information may be placed in the first IE, and the information indicated by the first IE may also be information indicated by the auxiliary information. The auxiliary information may include at least one of the following four cases.

In case one, the auxiliary information may include: and the UE and the network equipment finish the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE after the transmission of the packet data is finished.

Optionally, the data amount information is a first index value (index), and the data amount to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data is located in a first range. Each index corresponds to a value range of a data volume, for example, each index corresponds to a value range of a Buffer Status Report (BSR). An example of the mapping relationship between index and BSR values is shown in table 1 below. Table 1 illustrates an example of a mapping relationship between values of index and BSR in a media access control layer control unit (MAC CE), and in a specific implementation, there may be other mapping relationships, which is not limited in this embodiment.

TABLE 1 mapping relationship of index and BSR values

index	Value of BSR	index	Value of BSR
				0	0	3	Less than or equal to 20
1	Less than or equal to 10	4	Less than or equal to 28
				2	Less than or equal to 14	5	38 or less
6	53 or less	11	276 or less
				7	74 or less	12	Less than or equal to 384
8	Less than or equal to 102	13	535 or less
				9	Less than or equal to 142	14	745 deg.C or less
10	Is less than or equal to 198	15	1038 or less

For example, after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, the data volume to be transmitted by the UE is represented by 1024 by a BSR, the value of the BSR is less than or equal to 1038, which can be obtained according to table 1, and the first index is 15. Then the first index of 15 is correspondingly converted to binary representation and the first IE is 1111.

Wherein the length a of the first IE determines a maximum value index of the first index that the first IE can indicate_maxI.e. the maximum value of BSR that the first IE can indicate is decided. a and index_maxThe relationship (c) is specifically as follows:

index_max＝2^a-1

for example, the first IE has a length of 4 bits, then index_max＝2⁴From table 1, it can be seen that, 1-15, the maximum BSR that can be indicated by the first IE is 1038.

Optionally, the data amount information may include a value of the BSR. For example, after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, the data amount to be transmitted by the UE is represented as 1024 by the BSR, the BSR is correspondingly converted into binary expression from 1024, and the first IE is 10000000000.

It can be understood that the value of the BSR indicated by the first IE is more intuitive, but for larger data size information, the length of the first IE is required to be longer. If the length of the first IE is fixed and the data size information indicated by the first IE is the first index, the value range of the BSR that can be indicated by the first IE is larger. The expression of the data size information indicated by the first IE may be selected according to a specific scenario, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In case two, the auxiliary information may include a first bit, and a value of the first bit is used to indicate a data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data.

Illustratively, the value type of the first IE may be an integer type. For example, the first IE takes a value of 0 or 1, and the first IE may be denoted as INTEGER (0.. 1). When the value of the first IE is 0, the UE does not have the data transmission requirement after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data, and when the value of the first IE is 1, the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data and then have the data transmission requirement. Or when the value of the first IE is 0, it indicates that the UE has a data transmission requirement after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, and when the value of the first IE is 1, it indicates that the UE has no data transmission requirement after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data.

Illustratively, the value type of the first IE may be an enumeration type. For example, the first IE takes the value of true or false, and the first IE may be expressed as estimated { true, false }. When the value of the first IE is false, the UE does not have a data transmission requirement after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data, and when the value of the first IE is true, the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data and then have a data transmission requirement. Or when the value of the first IE is false, it indicates that the UE and the network device have a data transmission requirement after completing the transmission of the packet data, and when the value of the first IE is true, it indicates that the UE and the network device have no data transmission requirement after completing the transmission of the packet data.

In case three, the auxiliary information may include: the UE desires information of RRC state after completing the above-mentioned packet data transmission. The assistance information may be a release preference (ReleasePreference) IE in a user equipment assistance information (ueassistance information) message, and the ReleasePreference IE may be used to indicate that the RRC state of the UE after completing the above-mentioned packet data transmission is not in an RRC _ CONNECTED state. Optionally, the releasereference IE may also carry a parameter indicating detailed information of an RRC State that the UE wishes to complete after the above packet data transmission, for example, the parameter is a preferred RRC State (preferred RRC-State). The contents of the preferred RRC-State may be IDLE, INACTIVE or CONNECTED, and respectively indicate that the RRC State of the UE after completing the packet data transmission is RRC _ IDLE, RRC _ INACTIVE or RRC _ CONNECTED.

In case four, the auxiliary information may include: and after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data, the relation between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE and the preset threshold value. For example, after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE is greater than, equal to, or less than a preset threshold. Wherein the preset threshold is greater than 0. The preset threshold may be, but is not limited to, that the network device indicates the UE through a broadcast message, or that the network device indicates the UE through an RRC message.

Illustratively, the value type of the first IE may be an integer type. For example, the first IE takes a value of 0 or 1, and the first IE may be denoted as INTEGER (0.. 1). When the value of the first IE is 0, it indicates that the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the transmission of the packet data by the UE and the network device is completed is less than a preset threshold, and when the value of the first IE is 1, it indicates that the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the transmission of the packet data by the UE and the network device is completed is greater than or equal to the preset threshold. Or when the value of the first IE is 0, it indicates that the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the transmission of the packet data by the UE and the network device is completed is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, and when the value of the first IE is 1, it indicates that the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the transmission of the packet data by the UE and the network device is completed is less than the preset threshold.

For example, the first IE takes a value of 0, 1 or 2, which may be denoted as INTEGER (0.. 2). And when the value of the first IE is 0, the data volume to be transmitted by the UE is smaller than a preset threshold value after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data. When the value of the first IE is 1, it indicates that the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data is equal to a preset threshold. When the value of the first IE is 2, it indicates that the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data is greater than a preset threshold.

Illustratively, the value type of the first IE may be an enumeration type. For example, the first IE takes the value of true or false, and the first IE may be expressed as estimated { true, false }. When the first IE is false, it indicates that the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data is less than or equal to a preset threshold, and when the first IE is true, it indicates that the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data is greater than the preset threshold. Or when the first IE is false, it indicates that the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE is greater than a preset threshold after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data, and when the first IE is true, it indicates that the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE is less than or equal to the preset threshold after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data.

In some embodiments, there may be more than one preset threshold as described in case four. Then in case four, the auxiliary information may include: and after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data, the relation between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE and a plurality of preset thresholds.

Illustratively, the value type of the first IE may be an integer type. For example, the first IE takes a value of 0, 1 or 2, which may be denoted as INTEGER (0.. 2). When the value of the first IE is 0, it indicates that the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data is less than or equal to a first preset threshold. When the value of the first IE is 1, it indicates that the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data is greater than a first preset threshold but less than a second preset threshold. And when the value of the first IE is 2, the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data is larger than or equal to a second preset threshold value.

In a specific implementation, the first request message may also indicate, by whether the UE and the network device complete the data transmission requirement of the UE after the transmission of the packet data is completed, whether the UE and the network device carry the auxiliary information. For example, the first IE may be represented as an ENUMERATED type ENUMERATED { true }. When the first request message carries the first IE whose value is true, it indicates that the UE has a data transmission requirement after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data. And when the first request message does not carry the first IE with the value of true, the UE is indicated to have no data transmission requirement after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data. Or, when the first request message carries the first IE whose value is true, it indicates that the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE is greater than a preset threshold after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. And when the first request message does not carry the first IE with the value of true, the data volume to be transmitted by the UE is smaller than a preset threshold value after the UE and the network equipment finish the transmission of the packet data. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

It should be noted that whether the first request message sent by the UE carries the assistance information, that is, whether the first IE is carried may be configured by the network device. For example, but not limited to, the network device may send an indication message to the UE, where the indication message may be used to indicate that a first request message sent by the UE may carry the first IE. After receiving the indication message, the UE may send a first request message carrying the first IE. Similarly, the indication message may be used to indicate that the first request message sent by the UE may not carry the first IE. After the UE receives the indication message, the first request message sent subsequently does not carry the first IE.

In some embodiments, the first request message carrying the auxiliary information may be carried by an SRB and sent on a logic channel CCCH, the uplink packet data may be carried by a DRB and sent on a logic channel DTCH, and the uplink packet data and the logic channel DTCH are multiplexed into one MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) by the MAC layer and sent to the network device.

S1202: the DU obtains an INITIAL uplink RRC message transfer (INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER) message according to the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

Specifically, the initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message is an F1 interface message transmitted between the DU and the CU. The initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message may include multiple IEs. For example, but not limited to, an Identity (ID) of RAN UE (RAN UE ID for short) IE may be used to carry identification information of the UE, an RRC Container (RRC-Container) IE may be used to carry an Uplink (UL) CCCH Message (UL-CCCH-Message for short), and an RRC Container RRC setup complete (RRC-Container-RRC) IE may be used to carry a UL DCCH Message (UL-DCCH-Message for short).

The UL-CCCH-Message may be an RRC Message sent from the UE to the network on an uplink CCCH logical channel. Such as, but not limited to, a RRCSetupRequest message, a rrcresemequest message, and the like. The UL-DCCH-Message may be an RRC Message sent from the UE to the network on an uplink DCCH logical channel. Such as, but not limited to, RRC setup complete (RRCSetupComplete) message and RRC recovery complete (RRCResumeComplete) message, etc.

Specifically, according to the description of the first request Message and the UL-CCCH-Message, the following information may be obtained: the first request Message belongs to UL-CCCH-Message, so the RRC-ContainerIE in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER Message may be used to carry the first request Message.

