CN118283736A

CN118283736A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN118283736A
Application number: CN202211739612.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 朱世超; 孙飞; 朱元萍; 祝慧颖
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-12-30
Filing date: 2022-12-30
Publication date: 2024-07-02

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for improving the flexibility and the robustness of data transmission in an IAB network. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a DU module of an IAB node receives a first data packet, wherein the first data packet carries a first BAP route identifier; and transmitting the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier. In the mode, the data packet is routed after the DU module of the IAB node is allowed to receive the data packet in the uplink transmission direction, so that the IAB node supports the IAB node connected through the DU module to forward the data packet, more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communications method and apparatus.

Background

There are two types of nodes in an access backhaul (IAB) network: an IAB host (IAB Donor) and an IAB node (IAB-node). The IAB Donor can provide access service for the terminal equipment, and the service data of the terminal equipment is connected to the IAB Donor by the IAB-node through a wireless backhaul link. The IAB-node is composed of a mobile terminal (mobile termination, MT) module and a Distributed Unit (DU) module. The IAB-node communicates with its parent node via the MT module. The IAB-node communicates with its child node via a DU module, where the child node may be another IAB-node or a terminal device.

In the uplink transmission direction, the DU module of the IAB-node receives the data packet from the child node and transmits the data packet to the MT module for routing. In the downlink transmission direction, the MT module of the IAB-node receives a data packet from the parent node and transmits the data packet to the DU module for routing. In the above manner, the flexibility and robustness of data transmission are low.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for improving the flexibility and the robustness of data transmission in an IAB network.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, where the implementation body of the method may be a network node (such as an IAB node) or a chip, a system of chips or a circuit located in the network node, and the method may be implemented by the following steps: the DU module of the network node receives a first data packet carrying a first Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) route identification. And the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier.

In the application, in the uplink transmission direction, the data packet is allowed to be routed after the DU module of the IAB node receives the data packet, so that the IAB node supports the IAB node connected through the DU module to forward the data packet, more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, before the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, the method further includes: the DU module of the network node determines that the module for transmitting the first data packet is the DU module according to first information, wherein the first information indicates the corresponding relation between the first BAP route identifier and the module for transmitting the first data packet; the DU module of the network node sends a first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, including: the DU module of the network node sends a first data packet according to the first return link route information list; the first backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of the following information: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information.

By the embodiment, the uplink transmission through the sub-node of the IAB node can be realized, and more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, so that the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the method further comprises: the DU module of the network node receives a second data packet, and the second data packet carries a second BAP route identifier; the DU module of the network node determines that the module for sending the second data packet is a mobile terminal MT module of the network node according to second information, wherein the second information indicates the corresponding relation between the second BAP route identifier and the module for sending the second data packet; the DU module of the network node sends a second data packet to the MT module of the network node; the MT module of the network node sends a second data packet according to the second BAP route identification.

By the embodiment, the uplink transmission through the father node of the IAB node can be realized, and more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, so that the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first backhaul link routing information list, including at least one of: the DU module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet; the DU module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the first return link route information list; the DU module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the DU module of the network node sends a first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next-hop BAP address.

In one possible design, the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, including: the DU module of the network node sends a first data packet according to the second return link route information list; the second backhaul link routing information list includes first information, and the first information indicates a module for transmitting the first data packet; the second backhaul link routing information list further includes at least one of: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information.

In the above embodiment, by adding the first information to the backhaul link routing information list, the DU module may determine information such as a module for transmitting the first data packet, a next hop BAP address, and the like by querying the backhaul link routing information list. Therefore, uplink transmission through the sub-node of the IAB node can be realized, more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, including at least one of the following: the DU module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet; the DU module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the second return link route information list; the DU module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the DU module of the network node determines a module for transmitting a first data packet according to the first information; the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through the module for sending the first data packet.

In one possible design, the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, including: the DU module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the third return link route information list; the DU module of the network node determines a module for sending the first data packet according to the next hop BAP address and the link connection relation of the network node; the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third return link route information list; the third backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of the following information: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information.

In one possible design, the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third backhaul link routing information list, including at least one of the following: the DU module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet; the DU module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the third return link route information list; the DU module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through the module for sending the first data packet.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, where the implementation body of the method may be a network node (such as an IAB node) or a chip, a system of chips or a circuit located in the network node, and the method may be implemented by the following steps: the MT module of the network node receives a first data packet, wherein the first data packet carries a first BAP route identifier. And the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier.

In the application, in the downlink transmission direction, the MT module of the IAB node is allowed to receive the data packet and then route the data packet, so that the IAB node supports the IAB node connected through the MT module to forward the data packet, more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, before the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, the method further includes: the MT module of the network node determines that the module for transmitting the first data packet is the MT module according to the first information, wherein the first information indicates the corresponding relation between the first BAP route identifier and the module for transmitting the first data packet; the MT module of the network node sends a first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, which comprises the following steps: the MT module of the network node sends a first data packet according to the first return link route information list; the first backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of the following information: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information.

By the embodiment, the downlink transmission through the father node of the IAB node can be realized, and more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, so that the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the method further comprises: the MT module of the network node receives a second data packet, wherein the second data packet carries a second BAP route identifier; the MT module of the network node determines that the module for transmitting the second data packet is a distributed unit DU module of the network node according to second information, wherein the second information indicates the corresponding relation between the second BAP route identifier and the module for transmitting the second data packet; the MT module of the network node sends a second data packet to the DU module of the network node; the DU module of the network node sends the second data packet according to the second BAP route identification.

By the embodiment, the downlink transmission through the sub-node of the IAB node can be realized, and more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, so that the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the MT module of the network node sends a first data packet according to the first backhaul link routing information list, including at least one of: the MT module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet; the MT module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the first return link route information list; the MT module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the MT module of the network node sends a first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop.

In one possible design, the MT module of the network node sends a first data packet according to a first BAP route identifier, including: the MT module of the network node sends a first data packet according to the second return link route information list; the second backhaul link routing information list includes first information, and the first information indicates a module for transmitting the first data packet; the second backhaul link routing information list further includes at least one of: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information.

In the above embodiment, by adding the first information to the backhaul link routing information list, the MT module may determine information such as a module sending the first data packet, a next hop BAP address, and the like by querying the backhaul link routing information list. Therefore, the downlink transmission through the father node of the IAB node can be realized, more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, including at least one of: the MT module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet; the MT module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the second return link route information list; the MT module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the MT module of the network node determines a module for transmitting a first data packet according to the first information; the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through the module for sending the first data packet.

In one possible design, the MT module of the network node sends a first data packet according to a first BAP route identifier, including: the MT module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the third return link route information list; the MT module of the network node determines a module for transmitting a first data packet according to the BAP address of the next hop and the link connection relation of the network node; the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third return link route information list; the third backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of the following information: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information.

In one possible design, the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third backhaul link routing information list, including at least one of the following: the MT module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet; the MT module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the third return link route information list; the MT module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through the module for sending the first data packet.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, where the implementation body of the method may be a network node (such as an IAB node) or a chip, a system of chips or a circuit located in the network node, and the method may be implemented by the following steps: the DU module of the network node receives a data packet, wherein the data packet carries a first BAP route identifier; the DU module of the network node transmits the data packet to the MT module of the network node; if the transmission node corresponding to the next-hop BAP address does not establish link connection with the MT module of the network node, the MT module of the network node transmits a data packet to the DU module of the network node, and the next-hop BAP address is determined according to the first BAP route identifier; if the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop establishes a link connection with the DU module of the network node, the DU module of the network node sends a data packet to the transmission node.