After the DU receives the first request message carrying the auxiliary information and the uplink packet data sent by the UE, on one hand, the DU may place the first request message carrying the auxiliary information in the RRC-Container IE of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. On the other hand, since the user data is carried by the DRB, and at this time, the DU does not restore the UE context, for example, the SRB1, the configuration related to the DRB1, and the like are not restored, the DU may store the uplink packet data, and after the UE context is restored, the DU may transmit the uplink packet data to the CU.

S1203: the DU sends an initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message to the CUs carrying the auxiliary information.

In some embodiments, the CU may also acquire the intention of the UE to perform S1201 according to the first request message.

For example, the first request message is an rrcresemequest message, and the rrcresemequest message is used to indicate that the UE requests to resume the suspended RRC connection. The CU may acquire the intention of the UE to request resumption of the RRC connection that has been suspended, according to the RRCResumeRequest message.

For example, the first request message is an rrcconnectionresumerrequest message, and the rrcconnectionresumerrequest message is used to indicate that the UE requests EDT for the user plane. The CU may acquire an intention of the UE to request EDT of the user plane according to the rrcconnectionresumerrequest message.

S1204: the CU sends a resume UE CONTEXT REQUEST (UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST) message to the DU.

Specifically, the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message is an F1 interface message transmitted between the DU and the CU. The UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message may include information about the UE CONTEXT that needs to be restored, such as but not limited to SRBID and DRBID, etc. that need to be restored.

S1205: the DU sends a resume UE CONTEXT RESPONSE (UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE) message to the CU.

Specifically, in RESPONSE to the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message sent by the CU, the DU restores the UE CONTEXT and sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message to the CU. The UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message is a RESPONSE message sent by the DU to the CU to confirm the recovery of the UE CONTEXT. The UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message is also an F1 interface message transmitted between the DU and the CU. The UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message may include the relevant configuration of the restored UE CONTEXT, such as, but not limited to, the RLC, MAC and PHY layer relevant configurations including SRB1 and DRB 1.

It should be noted that the DU may restore only the part of the UE CONTEXT requested to be restored in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message. For example, the SRBID requested to be restored in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message is 1 and 2, DRBID is 1 and 2, and the DU can restore only SRB1 and DRB1 according to actual situations. The embodiment of the present application takes an example that the UE context recovered by the DU can support transmission of packet data and/or auxiliary information.

S1206: the DU sends uplink packet data to the CUs.

Specifically, based on the UE context restored by the DU, the DU sends uplink packet data to the CU. If the network device is a base station, the CU may send uplink packet data to the core network device.

S1207: the CU gets the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message.

Specifically, the CU may obtain the first request message sent by the UE through the RRC-Container IE in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. And the CU may obtain the auxiliary information carried in the first request message according to the first request message, so as to obtain a data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. Then, the CU may obtain an indication message according to the data transmission requirement of the UE, where the indication message is used to indicate the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data.

In some embodiments, the indication message may be used to indicate not only the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, but also indicate that the uplink packet data transmission of the UE is successful. For example, the auxiliary information specifically indicates that the UE and the network device have no data transmission requirement after completing the transmission of the packet data (e.g., the first request message does not carry the first IE, the first bit value is false, the BSR of the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE is 0, and the like), and the CU may obtain a corresponding indication message according to the auxiliary information. The indication message is used to indicate the UE that the uplink packet data transmission is successful, and is used to indicate that the RRC state of the UE is unchanged after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, that is, indicate that the UE remains in the non-connected state in S1201. An example of the indication message may specifically refer to the description in fig. 7 of a response message for indicating that the UE has successfully transmitted the uplink packet data and indicating that the UE remains in the current non-connected state.

In some embodiments, if the core network device has a need for further data transmission, the core network may trigger an indication procedure of connection establishment, that is, instruct, by the network device, the UE to fall back to the RRC CONNECTED state. Then, the indication message is specifically used to indicate that the RRC state of the UE is in an RRC CONNECTED state after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. Optionally, the indication message may also be used to indicate that the UE successfully transmits the uplink packet data. Similarly, if the auxiliary information specifically indicates that the UE and the network device have a need for further data transmission after completing the transmission of the packet data (for example, the data amount information to be transmitted by the UE is greater than a preset threshold, the RRC state of the UE that the UE desires to complete the transmission of the packet data is an RRC CONNECTED state, and the like), the CU may obtain a corresponding indication message according to the auxiliary information. The indication message is specifically used to indicate that the RRC state of the UE is the RRC CONNECTED state after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. Optionally, the indication message may also be used to indicate that the UE successfully transmits the uplink packet data. An example of the indication message may be specifically referred to in the description of the response message in fig. 7 for indicating that the UE falls back to the RRC CONNECTED state.

In some embodiments, the indication message may be used to indicate not only the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, but also indicate that the UE fails to transmit the uplink packet data. For example, the auxiliary information specifically indicates that the UE and the network device have no data transmission requirement after completing the transmission of the packet data (e.g., the first request message does not carry the first IE, the first bit value is false, the BSR of the data volume information to be transmitted by the UE is 0, and the like), and the CU may obtain a corresponding indication message according to the auxiliary information. The indication message is used to indicate the UE that the uplink packet data transmission fails, and is used to indicate that the RRC state of the UE is unchanged after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, that is, indicate that the UE remains in the non-connected state in S1201. An example of the indication message may specifically refer to the description in fig. 7 of a response message for indicating that the UE fails to transmit the uplink packet data and indicating that the UE remains in the current non-connected state.

It should be noted that the auxiliary information is only used to assist the network device to obtain the indication message. In practice, the network device does not only obtain the indication message according to the auxiliary information, but also needs to comprehensively consider network conditions such as network congestion, resource scheduling, resource occupation, and the like, so as to obtain the indication message. For example, it is assumed that due to severe network congestion and large resource occupation, the network device does not receive uplink packet data sent by the UE or receives incomplete uplink packet data. The CU may get an indication message based on the network conditions described above. The indication message is used to indicate the UE that the uplink packet data transmission fails, and is used to indicate that the RRC state of the UE is unchanged after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, that is, indicate that the UE remains in the non-connected state in S1201. An example of the indication message may specifically refer to the description of the response message in fig. 7 for indicating the UE that the uplink packet data transmission fails.

The order of S1207 and S1204 to S1206 is not limited.

In a possible implementation manner, in S1207, the CU may obtain the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, as well as according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message.

In some embodiments, if the CU in S1207 obtains the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, after S1207, the method may further include: the CU sends an F1 interface message carrying scheduling information to the DU.

Specifically, the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information may be, but is not limited to, a UE Context Management message (UE Context Management messages). For example, the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information is a UE CONTEXT REQUEST message, a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST (UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST) message, a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION determination (UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION CONFIRM) message, a UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND (UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND) message, or other F1 interface messages having the same function but not standardized by 3 GPP.

If the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information is a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the CU may send the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information to the DU in S1204. That is, S1204 may be specifically: the CU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message carrying the scheduling information to the DU.

The data transmission resource may be a resource allocated by the DU according to the data amount information to be transmitted by the UE, or may be a resource allocated by the DU according to a network condition, which is not limited to this. The data transmission resource can be used for the UE to send data to the network equipment after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the uplink packet data. For example, the data transmission resource may be used for the UE to transmit data to the DU before S1209, thereby transmitting data to the CU through the DU. Optionally, the data is packet data. The data amount corresponding to the data may be data amount information to be transmitted by the UE.

For example, the BSR of the data amount to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device specifically indicated by the auxiliary information complete the transmission of the packet data is greater than 0. Therefore, the scheduling information obtained by the CU according to the auxiliary information may be used to indicate the DU for the BSR of the data amount to be transmitted by the UE, and indicate the DU for allocating data transmission resources to the UE. The DU may allocate the data transmission resource according to the BSR of the data amount to be transmitted by the UE. The UE may send data to the network device through the data transmission resource after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the uplink packet data, where a data amount corresponding to the data is a BSR of the data amount to be transmitted by the UE.

S1208: the CU sends a downlink RRC messaging (DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER) message to the DU carrying an indication message.

Specifically, the DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message is an F1 interface message transmitted between the DU and the CU. The CU may place the indication message in the RRC-Container IE of the DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. The CU may then send an DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying the indication message to the DU, whereby the indication message is sent to the UE via the DU.

In some embodiments, if the CU in S1207 obtains the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, S1208 may specifically be: the CU sends DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER messages carrying scheduling information and indication messages to the DU.

Specifically, the DU may obtain the indication message and the scheduling information from the DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying the scheduling information and the indication message. The DU may obtain, through the scheduling information, information of a data amount to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data, and an indication to allocate data transmission resources to the UE. In response to the scheduling information, the DU may allocate data transmission resources for the UE. For the description of the data transmission resource, reference may be specifically made to the description of the data transmission resource in the F1 interface message that the CU sends the scheduling information to the DU, which is not described in detail again. The indication message may be sent to the UE after the DU allocates data transmission resources for the UE. For example, the DU may perform S1209 after the UE completes data transmission with the network device through the data transmission resource.

S1209: the DU sends an indication message to the UE.

Specifically, the DU may acquire the indication message through the RRC-Container IE in the DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message and transmit the indication message to the UE.

S1210: and the UE enters a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

Specifically, if the UE does not receive the indication message sent by the DU, it considers that the transmission of the uplink packet data fails. If the UE receives the indication message sent by the DU, the UE may obtain whether the uplink packet data is successfully transmitted according to the indication message, and enter a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

For example, assuming that the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state in S1201, if the indication message is an rrcreelease message, the UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the indication message. And, the UE may remain in the current RRC state, i.e., RRC INACTIVE state in which the UE is in S1201, according to the indication message.

For example, assuming that the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state in S1201, if the indication message is an rrcreesume message or an RRCSetup message, the UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is successful according to the indication message. And, the UE may fall back to the RRC CONNECTED state according to the indication message.

For example, assuming that the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state in S1201, if the indication message is an RRCReject message, the UE may obtain that the uplink packet data transmission is unsuccessful according to the indication message. And, the UE may remain in the current RRC state, i.e., RRC INACTIVE state in which the UE is in S1201, according to the indication message.

In some embodiments, if the RRC state entered by the UE according to the indication message is the RRC CONNECTED state in S1210, the method may further include:

s1211: the UE sends a first response message to the DU.

Specifically, after entering the RRC CONNECTED state according to the indication message, the UE may send a first response message to the DU in response to the indication message. For example, but not limited to, the first response message is an RRC connection setup complete (RRCConnectionSetupComplete) message, an RRC connection recovery complete (rrcconnectionsumcomplete) message, an RRCSetupComplete message, an RRCResumeComplete message, or other RRC messages having the same function but not standardized by 3 GPP.

For example, the indication message is an RRCConnectionSetup message. After the UE returns from the non-CONNECTED state to the RRC CONNECTED state in S1201 according to the indication message, in order to inform the base station that the UE has entered the RRC CONNECTED state and the RRC connection establishment is successful, the first response message sent by the UE to the DU may be an RRC connection setup complete message.

For example, the indication message is an rrcconnectionresponse message. After the UE returns from the non-CONNECTED state to the RRC CONNECTED state in S1201 according to the indication message, in order to inform the base station that the UE has entered the RRC CONNECTED state and the RRC connection recovery is successful, the first response message sent by the UE to the DU may be an RRC connection response complete message.

For example, the indication message is an RRCSetup message. After the UE falls back from the non-CONNECTED state to the RRC CONNECTED state according to the indication message, in order to inform the base station that the UE has entered the RRC CONNECTED state and the RRC connection establishment is successful, the first response message sent by the UE to the DU may be a RRC setup complete message.

For example, the indication message is a RRCResume message. After the UE returns from the non-CONNECTED state to the RRC CONNECTED state according to the indication message, in order to inform the base station that the UE has entered the RRC CONNECTED state and the RRC connection recovery is successful, the first response message sent by the UE to the DU may be a RRCResumeComplete message.

S1212: the DU sends an uplink RRC messaging (UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER) message to the CUs carrying the first response message.

Specifically, the UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message is an F1 interface message transmitted between the DU and the CU. The CU may get the first response message of the UE responding to the indication message through the UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying the first response message.

In some embodiments, the network device has downlink packet data to send to the UE. Before S1208, after the DU restores the UE context, the method may further include: and the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU based on the UE context restored by the DU. Accordingly, in S1209, the DU may transmit downlink packet data to the UE together when transmitting the indication message. Wherein, the downlink packet data can be transmitted on DTCH and multiplexed with the indication message transmitted on DCCH.

Fig. 12 illustrates an example where the UE executes S1201 when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the network device, that is, the UE actively initiates a packet data transmission process. However, in a specific implementation, there is also a case where the UE passively initiates a transmission procedure of the packet data under the instruction of the network device, the transmission procedure under the user plane in this case is similar to the transmission procedure shown in fig. 12, and the differences are specifically as follows:

before S1201, the method may further include: CU sends paging message to UE through DU; the paging message is used for indicating, by the network device, that there is downlink data to send to the UE. Accordingly, S1201 may be modified to: in response to the paging message, the UE sends a first request message carrying the auxiliary information in a non-connected state, in which case the UE may not send uplink packet data in S1201. S1206 may be changed to: and based on the UE context restored by the DU, the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU. S1209 may be changed to: the DU sends downlink packet data and indication information to the UE.

Not limited to the above-mentioned example, in a specific implementation, the downlink packet data transmitted by the DU to the UE may also be transmitted to the UE before S1209 and after S1205 instead of being transmitted together with the indication message in S1209. The UE may receive the downlink packet data based on the downlink resource scheduled by the network device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

In the method described in fig. 12, for a network device composed of CUs and DUs, a UE in a non-connected state may report assistance information while requesting packet data with the network device. The CU may determine the indicated RRC state of the UE with reference to the auxiliary information, so as to avoid as much as possible the problem that the CU indicates the UE to enter an unsuitable RRC state in a case where the CU cannot know the data transmission requirement of the UE after completing the above packet data transmission. The method reduces the influence on the subsequent data transmission of the UE, and effectively avoids unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

Moreover, the auxiliary information may be carried in a first request message sent by the UE to the network device, and an additional RRC message may not be needed to be added between the UE and the DU. And, the auxiliary information carried in the first request message is placed in the RRC Container IE of the first interface message, and the first interface message may not need to have an additional IE. The change of the processing logic of the DU is less, the use scene of the auxiliary information is less limited, and the application range is wider.

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to another embodiment of the present application. Corresponding to the flow diagram of the method under the user plane shown in fig. 12, fig. 13 is a flow diagram of a transmission process of the method under the control plane. The method may be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, and the network device in the method may be the base station 120 in the communication system shown in fig. 1. The method may also be applied to the NR system shown in fig. 2, and the network device in the method may also be the gNB2200 in the NR system shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto. The network device in the method may include a CU and at least one DU. The method includes, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s1301: and the UE sends a first request message carrying auxiliary information and uplink packet data to the DU in a non-connection state.

Specifically, the user plane is the data transmitted to the DU together with the first request message carrying the auxiliary information in S1201 of fig. 12. Under the control plane, the uplink small packet data in S1301 is carried in a first request message, and the first request message also carries auxiliary information.

Specifically, the description of the first request message under the control plane is similar to that of the first request message under the user plane, and may specifically refer to the description of S1201 in fig. 12, and examples of the first request message under the control plane may specifically refer to the first request message in fig. 6, fig. 8, and fig. 10, which is not repeated herein. The first request message in the transmission process under the user plane and the first request message in the transmission process under the control plane may be the same RRC message. For example, for the UE in the RRC INACTIVE state, the first request message sent in S1201 and the first request message sent in S1301 of fig. 12 may both be rrcresemequest messages. The first request message in the transmission process under the user plane and the first request message in the transmission process under the control plane may not be the same RRC message. For example, for the UE in the RRC IDLE state, the first request message sent in S1201 in fig. 12 is an rrcconnectionresumerrequest message, and the first request message sent in S1301 is an RRCEarlyDataRequest message.

In some embodiments, unlike the uplink packet data carried by the DRB in S1201 of fig. 12, the uplink packet data carried in the first request message may be carried by an SRB (e.g., SRB0) and transmitted on a logical channel CCCH in S1301.

It can be understood that the description of the unconnected state and the auxiliary information in S1301 is similar to that in S1201 in fig. 12, and specific reference may be made to the description of S1201 in fig. 12, which is not repeated herein.

S1302: the DU obtains an INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message according to the first request message carrying the auxiliary information and the uplink packet data.

Specifically, the same as S1202 of fig. 12 is: the first request message carrying the auxiliary information in S1302 is also placed in the RRC-Container IE of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. For a detailed description of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, reference may be made to the description of S1202 in fig. 12, which is not described herein again.

Different from S1202 of fig. 12: in S1302, since the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, the uplink packet data is also placed in the RRC-Container IE of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. Since the uplink packet data is carried in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message and sent to the CU, the DU does not need to store the uplink packet data, and does not need to restore the UE context and then send to the CU.

S1303: the DU sends an initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message to the CUs carrying auxiliary information and uplink packet data.

Specifically, the CU may obtain the first request message sent by the UE through the RRC-Container IE in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, so as to obtain the auxiliary information and the uplink packet data carried therein. If the network device is a base station, the CU may send uplink packet data to the core network device.

In some embodiments, the CU may also acquire the intention of the UE to perform S1301 according to the first request message.

For example, the first request message is an RRCEarlyDataRequest message, and the RRCEarlyDataRequest message is used to indicate that the UE requests to perform EDT of the control plane. The CU may obtain an intention of the UE to request EDT of the control plane according to the RRCEarlyDataRequest message.

S1304: the CU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the DU.

Specifically, S1304 coincides with S1204 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

S1305: the DU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message to the CU.

Specifically, S1305 coincides with S1205 of fig. 12, and is not described in detail.

S1306: the CU gets the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message.

Specifically, S1306 is similar to S1207 of fig. 12, and reference may be specifically made to the description of S1207 of fig. 12. The example of the indication message in S1207 in fig. 12 may specifically refer to the description of the response message in fig. 7, and the example of the indication message in S1306 may specifically refer to the description of the response message in fig. 6.

In a possible implementation manner, in S1306, the CU may obtain the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, as well as according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message.

In some embodiments, if the CU obtains the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message in S1306, and S1306 is before S1304-S1305, then after S1306, the method may further include: the CU sends an F1 interface message carrying scheduling information to the DU.