By the method, uplink transmission can be realized through the child node of the IAB node, downlink transmission can be realized through the parent node of the IAB node, more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and therefore the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the method further comprises: if the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop does not establish link connection with the DU module of the network node, the DU module of the network node reroutes the data packet.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, where the implementation body of the method may be a network node (such as an IAB node) or a chip, a system of chips or a circuit located in the network node, and the method may be implemented by the following steps: the MT module of the network node receives a data packet, wherein the data packet carries a first BAP route identifier; the MT module of the network node transmits a data packet to the DU module of the network node; if the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop does not establish link connection with the DU module of the network node, the DU module of the network node transmits a data packet to the MT module of the network node, and the BAP address of the next hop is determined according to the first BAP route identifier; if the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop establishes a link connection with the MT module of the network node, the MT module of the network node sends a data packet to the transmission node.

By the method, the parent node of the IAB node can be used for downlink transmission, and the parent node of the IAB node is used for downlink transmission, so that more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the method further comprises: if the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop does not establish link connection with the MT module of the network node, the MT module of the network node reroutes the data packet.

In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, where the implementation body of the method may be a network node (such as an IAB node) or a chip, a system of chips or a circuit located in the network node, and the method may be implemented by the following steps: the network node receives a data packet, wherein the data packet carries a first BAP route identifier; the network node determines that a backup path corresponding to the first BAP route identifier has link failure; the network node selects a rerouted backup path in a first backup path set, wherein at least one backup path in the first backup path set satisfies the following condition: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is different from the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier.

In the embodiment of the application, the possibility of the backup path can be improved by supporting the modification of the module for sending the data packet when the backup path is selected, so that the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In one possible design, the rerouted backup path is any backup path in the first set of backup paths. By the method, the implementation complexity can be reduced.

In one possible design, a network node selects a rerouted backup path in a first set of backup paths, comprising: the network node selects a rerouted backup path according to the priority of the backup path in the first backup path set; the priority of the backup paths meeting the first condition in the first backup route path set is higher than the priority of the backup paths not meeting the first condition, and the first condition is that: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is the same as the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier; or the priority of the backup path meeting the second condition in the first backup route path set is higher than the priority of the backup path not meeting the second condition, and the second condition is that: the module corresponding to the backup path for receiving the data packet is the same as the module corresponding to the backup path for transmitting the data packet. By the method, the reliability of the rerouted path can be improved.

In one possible design, a network node selects a rerouted backup path in a first set of backup paths, comprising: the network node selects rerouted backup paths in a first subset of the first set of backup paths, wherein the first subset comprises backup paths in the first set of backup paths that satisfy a first condition: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is the same as the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier; or the first subset includes backup paths in the first set of backup routing paths that satisfy a second condition: the module corresponding to the backup path for receiving the data packet is the same as the module corresponding to the backup path for transmitting the data packet.

By the method, the reliability of the rerouted path can be improved.

In one possible design, the method further comprises: if none of the backup paths in the first backup route path set is available, the network node selects a rerouted backup path from among the backup paths of the first backup route path set except the first subset.

In one possible design, if the destination address of the backup path in the first backup route path set is a BAP address of the first DU module of the hosting device, the method further includes: if none of the backup paths in the first backup path set is available, the network node selects a rerouted backup path in a second backup path set, wherein the destination address of the backup path in the second backup path set is the BAP address of the second DU module of the hosting device.

In one possible design, at least one backup path in the second set of backup routing paths satisfies the following condition: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is different from the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier.

In one possible design, the rerouted backup path is any backup path in the second set of backup paths.

In one possible design, the network node selects a rerouted backup path in the second set of backup paths, comprising: the network node selects a rerouted backup path according to the priority of the backup path in the second backup path set; wherein, the priority of the backup paths meeting the first condition in the second backup route path set is higher than the priority of the backup paths not meeting the first condition, and the first condition is: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is the same as the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier; or the priority of the backup path meeting the second condition in the second backup route path set is higher than the priority of the backup path not meeting the second condition, and the second condition is that: the module corresponding to the backup path for receiving the data packet is the same as the module corresponding to the backup path for transmitting the data packet.

In one possible design, the network node selects a rerouted backup path in the second set of backup paths, comprising: the network node selects a rerouted backup path in a second subset of the second set of backup paths, wherein the second subset comprises backup paths in the second set of backup paths that satisfy the first condition: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is the same as the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier; or the second subset includes backup paths in the second set of backup routing paths that satisfy a second condition: the module corresponding to the backup path for receiving the data packet is the same as the module corresponding to the backup path for transmitting the data packet.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communications apparatus that may be a network node (e.g., an IAB node), a module (e.g., a chip) in the network node. The apparatus has a function of implementing any implementation method of the first to fifth aspects. The functions can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a module for executing any implementation method of the first aspect to the fifth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface circuit for receiving signals from other communication devices than the communication device and transmitting signals from the processor to the processor or transmitting signals from the processor to the other communication devices than the communication device, the processor being configured to implement the method of any of the first to fifth aspects by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a processor coupled to a memory, the processor being configured to invoke a program stored in the memory, to perform any implementation method of the first aspect to the fifth aspect. The memory may be located within the device or may be located external to the device. And the processor may be one or more.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions that, when executed by the communication device, cause the communication device to perform any of the implementation methods of the first through fifth aspects described above.

In an eleventh aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when run by a processor, implements any of the implementation methods of the first to fifth aspects described above.

In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement any of the implementation methods of the first to fifth aspects.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a multi-hop IAB network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a control plane CP protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a user plane UP protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is an uplink transmission schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is another uplink transmission schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a routing path according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The names of all nodes and messages in the present application are merely names set for convenience of description, and names in actual networks may be different, and it should not be understood that the present application is limited to the names of various nodes and messages. On the contrary, any names having the same or similar functions as those of the nodes or messages used in the present application are regarded as methods or equivalent alternatives of the present application, and are within the scope of the present application, and will not be described in detail.

In the following, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained for easy understanding by those skilled in the art.

1) A terminal device is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. The terminal device related to the application can be the terminal device or a hardware component capable of realizing the terminal function inside the terminal device.

The terminal device may also be referred to as a terminal, user Equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal may be widely applied to various scenes, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-device (vehicle to everything, V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (internet of things, IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autopilot, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, and the like. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a computer with a wireless receiving and transmitting function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, intelligent household equipment and the like. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the terminal equipment. For convenience of description, a description will be made below with a UE as an example of a terminal device.

The functions of the terminal device may be implemented by hardware components inside the terminal device, which may be a processor and/or a programmable chip inside the terminal device. Alternatively, the chip may be implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD). The PLD may be any one or any combination of complex program logic devices (complex programmable logical device, CPLD), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) GATE ARRAY, general-purpose array logic (GENERIC ARRAY logic, GAL), or system on a chip (SOC).

The various terminal device examples described above may be considered as in-vehicle terminals if the terminal device is located on a vehicle (e.g. placed in a vehicle or mounted in a vehicle), for example also referred to as in-vehicle units (OBUs).