Specifically, for the description of the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information, reference may be specifically made to the description of the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information in fig. 12, which is not described again. If the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information is a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the CU sending the F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information to the DU may be implemented in S1304. That is, S1304 may specifically be: the CU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message carrying the scheduling information to the DU.

Specifically, the DU may obtain the scheduling information through an F1 interface message carrying the scheduling information, so as to obtain the data amount information to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data, and an indication for allocating data transmission resources to the UE. In response to the scheduling information, the DU may allocate data transmission resources for the UE. For the description of the data transmission resource, refer to the description of the data transmission resource in the F1 interface message that the CU sends the scheduling information to the DU in fig. 12, which is not described again.

S1307: the CU sends an DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message to the DU carrying an indication message.

Specifically, S1307 is similar to S1208 of fig. 12, and reference may be specifically made to the description of S1208 of fig. 12.

In some embodiments, if the CU obtains the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message in S1306, S1307 may specifically be: the CU sends DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER messages carrying scheduling information and indication messages to the DU.

Specifically, the description of the DU obtaining the scheduling information and allocating the data transmission resource may specifically refer to the corresponding description in S1208 in fig. 12, and is not repeated herein. The indication message may be sent to the UE after the DU allocates data transmission resources for the UE. For example, the DU may perform S1308 after the UE completes transmitting data with the network device through the data transmission resource.

S1308: the DU sends an indication message to the UE.

Specifically, S1308 is identical to S1209 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

S1309: and the UE enters a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

Specifically, S1309 is identical to S1210 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

In some embodiments, if the RRC state entered by the UE according to the indication message is the RRC CONNECTED state in S1309, the method may further include:

s1310: the UE sends a first response message to the DU.

Specifically, S1310 is identical to S1211 of fig. 12, and is not described in detail.

S1311: the DU sends to the CUs an UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying the first response message.

Specifically, S1311 coincides with S1212 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

In some embodiments, the network device has downlink packet data to send to the UE. Before S1307, after the DU restores the UE context, the method may further include: and the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU based on the UE context restored by the DU. Accordingly, in S1308, the downlink packet data may be carried in an indication message sent by the DU to the UE. Wherein, the indication message carrying the downlink packet data is transmitted on the DCCH.

Fig. 13 illustrates an example where the UE executes S1301 when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the network device, that is, the UE actively initiates a transmission process of the packet data. However, in a specific implementation, there is also a case where the UE passively initiates a transmission procedure of the packet data under the instruction of the network device, the transmission procedure under the user plane in this case is similar to the transmission procedure shown in fig. 13, and the differences are specifically as follows:

before S1301, the method may further include: CU sends paging message to UE through DU; the paging message is used for indicating, by the network device, that there is downlink data to send to the UE. Accordingly, S1301 may be modified to: in response to the paging message, the UE sends a first request message carrying the auxiliary information in a non-connected state, in which case the first request message in S1301 may not carry uplink packet data. Before S1307, the method may further include: the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU. S1308 may be changed to: and the DU sends an indication message carrying downlink packet data to the UE.

In a specific implementation, the downlink packet data sent by the DU to the UE may also be sent to the UE before S1308 and after S1305, instead of being sent in the indication message of S1308. The UE may receive the downlink packet data based on the downlink resource scheduled by the network device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

In the method described in fig. 13, for a network device composed of CUs and DUs, a UE in a non-connected state may report auxiliary information while requesting packet data with the network device. The CU may determine the indicated RRC state of the UE with reference to the auxiliary information, so as to avoid as much as possible the problem that the CU indicates the UE to enter an unsuitable RRC state in a case where the CU cannot know the data transmission requirement of the UE after completing the above packet data transmission. The method reduces the influence on the subsequent data transmission of the UE, and effectively avoids unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

In some embodiments, the assistance information may also be not carried in the first request message sent by the UE to the DU in the non-connected state, but sent together with the first request message, which may be specifically referred to in the examples of fig. 14 and fig. 15.

Referring to fig. 14, fig. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to another embodiment of the present application. Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the transmission process of the method under the user plane. The method may be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, and the network device in the method may be the base station 120 in the communication system shown in fig. 1. The method may also be applied to the NR system shown in fig. 2, and the network device in the method may also be the gNB2200 in the NR system shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto. The network device in the method may include a CU and at least one DU. The method includes, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s1401: and the UE sends the first request message, the auxiliary information and the uplink packet data to the DU in a non-connection state.

Specifically, the relationship of the assistance information and the first request message shown in fig. 14 and 15 and the relationship of the assistance information and the first request message shown in fig. 12 and 13 may be different. In fig. 14 and 15, the assistance information may not be carried in the first request message but transmitted together with the first request message. The first request message may not include the newly added first IE to carry the assistance information.

In some embodiments, the assistance information may be carried in a UEAssistanceInformation message, and S1401 is, for example: and the UE sends a first request message, a UEAssessionalinformation message carrying auxiliary information and uplink packet data to the DU in a non-connection state. Optionally, the UEAssistanceInformation message may include the newly added second IE. The auxiliary information carried in the UEAssistanceInformation message may include the auxiliary information placed in the second IE, and specifically may include the auxiliary information described in case one, case two, and/or case four in S1201 of fig. 12. The auxiliary information carried in the UEAssistanceInformation message may also include releasereferreneie in the UEAssistanceInformation message, that is, the auxiliary information described in case three in S1201 of fig. 12. Alternatively, the UEAssistanceInformation message may not include the newly added second IE. The side information may be releasereferreneie in the UEAssistanceInformation message, that is, the side information described in case three in S1201 of fig. 12. Optionally, the UEAssistanceInformation message may also indicate, by whether to add the second IE, a data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data, which is not limited to this.

In some embodiments, the first request message may be carried by an SRB (e.g., SRB0) and sent on a logical channel CCCH, the uplink packet data may be carried by a DRB and sent on a logical channel DTCH, the assistance information may be carried by another SRB (e.g., SRB1) and sent on a logical channel DCCH, and the three are multiplexed by the MAC layer into one MAC pdu and sent to the network device.

It can be understood that the unconnected state, the first request message and the auxiliary information in S1401 are similar to the unconnected state, the first request message and the auxiliary information in S1201 in fig. 12, and specific reference may be made to the description of S1201 in fig. 12, which is not repeated herein.

S1402: the DU gets the initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message according to the first request message.

Specifically, the description of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message can specifically refer to the description of S1202 and S1203 in fig. 12, and is not repeated here. The first request Message belongs to UL-CCCH-Message, therefore, RRC-Container IE in INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER Message can be used to carry the first request Message.

After the DU receives the assistance information, the first request message, and the uplink packet data sent by the UE, on one hand, the DU may place the first request message in the RRC-Container IE of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. On the other hand, since the user data is carried by DRB and the auxiliary information is carried by SRB, and the DU does not restore the UE context at this time, for example, the SRB1 and the DRB1 related configuration are not restored, the DU can store the uplink packet data and the auxiliary information, and send the UE context to the CU after restoring the UE context.

S1403: the DU sends an initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message to the CU carrying the first request message.

Specifically, the CU may acquire the first request message sent by the UE through the RRC-Container IE in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, thereby acquiring the intention of the UE to perform S1401. An example of the CU acquiring the intention of the UE according to the first request message may specifically refer to the example of S1203 of fig. 12.

S1404: the CU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the DU.

Specifically, S1404 is identical to S1204 of fig. 12, and will not be described again.

S1405: and the DU obtains the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message according to the auxiliary information.

In particular, the DU restores the UE CONTEXT in response to the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message sent by the CU. The UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message is a RESPONSE message sent by the DU to the CU to confirm the recovery of the UE CONTEXT. The UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message may include the relevant configuration of the restored UE CONTEXT, such as, but not limited to, the RLC, MAC and PHY layer relevant configurations of SRB1 and DRB 1. The UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message may include a newly added third IE, such as a user equipment assistance information Container (ueassistance information Container) IE, in which the assistance information may be placed.

S1406: the DU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message carrying the auxiliary information to the CU.

In particular, based on the recovered UE CONTEXT, the DU may send a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message carrying the assistance information to the CU.

S1407: the DU sends uplink packet data to the CUs.

Specifically, S1407 coincides with S1206 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

S1408: and the CU obtains the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message.

Specifically, the CU may obtain the auxiliary information sent by the UE through a third IE in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message, so as to obtain the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data. Then, the CU may obtain an indication message according to the data transmission requirement of the UE, where the indication message is used to indicate the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. The CU obtains the indication message according to the auxiliary information and the description of the indication message may specifically refer to the corresponding description in S1207 of fig. 12, which is not described again.

In one possible implementation manner, in S1408, the CU may obtain the scheduling information not only according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message, but also according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message.

S1409: the CU sends an DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message to the DU carrying an indication message.

Specifically, the CU places the indication message in the RRC-Container IE of the DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. The CU then sends an DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying an indication message to the DU, which sends the indication message to the UE via the DU.

In some embodiments, if the CU in S1408 obtains the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message, S1409 may specifically be: the CU sends DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER messages carrying scheduling information and indication messages to the DU.

Specifically, the DU may obtain the indication message and the scheduling information from the DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying the scheduling information and the indication message. The DU may obtain, through the scheduling information, information of a data amount to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data, and an indication to allocate data transmission resources to the UE. In response to the scheduling information, the DU may allocate data transmission resources for the UE. For the description of the data transmission resource, refer to the description of the data transmission resource in the F1 interface message that the CU sends the scheduling information to the DU in fig. 12, which is not described again. The indication message may be sent to the UE after the DU allocates data transmission resources for the UE. For example, the DU may perform S1410 after the UE completes data transmission with the network device through the data transmission resource.

Not limited to the above-mentioned cases, in a specific implementation, the scheduling information may also be sent to the DU after S1408 and before S1409 in an F1 interface message that the CU sends to the DU. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

S1410: the DU sends an indication message to the UE.

Specifically, S1410 is identical to S1209 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

S1411: and the UE enters a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

Specifically, S1411 coincides with S1210 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

In some embodiments, if the RRC state entered by the UE according to the indication message in S1411 is the RRC CONNECTED state, the method may further include:

s1412: the UE sends a first response message to the DU.

Specifically, S1412 is identical to S1211 of fig. 12, and is not described again.

S1413: the DU sends to the CUs an UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying the first response message.

Specifically, S1413 coincides with S1212 of fig. 12, and is not described in detail.

In some embodiments, the network device has downlink packet data to send to the UE. Before S1409, after the DU restores the UE context, the method may further include: and the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU based on the UE context restored by the DU. Accordingly, in S1410, the DU may transmit downlink packet data to the UE together when transmitting the indication message. Wherein, the downlink packet data can be transmitted on DTCH and multiplexed with the indication message transmitted on DCCH.

Fig. 14 illustrates an example where the UE executes S1401 when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the network device, that is, the UE actively initiates a transmission process of the packet data. However, in a specific implementation, there is also a case where the UE passively initiates a transmission procedure of the packet data under the instruction of the network device, the transmission procedure under the user plane in this case is similar to the transmission procedure shown in fig. 14, and the differences are specifically as follows:

before S1401, the method may further include: CU sends paging message to UE through DU; the paging message is used for indicating, by the network device, that there is downlink data to send to the UE. Accordingly, S1401 may be modified to: in response to the paging message, the UE transmits the first request message and the assistance information in a non-connected state, in which case the UE may not transmit uplink packet data in S1401. S1407 may be changed to: and based on the UE context restored by the DU, the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU. S1410 may be changed to: the DU sends downlink packet data and indication information to the UE.

In a specific implementation, the downlink packet data sent by the DU to the UE may also be sent to the UE before S1410 and after S1406, instead of being sent with the indication message in S1410. The UE may receive the downlink packet data based on the downlink resource scheduled by the network device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

In the method described in fig. 14, for a network device composed of CUs and DUs, a UE in a non-connected state may report assistance information while requesting packet data with the network device. The CU may determine the indicated RRC state of the UE with reference to the auxiliary information, so as to avoid as much as possible the problem that the CU indicates the UE to enter an unsuitable RRC state in a case where the CU cannot know the data transmission requirement of the UE after completing the above packet data transmission. The method reduces the influence on the subsequent data transmission of the UE, and effectively avoids unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

The auxiliary information may be sent together with the first request message, and the auxiliary information may include more information and may be in a more flexible form.

Referring to fig. 15, fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to another embodiment of the present application. Corresponding to the flow diagram of the method in the user plane shown in fig. 14, fig. 15 is a flow diagram of a transmission process of the method in the control plane. The method may be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, and the network device in the method may be the base station 120 in the communication system shown in fig. 1. The method may also be applied to the NR system shown in fig. 2, and the network device in the method may also be the gNB2200 in the NR system shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto. The network device in the method may include a CU and at least one DU. The method includes, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s1501: and the UE sends a first request message carrying uplink packet data and auxiliary information to the DU in a non-connection state.

Specifically, the user-side, uplink small packet data in S1401 of fig. 14 is data transmitted to the DU together with the first request message. Under the control plane, the uplink small packet data in S1501 is carried in the first request message. The first request message in the transmission process under the user plane and the first request message in the transmission process under the control plane may be the same RRC message or different RRC messages, which may be specifically shown in an example of S1301 in fig. 13.

In some embodiments, unlike S1401 of fig. 14 in which the uplink packet data is carried by the DRB, in S1501, the first request message carrying the uplink packet data may be carried by an SRB (e.g., SRB0) and sent on a logical channel CCCH, and the auxiliary information may be carried by another SRB (e.g., SRB1) and sent on a logical channel DCCH, and then the MAC layer multiplexes the two into one MAC pdu and sends the MAC pdu to the network device.

It can be understood that the unconnected state, the first request message and the auxiliary information in S1501 under the control plane are similar to the unconnected state, the first request message and the auxiliary information in S1401 of fig. 14 under the user plane, and specific reference may be made to the description of S1401 of fig. 14, which is not repeated herein.

S1502: and the DU obtains an INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message according to the first request message carrying the uplink packet data.

Specifically, the same as S1402 of fig. 14 is: the first request message in S1502 is also placed in the RRC-Container IE of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. For a detailed description of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, reference may be made to the description of S1202 in fig. 12, which is not described herein again. And, the DU may still hold the auxiliary information and send to the CU after UE context is restored.

Unlike S1402 of fig. 14: in S1502, since the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, the uplink packet data is also placed in the RRC-Container IE of the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. Since the uplink packet data is carried in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message and sent to the CU, the DU does not need to store the uplink packet data, and does not need to restore the UE context and then send to the CU.

S1503: the DU sends an initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying uplink packet data to the CUs.

Specifically, the CU may obtain, through an RRC-Container IE in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, the first request message sent by the UE, so as to obtain the uplink packet data carried therein. If the network device is a base station, the CU may send uplink packet data to the core network device. The CU may also obtain the intention of the UE to perform S1501 according to the first request message, which may be specifically referred to as an example of S1303 of fig. 13.

S1504: the CU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the DU.

Specifically, S1504 coincides with S1404 in fig. 14, and is not described again.

S1505: and the DU obtains the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message according to the auxiliary information.

Specifically, S1505 coincides with S1405 in fig. 14, and is not described in detail.

S1506: the DU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message carrying the auxiliary information to the CU.

Specifically, S1506 is identical to S1406 of fig. 14, and will not be described again.

S1507: and the CU obtains the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message.

Specifically, S1507 is similar to S1408 of fig. 14, and reference may be made specifically to the description of S1408 of fig. 14. Unlike the example of the indication message in S1408 of fig. 14, which may be specifically described with reference to the response message in fig. 7, the example of the indication message in S1507 may be specifically described with reference to the response message in fig. 6.

In a possible implementation manner, in S1507, the CU may obtain the scheduling information not only according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message, but also according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message.

S1508: the CU sends an DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message to the DU carrying an indication message.

Specifically, S1508 is similar to S1409 of fig. 14, and reference may be made specifically to the description of S1409 of fig. 14.

In some embodiments, if the CU obtains the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message in S1507, S1508 may specifically be: the CU sends DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER messages carrying scheduling information and indication messages to the DU.

Specifically, the description of the DU acquiring the scheduling information and allocating the data transmission resource may specifically refer to the corresponding description in S1409 of fig. 14, and is not repeated herein. The indication message may be sent to the UE after the DU allocates data transmission resources for the UE. For example, the DU may perform S1509 after the UE completes data transmission with the network device through the data transmission resource.

S1509: the DU sends an indication message to the UE.

Specifically, S1509 coincides with S1410 of fig. 14, and is not described again.

S1510: and the UE enters a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

Specifically, S1510 coincides with S1411 of fig. 14, and is not described again.

In some embodiments, if the RRC state entered by the UE according to the indication message is the RRC CONNECTED state in S1510, the method may further include:

s1511: the UE sends a first response message to the DU.

Specifically, S1511 is identical to S1412 of fig. 14, and is not described again.

S1512: the DU sends to the CUs an UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying the first response message.

Specifically, S1512 is identical to S1413 of fig. 14, and is not described again.

In some embodiments, the network device has downlink packet data to send to the UE. Before S1508, after the DU restores the UE context, the method may further include: and the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU based on the UE context restored by the DU. Accordingly, in S1509, the downlink packet data may be carried in the indication message sent by the DU to the UE. Wherein, the indication message carrying the downlink packet data is transmitted on the DCCH.

Fig. 15 illustrates an example where the UE performs S1501 when there is uplink packet data to be sent to the network device, that is, the UE actively initiates a packet data transmission process. However, in a specific implementation, there is also a case where the UE passively initiates a transmission procedure of the packet data under the instruction of the network device, the transmission procedure under the user plane in this case is similar to the transmission procedure shown in fig. 15, and the differences are specifically as follows:

before S1501, the method may further include: CU sends paging message to UE through DU; the paging message is used for indicating, by the network device, that there is downlink data to send to the UE. Accordingly, S1501 may be changed to: in response to the paging message, the UE sends the first request message and the auxiliary information in a non-connected state, in which case the first request message in S1501 may not carry uplink packet data. Prior to S1508, the method may further include: the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU. S1509 may be modified to: and the DU sends an indication message carrying downlink packet data to the UE.