2) The network node, which may also be referred to as a wireless backhaul device, may provide a wireless access service for the terminal device through an access link (ACCESS LINK, AL), and the network node is connected to the host node through a backhaul link (BL or BH) to transmit service data of the terminal device, and enlarges a coverage area of the mobile communication system by retransmitting or forwarding the service data. As an example, in long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE), a network node may be referred to as a Relay Node (RN), also may be referred to as a relay device, or a relay transmission reception point (relay transmission and reception point, rTRP) or transmission point (transmission point, TP), etc.

The network node may establish a wireless backhaul link with one or more upper nodes (parent nodes) and access the core network through the upper nodes. The upper node may perform certain control (e.g., data scheduling, timing modulation, power control, etc.) on the network node through various signaling. In addition, the network node may provide services to one or more subordinate nodes (child nodes). The upper node of the network node may be a host node or another network node. The lower node of the network node may be a terminal device or another network node.

In the access backhaul Integrated (IAB) network, the network node may be an IAB node (IAB-node). The IAB-node is composed of a mobile terminal (mobile termination, MT) module and a Distributed Unit (DU) module. When the IAB-node faces to the father node, the IAB-node can be used as a terminal device, namely, the role of MT, and an MT module of the IAB-node can be called IAB-MT for providing data back for the child node; when an IAB-node is facing its child node, the DU module, which is used to provide access services for its child node as a network device, i.e. in the role of a DU, may be referred to as an IAB-DU. The child node of an IAB-node may be another IAB-node or a terminal device.

3) A home node (or simply referred to as a home), which can access the core network, is a device in the relay network that is used to access the terminal device to the wireless network. The hosting node may be connected to the core network by a wired link (e.g., fiber optic cable). The host node may be responsible for receiving data from the core network and forwarding to the network node, or receiving data from the network node and forwarding to the core network. Wherein in an IAB network, the hosting node may be an IAB hosting node (or referred to as IAB hosting, IAB-donor).

As an example, the home Node may include a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a Node B (Node B, NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a Base Band Unit (BBU), etc., may also include a base station in an evolved LTE system (LTE-Advanced, LTE-a) or a 4G access network-an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network, E-UTRAN), such as an evolved base station (NodeB or eNB or E-NodeB, evolutional Node B), or may also include a next generation Node B (next generation Node B, gNB) in a fifth generation mobile telecommunications technology (fifth generation, 5G) new radio (new radio, NR) system, etc.

As another example, the host node may include a CU and a DU. The CUs of the hosting nodes may be referred to as hosting CUs (donor-CUs) and the DUs of the hosting nodes may be referred to as hosting DUs (donor-DUs).

The donor-CU and the donor-DU are connected by an F1 interface, which may further include a control plane interface (F1-C) and a user plane interface (F1-U). The CU and the core network are connected through a Next Generation (NG) interface. The donor-CU may be in a form of separation of a User Plane (UP) (abbreviated as CU-UP in the present application) and a Control Plane (CP) (abbreviated as CU-CP in the present application), that is, the donor-CU is composed of CU-CP and CU-UP. A donor-CU may include a host CU-CP and at least one host CU-UP.

The donor-DU is mainly used to implement the functions of layer 1 (layer 1, L1) and layer 2 (layer 2, L2) protocol stacks, including: a Physical (PHY) layer, a medium access control (MEDIA ACCESS control, MAC) layer, or a radio link control (radio link control, RLC) layer. The donor-CU mainly implements the functions of a packet data convergence protocol (PACKET DATA convergence protocol, PDCP) layer, a service data adaptation protocol (SERVICE DATA adaption protocol, SDAP) layer, or a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) layer. An F1-C interface is established between the host CU-CP and the IAB-DU, and an F1-U interface is established between the host CU-UP and the IAB-DU.

The functions of the host node may be implemented by hardware components within the host node, for example, by a processor and/or a programmable chip within the host node. For example, the chip may be implemented by an ASIC, or a PLD. The PLD may be any one or any combination of CPLD, FPGA, GAL or SOCs.

4) Uplink transmission direction: it is understood that the direction in which the IAB-node transmits to the parent node. In the uplink transmission direction, the device generating the data packet may be a terminal device, and in this example, the source node of the data packet may be an IAB-node accessed by the terminal device. Or the device generating the data packet may be an IAB-node in the IAB network, for which the source node of the data packet may be in this example. The destination node of the packet may be an IAB-node in the IAB network or an IAB-node. The present application is not limited to the device for generating the data packet in the uplink transmission direction, the source node and the destination node of the data packet.

Downlink transmission direction: it is understood that the direction in which the IAB-node transmits to the child node. In the downstream transmission direction, the device generating the data packet may be an IAB-node, and in this example, the source node of the data packet may be an IAB-node. Or the device generating the data packet may be an IAB-node in the IAB network, for which the source node of the data packet may be in this example. The destination node of the packet may be an IAB-node in the IAB network, which is the destination node of the packet in this example. Or the destination node of the data packet may also be a terminal device, in this example the destination node of the data packet is an IAB-node accessed by the terminal device. The present application is not limited to the device for generating the data packet in the downlink transmission direction, the source node and the destination node of the data packet.

For convenience of description, a data packet in an uplink transmission direction is referred to as an uplink data packet, and a data packet in a downlink transmission direction is referred to as a downlink data packet.

It should be understood that, in the following description, an IAB node is used as a network node and an IAB host node is used as a host node, and functions performed by the network node and the host node in the method provided by the embodiment of the present application are described, but it should not be understood that the execution subject in the present application is limited only by the IAB node and the IAB host node. That is, the IAB node in the present application may be replaced by a network node, a relay node, or a wireless backhaul device, and correspondingly, the IAB host node may be replaced by a host node. That is, the application scenario of the present application is not limited to the IAB network, but can be applied to other types of relay networks.

In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

And, unless otherwise indicated, the terms "first," "second," and the like according to the embodiments of the present application are used for distinguishing a plurality of objects, and are not used for limiting the size, content, order, timing, priority, importance, or the like of the plurality of objects. For example, the first data packet and the second data packet are only for distinguishing between different data packets, and are not meant to indicate the difference in priority, size, importance, etc. of the two data packets.

In the present application, the words "exemplary" or "such as" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete fashion.

The terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof, as used in the following description of embodiments of the application, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those listed but may optionally include other steps or elements not listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The foregoing describes some of the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application, and the architecture of the network system to which the method provided by the present application is applied is described below.

Communication systems mentioned in embodiments of the present application include, but are not limited to: narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) systems, wireless local area network (wireless local access network, WLAN) systems, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, fifth generation mobile communication (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems,5G) or 5G-later communication systems, such as New Radio (NR) systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, etc.

Fig. 1 shows an IAB network architecture, with an IAB-node (illustrated as an IAB node) for providing wireless access and wireless backhaul of access traffic for a UE. The IAB-donor (illustrated as an IAB host) is used to provide radio backhaul functions to the IAB-node and to provide an interface for the UE to the core network. The IAB-node is connected to the IAB-node via a wireless backhaul link, such that the UE served by the IAB-node is connected to the core network.

Fig. 2 shows an IAB network architecture under multi-hop networking, wherein between a UE (including UE1 and UE2 shown in fig. 2) served by an IAB-node (shown as an IAB node) and an IAB-node (shown as an IAB host), there is at least one transmission path composed of multiple segments of links, each of which includes the UE, one or more IAB-nodes, and the IAB-node. Each IAB-node treats the neighboring nodes for which access and backhaul services are provided as parent nodes, and accordingly, each IAB-node may be treated as a child node of its parent node. For example, in FIG. 2, the parent node of IAB-node1 is IAB-donor, and IAB-node1 is the parent node of IAB-node2 and IAB-node 3. The UE's uplink data packets may be transmitted to the IAB-donor via one or more IAB-nodes and then sent by the IAB-donor to a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) in the mobile gateway device, e.g., a 5G core network. The downlink data packet is received by the IAB-donor from the mobile gateway device and then sent to the UE through the IAB-node.