Not limited to the above-mentioned example, in a specific implementation, the downlink packet data transmitted by the DU to the UE may be transmitted to the UE after S1506 before S1509 instead of being transmitted together with the indication message in S1509. The UE may receive the downlink packet data based on the downlink resource scheduled by the network device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

In the method described in fig. 15, for a network device composed of CUs and DUs, a UE in a non-connected state may report assistance information while requesting packet data with the network device. The CU may determine the indicated RRC state of the UE with reference to the auxiliary information, so as to avoid as much as possible the problem that the CU indicates the UE to enter an unsuitable RRC state in a case where the CU cannot know the data transmission requirement of the UE after completing the above packet data transmission. The method reduces the influence on the subsequent data transmission of the UE, and effectively avoids unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

The auxiliary information may be sent together with the first request message, and the auxiliary information may include more information and may be in a more flexible form.

Referring to fig. 16, fig. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RRC state of a UE according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, and the network device in the method may be the base station 120 in the communication system shown in fig. 1. The method may also be applied to the NR system shown in fig. 2, and the network device in the method may also be the gNB2200 in the NR system shown in fig. 2, which is not limited thereto. The network device in the method may include a CU and at least one DU. The method includes, but is not limited to, the steps of:

s1601: the UE sends the assistance information to the DU in the unconnected state.

Specifically, the unconnected state may be RRC INACTIVE state shown in fig. 5 or RRC IDLE state. The auxiliary information is used to indicate a data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data, and the sending mode of the auxiliary information may include, but is not limited to, the following two cases:

in case one, S1601 may specifically be: the UE sends a first request message carrying auxiliary information to the DU in a non-connection state. The first request message may be for the UE to request data transmission with the network device. At this time, the descriptions of the assistance information and the first request message may specifically refer to the descriptions of the assistance information and the first request message in S1201 of fig. 12 and S1301 of fig. 13.

In case two, S1601 may specifically be: the UE sends the assistance information and the first request message to the DU in the unconnected state. The first request message may be for the UE to request data transmission with the network device. At this time, the descriptions of the side information and the first request message may specifically refer to the descriptions of the side information and the first request message in S1401 of fig. 14 and S1501 of fig. 15.

In some embodiments, the UE may perform S1601 if there is uplink packet data to be sent to the network device, that is, the UE may actively initiate a transmission process of the packet data, and then the UE may send the uplink packet data to the DU in S1601.

On the premise of the above first case, if under the user interface, S1601 may specifically be: and the UE sends a first request message carrying auxiliary information and uplink packet data to the DU in a non-connection state. At this time, the description of the uplink packet data may specifically refer to the description of the uplink packet data in S1201 in fig. 12. If under the control plane, S1601 may specifically be: and the UE sends a first request message carrying auxiliary information and uplink packet data to the DU in a non-connection state. At this time, the description of the uplink packet data may specifically refer to the description of the uplink packet data in S1301 of fig. 13.

On the premise of the second case, if the user interface is used, S1601 may specifically be: and the UE sends the auxiliary information, the first request message and the uplink packet data to the DU in a non-connection state. At this time, the description of the uplink packet data may specifically refer to the description of the uplink packet data in S1401 of fig. 14. If under the control plane, S1601 may specifically be: and the UE sends a first request message carrying uplink packet data and auxiliary information to the DU in a non-connection state. At this time, the description of the uplink packet data may specifically refer to the description of the uplink packet data in S1501 of fig. 15.

In some embodiments, after receiving the paging message sent by the network device, the UE may also perform S1601 in response to the paging message, that is, the UE may passively initiate a transmission process of the packet data under the instruction of the network device, and then the UE may receive downlink packet data sent by the CU through the DU in S1606. The paging message is used for indicating that the network equipment has downlink data to send to the UE. Optionally, if there is uplink packet data to be sent to the network device by the UE after receiving the paging message, the UE may also send the uplink packet data to the DU in S1601. The transmission mode of the uplink packet data is consistent with the transmission mode of the uplink packet data when the UE actively initiates the transmission process of the packet data, and is not described herein again.

S1602: the DU obtains a first interface message according to the auxiliary information.

Specifically, the first interface message is an F1 interface message transmitted between the DU and the CU. If the transmission mode of the auxiliary information is as shown in case one of S1601, the first interface message is an initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. If the transmission mode of the auxiliary information is as shown in case two of S1601, the first interface message is a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message.

If the transmission manner of the auxiliary information is as shown in the case one of S1601, S1602 may specifically be: the DU obtains an INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message according to the first request message carrying the auxiliary information. Alternatively, in S1601, when the UE sends the uplink packet data to the DU, if the UE is in the user plane, the DU may store the uplink packet data in S1602, so that the DU can restore the UE context and then send the UE context to the CU, which may be specifically described in S1202 of fig. 12. If under the control plane, S1602 may specifically be: the DU obtains an INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message according to the first request message carrying the auxiliary information and the uplink packet data, which may be specifically described in S1302 of fig. 13.

If the transmission mode of the auxiliary information is as shown in case two of S1601, then after S1601 and before S1602, the method may further include: the DU obtains a second interface message (namely an INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message) according to the first request message; the DU sends a second interface message carrying the first request message to the CU; CU sends UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to DU; the DU restores the UE CONTEXT in response to the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, as can be seen in particular in the descriptions of S1402-S1404 of fig. 14 and S1502-S1504 of fig. 15. Accordingly, S1602 may specifically be: the DU obtains the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message according to the assistance information, which can be specifically described in S1405 in fig. 14 and S1505 in fig. 15. Optionally, in S1601, when the UE sends the uplink packet data to the DU, if the UE is in the control plane, the uplink packet data is carried in the second interface message and sent to the CU. For the procedure of sending the uplink packet data to the CU under the user plane, refer to the corresponding description in S1603.

S1603: the DU sends a first interface message carrying auxiliary information to the CUs.

Specifically, if the transmission manner of the auxiliary information is as shown in the first case of S1601, then after S1603 and before S1604, the method may further include: CU sends UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to DU; the DU restores the UE CONTEXT in RESPONSE to the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message and sends the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message to the CU, as described in detail in S1204-S1205 of fig. 12 and S1304-S1305 of fig. 13.

Alternatively, in S1601, when the UE sends uplink packet data to the DU, if the UE is under the user plane, S1603 may specifically be: the DU sends an initialize UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message carrying auxiliary information to the CU, as described in S1203 in fig. 12. And after the DU responds to the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, restores the UE CONTEXT, and sends the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message to the CU, the method may further include: based on the UE context restored by the DU, the DU sends uplink packet data to the CU, which may specifically refer to the description of S1206 in fig. 12. Under the control plane, S1603 may specifically be: the DU sends a first interface message carrying the auxiliary information and the uplink packet data to the CU, which may specifically refer to the description of S1303 in fig. 13.

Specifically, if the transmission manner of the auxiliary information is as shown in case two of S1601, then S1603 may specifically be: the DU sends a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message carrying the auxiliary information to the CU, as described in detail in reference to 1406 of fig. 14 and S1506 of fig. 15. Optionally, in S1601, when the UE sends uplink packet data to the DU, if the UE is under the user plane, after S1603, the method may further include: based on the UE context restored by the DU, the DU sends uplink packet data to the CU, which may be specifically described in S1407 in fig. 14.

S1604: and the CU obtains the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message.

Specifically, the indication message is used to indicate the RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. If the transmission manner of the auxiliary information is as shown in the case one of S1601, S1604 may specifically be: the CU obtains the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the INITIAL UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, which can be specifically referred to the descriptions of S1207 of fig. 12 and S1306 of fig. 13.

If the transmission manner of the auxiliary information is as shown in case two of S1601, S1604 may specifically be: the CU obtains the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message, which can be specifically described in S1408 of fig. 14 and S1507 of fig. 15.

In one possible implementation manner, in S1604, the CU may obtain the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message as well as the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message.

Specifically, when the auxiliary information includes: when the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data and the data amount information to be transmitted by the UE (i.e., the auxiliary information indicated in case one or case four in S1201), the CU may obtain the scheduling information according to the data amount information to be transmitted by the UE. The scheduling information may be used to indicate the DU and the information of the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE, and indicate the DU to allocate data transmission resources to the UE. If the transmission mode of the auxiliary information is as shown in the case one of S1601, the transmission process and description of the scheduling information may specifically refer to the related descriptions of the scheduling information in S1207 of fig. 12 and S1306 of fig. 13. If the transmission mode of the auxiliary information is as shown in case two of S1601, the transmission process and description of the scheduling information can be specifically referred to the related descriptions of the scheduling information in S1408 of fig. 14 and S1507 of fig. 15.

S1605: the CU sends an indication message to the DU, thereby sending the indication message to the UE through the DU.

Specifically, the CU sends a third interface message carrying the indication message to the DU, where the third interface message is DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message. In some embodiments, if the CU obtains the scheduling information according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message in S1604, S1605 may specifically be: the CU sends a third interface message carrying scheduling information and indication messages to the DU. The specific process of S1605 can be described with reference to S1208 of fig. 12, S1307 of fig. 13, S1409 of fig. 14 and S1508 of fig. 15.

S1606: the DU sends an indication message to the UE.

Specifically, the DU obtains the indication message according to the third interface message carrying the indication message, and sends the indication message to the UE, which may specifically refer to descriptions of S1209 of fig. 12, S1308 of fig. 13, S1410 of fig. 14, and S1509 of fig. 15.