Fig. 3 and fig. 4 show schematic diagrams of a CP protocol stack and an UP protocol stack of an IAB network with three-hop backhaul, respectively, under which a UE accesses the network through IAB-node2, IAB-node3, IAB-node1, and IAB-donor1 in sequence. The following describes the flow of the user plane traffic (F1-U traffic) and the control plane traffic (F1-C traffic) of the F1 interface according to fig. 3 and fig. 4, respectively:

For the CP plane, as shown in fig. 3, a Uu interface is established between the UE and the IAB2-DU (i.e., the DU module of IAB-node 2), and the peer protocol layers include an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The IAB2-DU and the donor-CU (i.e. the CU of IAB-donor 1) are provided with F1-C interfaces, and the peer protocol layers comprise an F1 application protocol (F1 application protocol, F1 AP) layer and a stream control transmission protocol (stream control transmission protocol, SCTP) layer. The dosor-DU (i.e., the DU module of IAB-dosor 1) and the dosor-CU are connected by a wire, and the peer protocol layers include an Internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) layer, layer 2 and layer 1. Backhaul links are established between IAB-node2 and IAB-node3, IAB-node3 and IAB-node1, and IAB-node1 and donor-DU, and peer protocol layers include backhaul adaptation protocol (backhaul adaptation protocol, BAP) layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer. In addition, a peer RRC layer and a PDCP layer are established between the UE and the donor-CU, and a peer IP layer is established between the IAB2-DU (i.e., the DU module of IAB-node 2) and the donor-DU. Compared with a CP protocol stack of a single air interface, a DU module of the IAB network is accessed to realize the function of gNB-DU of the single air interface, namely the function of establishing a peer RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer with UE, and the function of establishing a peer F1AP layer and an SCTP layer with a donor-CU; while the donor-CU implements the function of a single air interface gNB-CU.

On the CP, the RRC message is encapsulated for transmission in an F1AP message between the access IAB-node and the donor-CU. Specifically, in the uplink direction, the UE encapsulates the RRC message in a PDCP protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU), and transmits it to the IAB2-DU after processing by the RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer in sequence. The IAB2-DU is processed by the PHY layer, the MAC layer and the RLC layer in sequence to obtain PDCP PDU, the PDCP PDU is packaged in F1AP message, and is processed by the SCTP layer and the IP layer in sequence to obtain IP packet, the IAB2-MT (namely, the MT module of IAB-node 2) is processed by the BAP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer respectively and then the IP packet is sent to the IAB3-DU (namely, the DU module of IAB-node 3). The IAB3-DU is processed by the PHY layer, the MAC layer, the RLC layer and the BAP layer in sequence to obtain an IP packet, then the IAB3-MT (i.e. the MT module of IAB-node 3) sends the IP packet to the IAB1-DU (i.e. the DU module of IAB-node 1) similarly to the operation of the IAB2-MT, and the IAB1-MT (i.e. the MT module of IAB-node 1) sends the IP packet to the donor-DU. After the donor-DU analyzes to obtain an IP packet, the IP packet is sent to the donor-CU, and the donor-CU sequentially processes the IP packet through the SCTP layer, the F1AP layer and the PDCP layer to obtain the RRC message. The downlink direction is similar and will not be described again.

On the UP side, as shown in fig. 4, a Uu interface is established between the UE and the IAB2-DU, and the peer protocol layers include an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer. The IAB2-DU and the donor-CU are provided with F1-U interfaces, and the peer protocol layers include a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) user plane tunneling protocol (GPRS tunnelling protocol for the user plane, GTP-U) layer and a user datagram protocol (user datagram protocol, UDP). The dosor-DU and the dosor-CU are connected through a wire, and the peer protocol layers are an IP layer, an L2 layer and an L1 layer. BL is established between IAB-node2 and IAB-node3, between IAB-node3 and IAB-node1, and between IAB-node1 and donor-DU, and the peer protocol layers include BAP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer. In addition, a peer SDAP layer and a PDCP layer are established between the UE and the donor-CU, and a peer IP layer is established between the IAB2-DU and the donor-DU. Compared with the UP protocol stack of a single air interface, the DU module of the IAB access node realizes partial functions of gNB-DU of the single air interface, namely, the functions of establishing a peer RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer with terminal equipment and the functions of establishing a peer GTP-U layer and a peer UDP layer with a donor-CU; the donor-CU realizes the function of gNB-CU with a single air interface.

The IAB network supports multi-hop backhaul, whereas the multi-hop network involves route forwarding between nodes. In the CP and UP protocol stack of IAB architecture, the wireless backhaul link introduces a new protocol layer, namely BAP layer, above RLC layer for realizing the functions of routing and bearing mapping of data packet in the wireless backhaul link. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the start point of the BAP layer is located at the IAB-node to which the UE is connected, and the end point of the BAP layer is located at the donor-DU. The donor-CU assigns a unique BAP address to each IAB-node and donor-DU it controls, which can uniquely identify each IAB-node and donor-DU in the network.

The IAB-node has a corresponding BAP entity on it to execute the BAP layer protocol. Each IAB-node has two BAP entities, one for each MT and DU module, and the BAP addresses of the BAP entities comprised by the MT and DU modules are identical. Each of the two BAP entities has a transmitting and receiving function.

The BAP entity functions include adding a BAP header (header) to an IP packet from an upper layer, where the header includes a BAP route identifier (identity, ID), and specifically, the BAP route identifier may include a BAP address of a destination node and a path identifier (which may be denoted as a path in the present application) reaching the node. The BAP routing ID reflects the identity of the target node and the path taken to reach the target node. It should be appreciated that the BAP address of the destination node in the BAP route identification may be referred to simply as the BAP address in the BAP route identification or the BAP address in the route identification in the present application. The donor-CU configures a routing table for each IAB-node, and the content in the routing table is the mapping relation between the BAP routing ID and the BAP address of the next hop. The routing table may indicate to which network node the data packet should be forwarded. Each IAB-node is configured with Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) routing tables (configured by the donor-CU). The DU module of the IAB-node uses the DL routing table, and the routing table of the DL may indicate to which child node the packet should be forwarded. The MT module of the IAB-node uses the UL routing table, which indicates to which parent node the packet should be forwarded.

In addition to the routing function, the BAP protocol performs mapping between ingress and egress BH RLC channels, the mapping rule also being configured by the Donor-CU, which essentially can be understood as a finer granularity route, further selecting one RLC channel based on determining the next hop target BAP address (i.e., determining the next hop link). When an access IAB-node receives a packet, the packet will be forwarded to higher layers and processed in the manner that an ordinary DU processes an incoming F1-U or F1-C service packet.

The functions of the BAP layer can be found in particular in the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) technical specification (TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS, TS) 38.340 standard, which is not described here.

In addition, to improve traffic reliability, the IAB-node may support dual-connection (dual connectivity, DC) (referred to as NR-DC) or multi-connection (multi-connectivity) networking to cope with anomalies that may occur in the backhaul link, such as link interruption, blocking (blockage), and load fluctuations. Fig. 2 shows an IAB independent (standalone, SA) networking scenario, that is, both IAB-node and UE establish connection with the network only through an air interface of NR system, where IAB-node4 may be connected to two parent nodes IAB-node2 and IAB-node3 simultaneously in NR-DC form, and these two parent nodes may be respectively used as a Master Node (MN) or a Secondary Node (SN) of IAB-node2, where a Cell Group (CG) configured on the MN side is a primary cell group (MASTER CELL group, MCG), and a cell group configured on the SN side is a secondary cell group (secondary cell group, SCG). The IAB network also supports non-independent (non-standalone, NSA) networking. As shown in fig. 5, the IAB-node supports a 4G and 5G network dual-connectivity (E-UTRAN NR dual connectivity, EN-DC) mode, where an LTE-standard base station eNB is a master base station (master eNB, meNB) and is configured to provide an LTE air interface (LTE Uu) connection for a UE or an IAB-node, and establish an S1 interface with a 4G evolved packet core (evolved packet core, EPC) to perform user plane and control plane transmission, and an LTE-side cell group CG is MCG. The eNB may be connected to a network element in the 4G core network, for example, through an S1 interface, to an LTE core network element such as a Mobility MANAGEMENT ENTITY (MME)/serving Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (S-PGW). The MME/S-PGW may be connected to the IAB-donor via an S1-U interface.

The IAB-donor is a 5G base station, and can be a main base station or an auxiliary base station for UE or IAB-node, and can be used for providing NR air interface (NR Uu) connection for the UE or IAB-node, and establishing an S1 interface with a core network EPC for user plane transmission, wherein the NR side cell group CG is SCG. Similarly, the UE also supports EN-DC, and is connected to the main base station eNB through the LTE Uu interface, and to the auxiliary base station IAB-node through the NR Uu interface, and the auxiliary base station of the UE may also be IAB-node. As shown in fig. 5, the NSA scenario of the IAB network also supports multi-hop IAB networking, i.e. the IAB-node may be connected to the IAB-node via a multi-hop wireless backhaul link. NSA networking is also known as EN-DC networking.

An exemplary IAB network architecture in SA networking mode is shown in fig. 6. Taking the IAB-donor1 as an example, the IAB-donor CU-CP may perform control plane signaling communication with a 5G core (5G core,5 GC) through a core control plane interface (e.g., NG-C interface), and the IAB-donor CU-UP may perform user plane communication with the 5GC through a core user plane interface (e.g., NG-U interface). In addition, IAB-donor may also be connected to EPC through an S1-U interface. In addition, the UE and the MT module in the IAB-node may each be connected to a base station (e.g., meNB or gNB) through an LTE air interface or an NR air interface, and the base station may be connected to a core network (e.g., EPC or 5 GC) through an S1 interface or an NG interface. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the DU module of IAB-donor2 may communicate with the CU of IAB-donor1 via an IP network.

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is applicable to similar technical problems.

The technical features related to the embodiments of the present application are described below.

Currently, there is a clear distinction between the direction of packet delivery, and the upstream packet must be received by the IAB-node DU module, and then the MT module can indicate to which parent node the packet should be forwarded according to the UL routing table. Downstream packets must be received by the MT module of the IAB-node and then indicated by the DU module to which child node the packet should be forwarded according to the routing table of the DL. In the above manner, the flexibility and robustness of data transmission are low.

For example, taking the uplink transmission direction as an example, as shown in fig. 7 and 8, the DU3 of the IAB-node3 receives the uplink packet, and transmits the uplink packet to the MT3, and the uplink packet is forwarded by the MT3 to the IAB-node1, which is the parent node of the IAB-node 3. After receiving the uplink data packet sent by the IAB-node3, the DU1 can only be forwarded to the DU module of the IAB-node by the father node connected with the MT1 even if the communication quality of the routing path between the MT1 and the IAB-node is poor and the transmission delay is large, and the IAB-node4 connected with the DU1 can not be forwarded to the DU module of the IAB-node, so that the flexibility and the robustness of data transmission are limited.

Based on the foregoing, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which are used to improve flexibility and robustness of data transmission in an IAB network. The method and the device are based on the same conception, and because the principles of solving the problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition is not repeated.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application is specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For ease of understanding, the following description will be given by taking the uplink transmission direction as an example. It will be appreciated that the downstream transmission direction is similar to the upstream transmission direction, except that in the downstream transmission direction, "DU module" may be replaced by "MT module" and "MT module" may be replaced by "DU module", and the description of the downstream transmission direction will be referred to hereinafter, so that the description of the downstream transmission direction will not be repeated.

In one exemplary illustration, the actions performed by the DU module may be performed by the BAP entity of the DU module, and correspondingly, the actions performed by the MT module may be performed by the BAP entity of the MT module. The "module for transmitting the first data packet" may also be described as "BAP entity for transmitting the first data packet".

Taking an uplink transmission direction as an example, referring to fig. 9, a flowchart of a communication method provided by the present application includes:

S901, a DU module of the IAB node receives a first data packet, wherein the first data packet carries a first BAP route identifier.

In one implementation, a DU module of an IAB node receives a first data packet from other IAB nodes.

S902, the DU module of the IAB node sends a first data packet according to the first BAP route identification.

Three embodiments of the communication method illustrated in fig. 9 are described below by way of example.

In embodiment 1, before S902, the DU module of the IAB node may determine that the module that transmits the first data packet is a DU module according to first information, where the first information indicates a correspondence between the first BAP route identifier and the module that transmits the first data packet. That is, the DU module of the IAB node may perform S902 in the case where it is determined that the module transmitting the first data packet is the DU module according to the first information.

Alternatively, in embodiment 1, if the DU module of the IAB node determines that the module that transmits the first data packet is not the DU module according to the first information, that is, determines that the module that transmits the first data packet is the MT module according to the first information, S902 may not be executed.

Taking the second data packet received by the DU module as an example, the DU module of the IAB node receives the second data packet, where the second data packet carries a second BAP route identifier. The DU module of the IAB node determines that the module for sending the second data packet is the MT module of the IAB node according to the second information, and the second information indicates the corresponding relation between the second BAP route identifier and the module for sending the second data packet. The DU module of the IAB node sends a second data packet to the MT module of the IAB node, and the MT module of the IAB node sends the second data packet according to the second BAP route identification.

In embodiment 1, when the DU module of the IAB node transmits the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, the first data packet may specifically be transmitted according to the first backhaul link routing information list (BH information ADDED LIST). The first backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of the following information: the first BAP route identifier, a next hop BAP address corresponding to the first BAP route identifier, or non-F1 topology indication information corresponding to the first BAP route identifier. In a specific scheme, when the DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet according to the first backhaul link routing information list, the DU module may include at least one of the following:

the DU module of the IAB node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet;

the DU module of the IAB node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the first return link route information list;

the DU module of the IAB node carries out wireless link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet;

The DU module of the IAB node sends a first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop.

Optionally, the process that the MT module of the IAB node sends the second data packet according to the second BAP route identifier is similar to the process that the DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, where the difference is that, when the DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, the DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet according to the backhaul link route information list (i.e. the first backhaul link route information list) corresponding to the first BAP route identifier, and when the MT module of the IAB node sends the second data packet, the DU module of the IAB node sends the second data packet according to the backhaul link route information list corresponding to the second BAP route identifier, where the backhaul link route information list includes at least one of the following information: the second BAP route identifier, a next hop BAP address corresponding to the second BAP route identifier, or non-F1 topology indication information corresponding to the second BAP route identifier.