In some embodiments, the network device has downlink packet data to send to the UE. Before S1606, after the DU restores the UE context, the method may further include: and the CU sends downlink packet data to the DU based on the UE context restored by the DU. Accordingly, if in the user plane, S1606 may specifically be: the DU sends an indication message and downlink packet data to the UE. Wherein, the downlink packet data can be transmitted on DTCH and multiplexed with the indication message transmitted on DCCH. If in the control plane, S1606 may specifically be: and the DU sends an indication message carrying downlink packet data to the UE. Wherein, the indication message carrying the downlink packet data is transmitted on the DCCH.

In a specific implementation, the downlink packet data sent by the DU to the UE may also be sent without the indication message or being carried in the indication message, but before the DU sends the indication message to the UE, the DU restores the UE context and then sends the UE. The UE may receive the downlink packet data based on the downlink resource scheduled by the network device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

S1607: and the UE enters a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

Specifically, the UE enters the RRC state after the UE and the network device indicated in the indication message complete the transmission of the packet data, which may specifically refer to descriptions of S1210 in fig. 12, S1309 in fig. 13, S1411 in fig. 14, and S1510 in fig. 15.

It should be noted that the auxiliary information in the embodiment of the present application is used to indicate a data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data, and the indication message is used to indicate an RRC state of the UE after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the packet data. The transmission of the above-mentioned packet data may be a transmission of uplink and/or downlink packet data. Optionally, the transmission of the packet data is a transmission of uplink packet data, for example, the packet data is uplink packet data that the UE sends to the DU in the non-connected state in S1601. Optionally, the transmission of the packet data is a transmission of downlink packet data, for example, the packet data is downlink packet data that is sent by the CU to the DU after the DU restores the UE context, and is also downlink packet data that is sent by the DU to the UE in S1606. Optionally, the transmission of the packet data is a transmission of uplink packet data and downlink packet data, for example, the packet data includes: in S1601, the UE sends uplink packet data of the DU in a non-connected state, which also includes: and the DU in S1606 sends the downlink packet data to the UE.

It can be understood that, regarding the specific implementation manner of each step of the method described in fig. 16, reference may be made to the embodiments shown in fig. 1 to fig. 15, which are not described again.

In the method described in fig. 16, for a network device composed of CUs and DUs, a UE in a non-connected state may report assistance information while requesting packet data with the network device. The CU may determine the indicated RRC state of the UE with reference to the auxiliary information, so as to avoid as much as possible the problem that the CU indicates the UE to enter an unsuitable RRC state in a case where the CU cannot know the data transmission requirement of the UE after completing the above packet data transmission. The method reduces the influence on the subsequent data transmission of the UE, and effectively avoids unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead of the UE.

The auxiliary information may be carried in the first request message sent by the UE to the network device, or may be sent together with the first request message. The auxiliary information can also have various forms, the realization is more flexible, and the application scene is wider.

The method of the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above, and some of the apparatus of the embodiments of the present application are provided below.

Referring to fig. 17, fig. 17 is a network device 170 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the network device 170 includes a processor 1701, a memory 1702, and a transceiver 1703, and the processor 1701, the memory 1702, and the transceiver 1703 are connected to each other through a bus.

The memory 1702 includes, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or a portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), and the memory 1702 is used for related computer programs and data. The transceiver 1703 is used to receive and transmit data.

The processor 1101 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case where the processor 1701 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 1701 in the network device 170 is configured to read the computer program code stored in the memory 1702 described above and perform the following operations:

the distribution unit of the calling network device 170 receives the assistance information sent by the UE in the non-connected state. The auxiliary information is used to indicate the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device 170 complete the transmission of the packet data.

And calling the distribution unit to obtain a first interface message according to the auxiliary information. The first interface message includes assistance information.

The call distribution unit sends a first interface message to the central unit of the network device 170.

And the calling centralized unit obtains the indication message according to the auxiliary information in the first interface message. The indication message is used to indicate the UE and the network device 170 to complete the RRC state of the UE after the transmission of the packet data.

And the call centralizing unit sends an indication message to the UE through the distribution unit.

In one possible implementation, the auxiliary information includes: the UE and the network device 170 complete the transmission of the packet data, and then the data amount information to be transmitted by the UE; or, the auxiliary information includes: a first bit; indicating data transmission requirements by the value of the first bit; or, the auxiliary information includes: information of RRC state that the UE desires after completion of the above-mentioned packet data transmission; or, the auxiliary information includes: and the relation between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE and the preset threshold value after the UE and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data.

In one possible implementation, the data amount information includes: a first index value; the first index value corresponds to the data volume to be transmitted by the UE after the UE and the network device 170 complete the transmission of the packet data and is in the first range; or, the data amount information includes: the value of the BSR.

In a possible implementation manner, before the distribution unit of the invoking network device 170 receives the assistance information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the processor 1701 is further configured to: sending a paging message to the UE; the paging message is used by network device 170 to indicate that there is downlink data to send to the UE.

When the distribution unit of the calling network device 170 receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the processor 1701 specifically executes: the invoking distribution unit receives the assistance information sent by the UE in response to the paging message.

In a possible implementation manner, when the distribution unit of the calling network device 170 receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the processor 1701 specifically executes: the call distribution unit receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE when there is uplink packet data to send to the network device 170.

Specifically, the central unit may receive, by the distribution unit, uplink packet data sent by the UE, where the uplink packet data is sent to the distribution unit together when the UE sends the auxiliary information in the non-connected state.

In a possible implementation manner, when the distribution unit of the calling network device 170 receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the processor 1701 specifically executes: the method comprises the steps of calling a distribution unit to receive a first request message sent by UE in a non-connection state. The first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device 170, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

In one possible implementation, the first request message carries packet data. When the call distribution unit sends the first interface message to the central unit, the processor 1701 specifically executes: and calling the distribution unit to send a first interface message carrying the auxiliary information and the packet data to the centralized unit.

In one possible implementation, the processor 1701 is further configured to perform: and calling a distribution unit to receive the packet data sent by the UE in the non-connection state.

When the call distribution unit sends the first interface message to the central unit, the processor 1701 specifically executes: calling a distribution unit to send a first interface message carrying auxiliary information to a centralized unit; calling a distribution unit to receive a UE context recovery request message sent by a centralized unit; responding to the UE context restoring request message, and calling a distribution unit to restore the UE context; and calling the distribution unit to send the small packet data to the centralized unit based on the UE context restored by the distribution unit.

In a possible implementation manner, when the distribution unit of the calling network device 170 receives the auxiliary information sent by the UE in the non-connected state, the processor 1701 specifically executes: and the calling distribution unit receives a first request message and auxiliary information sent by the UE in a non-connection state. The first request message is used for the UE to request data transmission with the network device 170, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

In one possible implementation, the first request message carries packet data. Before the call distribution unit sends the first interface message to the central unit, the processor 1701 is further configured to: calling a distribution unit to send a second interface message carrying the first request message to a centralized unit; calling a distribution unit to receive a UE context recovery request message sent by a centralized unit; and responding to the UE context restoring request message, and invoking the distribution unit to restore the UE context.

When the call distribution unit sends the first interface message to the central unit, the processor 1701 specifically executes: based on the UE context restored by the distribution unit, the distribution unit is called to send a first interface message carrying auxiliary information to the centralized unit.

In one possible implementation, the processor 1701 is further configured to perform: and calling a distribution unit to receive the packet data sent by the UE in the non-connection state.

Before the call distribution unit sends the first interface message to the central unit, the processor 1701 is further configured to: calling a distribution unit to send a second interface message carrying the first request message to a centralized unit; calling a distribution unit to receive a UE context recovery request message sent by a centralized unit; and responding to the UE context restoring request message, and invoking the distribution unit to restore the UE context.

The processor 1701 is also configured to perform: based on the UE context recovered by the distribution unit, the distribution unit is called to send the packet data to the centralized unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, and the downlink packet data is carried in the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is data that the UE sends to the distribution unit together with the first request message in a non-connected state, and the uplink packet data is data that the distribution unit sends to the central unit after recovering the UE context; the downlink packet data is data which is sent to the UE by the centralized unit through the distribution unit after the distribution unit recovers the UE context, and the downlink packet data is data which is sent to the UE by the distribution unit together with the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message is an RRC message sent by the UE based on a resource allocated by a random access response sent by the network device 170, where the random access response is a random access preamble response sent by the network device 170 based on the UE; or, the first request message is an RRC message that is sent together when the UE sends the random access preamble to the network device 170; or, the first request message is an RRC message that the UE sends to the network device 170 based on the preconfigured uplink resource.

It should be noted that the implementation of each operation may also correspond to the corresponding description of the method embodiments shown in fig. 12 to fig. 16, where the network device 170 is the network device in the method embodiments shown in fig. 12 to fig. 16.

Referring to fig. 18, fig. 18 is a UE180 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the UE180 includes a processor 1801, a memory 1802, and a transceiver 1803, and the processor 1801, the memory 1802, and the transceiver 1803 are connected to each other through a bus.

The memory 1802 may include, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or a portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), and the memory 1802 may be used for related computer programs and data. The transceiver 1803 is used for receiving and transmitting data.

The processor 1101 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case that the processor 1801 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 1801 in the UE180 is configured to read the computer program code stored in the memory 1802 and perform the following:

the assistance information is sent to a distribution unit of the network device in a non-connected state. The auxiliary information is used to indicate the data transmission requirement of the UE180 after the UE180 and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data.

And receiving the indication message sent by the distribution unit. The indication message is obtained by the central unit of the network device according to the first interface message sent by the distribution unit, the first interface message includes the auxiliary information, and the indication message is used for indicating the RRC state of the UE180 after the UE180 and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data.