In embodiment 1 described above, the donor-CU may configure the path for the IAB node to be transmitted and received by the same module, that is, the path in which the DU module receives a packet and the DU module transmits the packet to another IAB node in the uplink transmission direction. In the downstream transmission direction, the MT module receives the data packet and the MT module sends the data packet to another IAB node.

For example, taking the uplink transmission direction as an example, as shown in fig. 10, the BAP address of the donor-DU is BAP address 1, the following paths may be configured:

PATH ID 1: IAB node 3- & gtIAB node 1- & gtIAB node 5- & gtdonor-DU.

PATH ID 2: IAB node 3- & gtIAB node 1- & gtIAB node 6- & gtdonor-DU.

PATH ID 3: IAB node 3- & gtIAB node 1- & gtIAB node 4- & gtIAB node 2- & gtdonor-DU.

At present, the donor-CU will only configure the PATH with the next-hop BAP address of the IAB node 6 or the IAB node 5, i.e. the PATH ID1 and PATH ID 2 described above, to the IAB node 1. In embodiment 1, a new path from IAB node 3 to IAB node1 to IAB node 4 to IAB node 2 to donor-DU is newly introduced, and based on this path, the donor-CU can configure a module (or BAP entity) corresponding to the BAP route identifier { BAP address 1, path ID 3} as a DU module (or DU-side BAP entity) to IAB-node 1. And adding a module (or BAP entity) corresponding to the configuration BAP route identification { BAP address 1, PATH ID 1} and the BAP route identification { BAP address 1, PATH ID 2} to IAB-node1 as an MT module (or MT side BAP entity).

To facilitate an understanding of the scheme, an example is described below in connection with fig. 10.

Taking PATH ID 1 as an example, the donor-CU may send configuration information shown in table 1 to the IAB node 1 through an F1AP layer message or an RRC message.

TABLE 1

F1AP or RRC
	{BAP address 1,PATH ID 1}
MT module

The donor-CU may also send configuration information shown in table 2 to the IAB node 1 via an F1AP layer message.

TABLE 2

In the above example, after the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 receives the first data packet from the IAB node 3, it is determined that the module sending the first data packet is the MT1 module according to the configuration information shown in table 1, so that the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 transmits the first data packet to the MT1 module, and the MT1 module may perform at least one of BAP header rewriting on the first data packet; determining the BAP address of the next hop as the BAP address of the IAB node 5 according to the configuration information shown in the table 2; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the first data packet is sent to the IAB node 5.

Taking PATH ID 3 as an example, the donor-CU may send the configuration information shown in table 3 to the IAB node 1 through an F1AP layer message or an RRC message.

TABLE 3 Table 3

F1AP or RRC
	{BAP address 1,PATH ID 3}
DU module

The donor-CU may also send configuration information shown in table 4 to the IAB node 1 via an F1AP layer message.

TABLE 4 Table 4

In the above example, after the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 receives the first data packet from the IAB node 3, it is determined that the module for transmitting the first data packet is the DU1 module according to the configuration information shown in table 3, so that the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 may perform at least one of BAP header rewriting on the first data packet; determining the BAP address of the next hop as the BAP address of the IAB node 4 according to the configuration information shown in the table 4; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the first data packet is sent to the IAB node 4.

In one exemplary illustration, the first information indicates a correspondence between the first BAP route identifier and a module (or BAP entity) that transmits the first data packet, which may also be described as the first information indicates a module (or BAP entity) to which the first BAP route identifier corresponds. Or the first information indicates an identity of the module (or BAP entity) that sent the first data packet. Or the first information indicates whether the module transmitting the first data packet is a DU module. Or the first information indicates whether the module transmitting the first data packet is an MT module. Or the first information indicates that the first data packet is sent through uplink or downlink, wherein a module for sending the first data packet through uplink is an MT module, and a module for sending the first data packet through downlink is a DU module.

The second information may be replaced by a similar description, and the repetition is omitted.

As an example, the first information may be a BAP entity mapping table (BAP ENTITY MAPPING table), which may include: the first BAP route identifier and the module that sent the first packet. I.e. the DU module of the IAB node is preconfigured with a BAP entity mapping table, so that the DU module can determine the module for transmitting the first data packet according to the BAP entity mapping table.

Alternatively, the second information may be a BAP entity mapping table. The first information and the second information may be the same BAP entity mapping table, or may be different BAP entity mapping tables, which is not limited herein specifically.

It should be noted that, the above "BAP entity mapping table" is only an exemplary naming, and the present application is not limited to naming the first information and the second information.

In one possible scenario, the first information and/or the second information may be sent by the donor-CU to the IAB node. For example, the donor-CU may send the first information and/or the second information to the IAB node via a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) message or an F1AP layer message or other message.

In embodiment 1, after receiving the first packet, the DU module of the IAB node determines a module for transmitting the first packet according to the first information, and then routes the first packet by the module for transmitting the first packet. It may be appreciated that, if the module corresponding to the first BAP route identifier is a DU module, the DU module of the IAB node may send the first data packet to a child node of the IAB node. If the module corresponding to the first BAP route identifier is an MT module, the DU module of the IAB node may transmit a first data packet to the MT module, and the MT module of the IAB node sends the first data packet to a parent node of the IAB node. Compared with the mode that the DU module of the IAB node directly transmits the first data packet to the MT module after receiving the first data packet, and then the MT module sends the first data packet to the parent node of the IAB node according to the backhaul link routing information list corresponding to the first BAP route identifier, the above embodiment 1 can realize uplink transmission through the child node of the IAB node, and provides more possible paths for data transmission in the IAB network, so that flexibility and robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

Another embodiment (i.e. embodiment 2) is described below, in embodiment 2, after receiving a first data packet, a DU module of an IAB node routes the first data packet by the DU module, where a backhaul link routing information list according to which the DU module of the IAB node routes the first data packet includes information indicating a module for transmitting the first data packet. Embodiment 2 will be described below.

In embodiment 2, when the DU module of the iab node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, the first data packet may be sent according to the second backhaul link routing information list; the second backhaul link routing information list includes first information, and the first information indicates a module for transmitting the first data packet; the second backhaul link routing information list further includes at least one of: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information. The first information may refer to the related description in embodiment 1, and the description is not repeated here.

In a specific scheme, when the DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, the DU module may include at least one of the following:

the DU module of the IAB node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet;

The DU module of the IAB node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the second return link route information list;

the DU module of the IAB node determines a module for sending a first data packet according to the first information;

The DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through the module for sending the first data packet.

In one example, if BAP header overwriting is required for the first packet. After the IAB node receives the first data packet, the DU module performs BAP header rewriting on the first data packet. After the BAP header is rewritten on the first data packet, the DU module routes the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, and may specifically include at least one of the following: performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining a module for transmitting a first data packet; and sending the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through a module for sending the first data packet.

In an example, if the module for transmitting the first data packet is an MT module, the DU module transmits the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address through the module for transmitting the first data packet, and specifically, the DU module may transmit the first data packet to the MT module, and the MT module transmits the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address.

After receiving the first data packet, the MT module may not perform radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet and route the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, for example, determine a next hop BAP address, etc., but forward the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address after receiving the first data packet.

Or after receiving the first data packet, the MT module may not route the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, but instead forward the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop after performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet after receiving the first data packet.

Or after receiving the first data packet, the MT module may also re-perform radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet and forward the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address after routing the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list.

In another example, if BAP header overwriting is required for the first packet. After receiving the first data packet, the IAB node routes the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list by the DU module, and may specifically include at least one of the following: performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining a module for transmitting a first data packet; and sending the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through a module for sending the first data packet.

After receiving the first data packet, the MT module may determine whether BAP header overwriting needs to be performed on the first data packet.

If the first data packet needs to be rewritten by the BAP header, the MT module executes at least one of the following steps: performing BAP header rewriting on the first data packet; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; and sending the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next-hop BAP address.

If the BAP header of the first data packet does not need to be rewritten, the MT module does not perform radio link control layer channel mapping and routes the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, for example, determines a next hop BAP address, and forwards the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address after receiving the first data packet. Or after receiving the first data packet, the MT module may not route the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, but instead forward the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop after performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet after receiving the first data packet.

In another example, if BAP header overwriting is not required for the first packet. After receiving the first data packet, the IAB node routes the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list by the DU module, and may specifically include at least one of the following: performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining a module for transmitting a first data packet; and sending the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through a module for sending the first data packet.

After receiving the first data packet, the MT module may not route the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list, but may forward the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address after performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet after receiving the first data packet.

In embodiment 2, by adding the first information to the backhaul link routing information list, the DU module may determine information such as a module transmitting the first packet, a next hop BAP address, and the like by querying the backhaul link routing information list.

Alternatively, the configuration information of the backhaul link routing information list may be sent by the donor-CU to the IAB node. For example, the donor-CU may send configuration information of the backhaul link routing information list to the IAB node through an RRC message or an F1AP layer message or other message.

Taking the F1AP layer message as an example, configuration information of the backhaul link routing information list in embodiment 2 may be as shown in table 5.

TABLE 5

In embodiment 2 described above, the donor-CU may configure the path for the IAB node to be transmitted and received by the same module, that is, the path in which the DU module receives a packet and the DU module transmits the packet to another IAB node in the uplink transmission direction. In the downstream transmission direction, the MT module receives the data packet and the MT module sends the data packet to another IAB node. For example, refer to PATH ID 1 to PATH ID 3 in embodiment 1.

Taking PATH ID 1 as an example, the donor-CU may send configuration information shown in table 6 to IAB node 1 through an F1AP layer message.

TABLE 6

F1AP:BAP MAPPING CONFIGURATION
	Message Type
Transaction ID
	BH Routing Information Added List
>BH Routing Information Added List Item
	>>{BAP address 1,PATH ID 1}
BAP Address of IAB node 5
	>>Non-F1-terminating Topology Indicator
> MT Module

In the above example, the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 may perform at least one of BAP header rewriting of the first data packet after receiving the first data packet from the IAB node 3; determining that the BAP address of the next hop is the BAP address of the IAB node 5 according to the backhaul link routing information list shown in Table 6; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining that the module for transmitting the first data packet is an MT module according to the return link route information list shown in Table 6; the first data packet is sent to the IAB node 5 by the MT module.

Taking PATH ID 3 as an example, the donor-CU may send configuration information shown in table 7 to the IAB node 1 through an F1AP layer message.

TABLE 7

F1AP:BAP MAPPING CONFIGURATION
	Message Type
Transaction ID
	BH Routing Information Added List
>BH Routing Information Added List Item
	>>{BAP address 1,PATH ID 3}
BAP address of IAB node 4
	>>Non-F1-terminating Topology Indicator
> DU Module

In the above example, the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 may perform at least one of BAP header rewriting of the first data packet after receiving the first data packet from the IAB node 3; determining that the BAP address of the next hop is the BAP address of the IAB node 4 according to the backhaul link routing information list shown in Table 7; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining that the module for transmitting the first data packet is a DU module according to the return link route information list shown in Table 7; the first data packet is sent to the IAB node 4.

In embodiment 2, by adding the first information to the backhaul link routing information list, the DU module may determine information such as a module transmitting the first packet, a next hop BAP address, and the like by querying the backhaul link routing information list. It may be appreciated that, if the module corresponding to the first BAP route identifier is a DU module, the DU module of the IAB node may send the first data packet to a child node of the IAB node. If the module corresponding to the first BAP route identifier is an MT module, the DU module of the IAB node may transmit a first data packet to the MT module, and the MT module of the IAB node sends the first data packet to a parent node of the IAB node. Compared with the mode that the DU module of the IAB node directly transmits the first data packet to the MT module after receiving the first data packet, and then the MT module sends the first data packet to the parent node of the IAB node according to the backhaul link routing information list corresponding to the first BAP route identifier, the above embodiment 2 can realize uplink transmission through the child node of the IAB node, and provides more possible paths for data transmission in the IAB network, so that flexibility and robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

Another embodiment (i.e., embodiment 3) is provided below, in which embodiment 3 is similar to embodiment 2 in that the DU module determines the module for transmitting the first data packet and routes the first data packet, and the difference is that in embodiment 2, the DU module determines the module for transmitting the first data packet by adding the first information to the backhaul link routing information list, and in embodiment 3, the DU module may determine the module for transmitting the first data packet through the link connection relationship of the IAB node. Embodiment 3 will be described below.

Embodiment 3, when the DU module of the iab node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, the method may be implemented by:

The DU module of the IAB node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the third return link route information list;

the DU module of the IAB node determines a module for sending the first data packet according to the next hop BAP address and the link connection relation of the IAB node;

The DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third return link route information list;

the third backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of the following information: a first BAP route identification, a next hop BAP address, or non-F1 topology indication information.

In a specific scheme, when the DU module of the IAB node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third backhaul link routing information list, the DU module may include at least one of the following:

the DU module of the IAB node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet;

The processing procedure of the IAB node upon receiving the first data packet may be specifically referred to the related description of the three examples of embodiment 2, and will not be repeated here.

In embodiment 3, the DU module can determine information such as a module for transmitting the first packet, a next hop BAP address, and the like by using the connection relationship between the IAB nodes.

In embodiment 3 described above, the donor-CU may configure the path for the IAB node to be transmitted and received by the same module, that is, the path in which the DU module receives a packet and the DU module transmits the packet to another IAB node in the uplink transmission direction. In the downstream transmission direction, the MT module receives the data packet and the MT module sends the data packet to another IAB node. For example, refer to PATH ID 1 to PATH ID 3 in embodiment 1.

Taking PATH ID 1 as an example, the donor-CU may send configuration information shown in table 8 to IAB node 1 through an F1AP layer message.

TABLE 8

F1AP:BAP MAPPING CONFIGURATION
	Message Type
Transaction ID
	BH Routing Information Added List
>BH Routing Information Added List Item
	>>{BAP address 1,PATH ID 1}
BAP Address of IAB node 5
	>>Non-F1-terminating Topology Indicator

In the above example, the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 may perform at least one of BAP header rewriting of the first data packet after receiving the first data packet from the IAB node 3; determining that the BAP address of the next hop is the BAP address of the IAB node 5 according to the backhaul link routing information list shown in Table 8; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining a module for transmitting the first data packet as an MT module according to the link connection relation of the IAB node; the first data packet is sent to the IAB node 5 by the MT module.

Taking PATH ID 3 as an example, the donor-CU may send configuration information shown in table 9 to the IAB node 1 through an F1AP layer message.