And entering a corresponding RRC state according to the indication message.

In one possible implementation, the auxiliary information includes: after the UE180 and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data, the UE180 waits for the transmission of the data amount information; or, the auxiliary information includes: a first bit; indicating data transmission requirements by the value of the first bit; or, the auxiliary information includes: information of RRC state that the UE180 desires after completion of the above-mentioned packet data transmission; or, the auxiliary information includes: the relationship between the data volume to be transmitted by the UE180 and the preset threshold after the UE180 and the network device complete the transmission of the packet data.

In one possible implementation, the data amount information includes: a first index value; the first index value corresponds to the data volume to be transmitted by the UE180 after the UE180 and the network equipment complete the transmission of the packet data and is located in a first range; or, the data amount information includes: the value of the BSR.

In a possible implementation manner, before sending the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state, the processor 1801 is further configured to perform: receiving a paging message sent by network equipment; the paging message is used by the network device to indicate that there is downlink data to send to the UE 180.

The processor 1801 specifically executes the following steps of sending the auxiliary information to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state: in response to the paging message, the UE180 sends assistance information to the distribution unit.

Specifically, the UE180 may receive, by the distribution unit, downlink packet data sent by the concentration unit, where the downlink packet data is data sent by the concentration unit to the distribution unit after the distribution unit recovers the UE context.

In a possible implementation manner, when the auxiliary information is sent to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state, the processor 1801 specifically executes: and when the uplink packet data is transmitted to the network equipment, transmitting the auxiliary information to the distribution unit in a non-connection state.

Specifically, the UE180 may send the uplink packet data to the distribution unit together with the auxiliary information in the non-connected state, so that the uplink packet data is sent to the central unit through the distribution unit.

In a possible implementation manner, when the auxiliary information is sent to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state, the processor 1801 specifically executes: the first request message is sent to the distribution unit in a non-connected state. The first request message is used for the UE180 to request data transmission with the network device, the auxiliary information is carried in the first request message, the first interface message is an initial uplink RRC message transmission message, the first interface message includes an RRC Container IE, and the RRC Container IE includes the first request message carrying the auxiliary information.

In a possible implementation manner, when the auxiliary information is sent to the distribution unit of the network device in the non-connected state, the processor 1801 specifically executes: sending a first request message and auxiliary information to a distribution unit in a non-connection state; the first request message is used for the UE180 to request data transmission with the network device, the first interface message is a UE context setup response message, and the auxiliary information is carried in the first interface message.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is carried in the first request message, and the downlink packet data is carried in the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the uplink packet data is data that the UE180 sends to the distribution unit together with the first request message in a non-connected state, and the uplink packet data is data that the distribution unit sends to the central unit after recovering the UE context; the downlink packet data is data that the central unit sends to the UE180 through the distribution unit after the distribution unit recovers the UE context, and the downlink packet data is data that the distribution unit sends to the UE180 together with the indication message.

In a possible implementation manner, the first request message is an RRC message sent by the UE180 based on a resource allocated by a random access response sent by the network device, where the random access response is a random access preamble response sent by the network device based on the UE 180; or, the first request message is an RRC message that is sent together when the UE180 sends the random access preamble to the network device; or, the first request message is an RRC message sent by the UE180 to the network device based on the preconfigured uplink resource.

It should be noted that the implementation of each operation may also correspond to the corresponding description with reference to the method embodiments shown in fig. 12 to 16, where the UE180 is the UE in the method embodiments shown in fig. 12 to 16.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, where the chip system includes at least one processor, a memory and an interface circuit, the memory, the transceiver and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line, and the at least one memory stores a computer program. The computer programs, when executed by the processor, implement the operations performed by the embodiments shown in fig. 12-16.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed on a processor, the computer program implements the operations performed by the embodiments shown in fig. 12 to 16.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product for performing the operations of the embodiments shown in fig. 12-16 when the computer program product runs on a processor.

In this embodiment of the application, when the UE receives the paging message sent by the network device, the UE may execute S1601 in fig. 16, so as to receive downlink packet data sent by the network device. Alternatively, when the UE has uplink packet data to transmit to the network device, the UE may perform S1601 of fig. 16 and transmit the uplink packet data to the network device in S1601.

Illustratively, the UE may be a smartphone and the UE may have a first application installed. The network device may be connected to the application server of the first application, or the network device may be the application server of the first application. The UE installed with the first application may send a heartbeat packet to the application server of the first application at a preset time interval (e.g., 30s), thereby reporting its own status. Specifically, the UE installed with the first application may execute S1601 of fig. 16 in the non-connected state, and send uplink small packet data with a data type of heartbeat packet to the network device in S1601. The UE and the network device may then perform S1602-S1607 shown in fig. 16.

If the CU of the network device successfully receives the uplink packet data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet, the CU of the network device executes the indication message obtained in S1604 to indicate that the uplink packet data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet is successfully transmitted. Optionally, the network device may send the received uplink packet data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet to an application server of the first application program, so that the application server obtains a state that whether the UE installed with the first application program can normally communicate or not. If the CU of the network device does not receive the complete uplink packet data with the data type being the heartbeat packet, the CU of the network device executes the indication message obtained in S1604 to indicate that the uplink packet data with the data type being the heartbeat packet fails to be transmitted. When the number of times that the application server does not receive the data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet is greater than the preset number of times, the application program may consider that the state of the UE installed with the first application program is abnormal and normal communication cannot be performed.

If the UE only needs to send uplink packet data of which the next data type is the heartbeat packet according to a preset time interval after completing the uplink packet data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet with the network device, the auxiliary information reported by the UE in S1601 may be used to indicate that the data transmission requirement of the UE after the UE and the network device complete the transmission of the uplink packet data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet is the transmission requirement of packet data (for example, the BSR of the data volume to be transmitted by the UE is the BSR of the packet data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet). Therefore, the indication message obtained by the CU of the network device executing S1604 may be used to instruct the UE and the network device to maintain the UE in the current non-connected state after completing the transmission of the uplink packet data with the data type being the heartbeat packet. The UE may maintain the non-connected state in which the UE was in when performing S1601 according to the indication message. When the subsequent UE needs to transmit the uplink packet data of the next data type of the heartbeat packet, S1601 in fig. 16 may be executed in the non-connected state, and the uplink packet data of the data type of the heartbeat packet is sent to the network device in S1601.

If the UE detects a user operation performed by the user on the UE before executing S1601, where the user operation is used to send a file to another UE (e.g., a smart phone) on the first application program, the auxiliary information reported by the UE in S1601 may be used to indicate that the UE has a data transmission requirement (e.g., the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE is greater than a preset threshold) after the UE and the network device complete transmission of the uplink packet data of the heartbeat packet. Therefore, the indication message obtained by the CU of the network device executing S1604 may be used to instruct the UE and the network device to fall back to the RRC CONNECTED state after completing the transmission of the uplink packet data with the data type being the heartbeat packet. The UE may fall back to the RRC CONNECTED state according to the indication message. The UE may then transfer the file with the network device in the RRC CONNECTED state. The network device may instruct the another UE to enter the RRC CONNECTED state after receiving the file, and then send the file to the another UE.

Illustratively, the UE may be a smart meter. The network device may be connected to an industrial network of smart meters. The network device may periodically obtain the recorded values of the smart meters, for example, once every 30 minutes (for example, the recorded values within 30 minutes), and synchronize the recorded values of the smart meters with the devices in the industrial network. Specifically, the network device may send a paging message to the UE in the non-connected state, where the paging message is used to indicate that the UE network device has downlink packet data to send to the UE. The UE may perform S1601 of fig. 16 in response to the paging message. The UE and the network device may then perform S1602-S1607 shown in fig. 16. The auxiliary information reported by the UE in S1601 may be used to indicate that the UE and the network device have no data transmission requirement after completing the transmission of the downlink packet data. Although the auxiliary information is used to indicate that the UE has no data transmission requirement, the network device knows that a recorded value of the UE within 30 minutes needs to be obtained subsequently, and therefore, the indication message obtained by the CU of the network device executing S1604 may be used to indicate that the UE and the network device fall back to the RRC CONNECTED state after completing the transmission of the uplink packet data of which the data type is the heartbeat packet. And in S1606, the network device may send downlink packet data with a data type of periodic reading to the UE. The UE may fall back to the RRC CONNECTED state according to the indication message. Then, the UE may transmit the recorded value of the UE in 30 minutes to the network device in the RRC CONNECTED state.

Without being limited to the above-listed application scenarios, in a specific implementation, the packet data is, for example and without limitation: the method comprises the steps of instant messaging messages such as WeChat and QQ, infrequent prompt messages such as push messages of an application program, and periodic data such as heartbeat packages, step number detection, heart rate detection and readings of an intelligent electric meter of the application program. The UE may also perform the method shown in fig. 16 with the network device, so as to transmit packet data with the network device, where the data type is an instant messaging message. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or part of the processes in the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by hardware associated with a computer program that can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, can include the processes of the above method embodiments. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store computer program code, such as ROM or RAM, magnetic or optical disks, etc.

65页详细技术资料下载

上一篇：一种医用注射器针头装配设备

下一篇：一种临床营养整体运用系统及其运用方法

Method and related device for controlling radio resource control state of user equipment

相关技术

网友询问留言