TABLE 9

F1AP:BAP MAPPING CONFIGURATION
	Message Type
Transaction ID
	BH Routing Information Added List
>BH Routing Information Added List Item
	>>{BAP address 1,PATH ID 3}
BAP address of IAB node 4
	>>Non-F1-terminating Topology Indicator

In the above example, the DU1 module of the IAB node 1 may perform at least one of BAP header rewriting of the first data packet after receiving the first data packet from the IAB node 3; determining that the BAP address of the next hop is the BAP address of the IAB node 4 according to the backhaul link routing information list shown in Table 9; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining a module for transmitting the first data packet as a DU module according to the link connection relation of the IAB node; the first data packet is sent to the IAB node 4.

In embodiment 3, the connection relationship between the IAB nodes allows the DU module to determine the module that transmits the first packet by querying the connection relationship between the IAB nodes. It may be appreciated that if the transmission node of the next hop BAP address corresponding to the first BAP route identifier is connected to a DU module (including wired connection and/or wireless connection), the DU module may determine that the module for sending the first data packet is a DU module, and the DU module of the IAB node may send the first data packet to a child node of the IAB node. If the transmission node of the next-hop BAP address corresponding to the first BAP route identifier is connected to the MT module (including wired connection and/or wireless connection), the DU module may determine that the module that sends the first data packet is the MT module, the DU module of the IAB node may transmit the first data packet to the MT module, and the MT module of the IAB node sends the first data packet to the parent node of the IAB node. Compared with the mode that the DU module of the IAB node directly transmits the first data packet to the MT module after receiving the first data packet, and then the MT module sends the first data packet to the parent node of the IAB node according to the backhaul link routing information list corresponding to the first BAP route identifier, the above embodiment 3 can realize uplink transmission through the child node of the IAB node, and provides more possible paths for data transmission in the IAB network, so that flexibility and robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In summary, through the above 3 embodiments, uplink transmission through the child node of the IAB node and downlink transmission through the parent node of the IAB node can be achieved, so that more possible paths are provided for data transmission in the IAB network, and flexibility and robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

Taking the uplink transmission direction as an example, referring to fig. 11, another communication method provided in the present application is a flowchart, where the method includes:

s1101, the DU module of the IAB node receives a data packet, where the data packet carries the first BAP route identifier.

S1102, the DU module of the IAB node transmits the data packet to the MT module of the IAB node.

S1103, if the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop does not establish link connection with the MT module of the IAB node, the MT module of the IAB node transmits a data packet to the DU module of the IAB node, and the BAP address of the next hop is determined according to the first BAP route identifier.

S1104, if the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop establishes a link connection with the DU module of the IAB node, the DU module of the IAB node sends a data packet to the transmission node.

Optionally, if the transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address does not establish a link connection with the DU module of the IAB node, the DU module of the IAB node may reroute the data packet.

In the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 11, the format of the backhaul link routing information list is not changed, the DU module sends the data packet to the MT module for routing after receiving the data packet, unlike the prior art, if the MT module determines that the link corresponding to the next hop BAP address is unavailable during routing, where the unavailable condition includes that the link fails and the transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address is not connected (including wired connection and/or wireless connection) to the MT module, so that the link corresponding to the next hop BAP address is unavailable, and the MT module does not reroute the data packet, but instead transmits the data packet to the DU module for re-judging. After receiving the data packet transmitted by the MT module, the DU module determines whether a link corresponding to the next hop BAP address is available (e.g., if a transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address is connected to the DU module, the DU module sends the data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address, and if not, the DU module can determine that a link failure occurs, and reroutes the data packet.

In summary, the method can realize uplink transmission through the child node of the IAB node and downlink transmission through the parent node of the IAB node, and provide more possible paths for data transmission in the IAB network, so that the flexibility and the robustness of the IAB network can be improved.

In the above description of fig. 9 and fig. 11, in a specific implementation, if the IAB node determines that the link corresponding to the next-hop BAP address has failed, the data packet may be rerouted. A rerouting method is described below.

Referring to fig. 12, the method includes:

S1201, the IAB node receives a data packet, where the data packet carries a first BAP route identifier.

S1202, the IAB node determines that the route path corresponding to the first BAP route identifier has link failure.

For example, the IAB node determines that a link corresponding to a next hop BAP address corresponding to the first BAP route identifier fails.

S1203, the IAB node selects a rerouted backup path in the first backup path set, where at least one backup path in the first backup path set satisfies the following condition: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is different from the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier.

The module for sending the data packet may be a module for sending the data packet indicated by information (for example, the first information or the second information) indicating the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the BAP route identifier in embodiment 1 of the method shown in fig. 9, a module for sending the data packet indicated by the backhaul link route information list in embodiment 2 of the method shown in fig. 9, a module for sending the data packet determined according to the connection relationship between the BAP address and the IAB node in embodiment 3 of the method shown in fig. 9, or a module for sending the data packet determined by the method shown in fig. 11.

The destination address of the backup path in the first backup route path set may be the same as the destination address corresponding to the first BAP route identifier (assumed to be the BAP address of the first DU module of the hosting device), that is, the first backup route path set includes backup paths of the same donor-DU. Alternatively, the destination address of the backup path in the first backup route path set may be different from the BAP address of the first DU module of the hosting device, for example, the destination address may be the BAP address of the second DU module of the hosting device, that is, the backup path of the first backup route path set including the heteronor-DU.

Three ways in which the IAB node selects a rerouted backup path in the first set of backup paths are described below.

In mode 1, the iab node may optionally select one backup path from the first backup path set as a rerouted backup path. That is, the rerouted backup path may be any one backup path in the first backup route path set.

In mode 2, the iab node may select the rerouted backup path according to the priority of the backup paths in the first backup path set.

In one example, the priority of backup paths in the first set of backup route paths that satisfy the first condition is higher than the priority of backup paths that do not satisfy the first condition: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is the same as the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier. That is, in the case that the module for transmitting the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identification has been determined, the priority of the backup path of the module for not changing the data packet is higher than the priority of the backup path of the module for which the data packet needs to be changed. For example, assuming that the module sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier is a DU module, the priority of the backup path of the module sending the data packet in the first backup route path set, which is the DU module, is higher than the priority of the backup path of the module sending the data packet, which is the MT module.

In another example, the priority of the backup paths in the first backup route path set that satisfy the second condition is higher than the priority of the backup paths that do not satisfy the second condition: the module corresponding to the backup path for receiving the data packet is the same as the module corresponding to the backup path for transmitting the data packet. That is, the priority of the backup path of the different side transceiving is higher than the priority of the backup path of the same side transceiving. For example, in the uplink transmission direction, the DU module of the IAB node receives the data packet, so that the priority of the backup path of the MT module as the module for transmitting the data packet in the first backup path set is higher than the priority of the routing path of the DU module as the module for transmitting the data packet.

It should be appreciated that the above prioritization is merely an exemplary illustration and that the present application is not limited to the priority relationship of backup paths in the first set of backup routing paths.

Mode 3, the iab node selects a rerouted backup path in a first subset of the first set of backup paths.

Wherein the first subset comprises backup paths in the first set of backup routing paths that satisfy the first condition described above.

Or the first subset comprises backup paths of the first set of backup routing paths that fulfill the second condition described above.

The manner in which the IAB node selects a rerouted backup path in the first set of backup paths is described above. If the first backup route set includes backup routes of the same donor-DU, that is, if the backup routes of the rerouting are not selected in the above three ways, that is, if it is determined that none of the backup routes in the first backup route set is available in the above three ways, then after S1203, the rerouting backup route may be selected in the second backup route set including backup routes of the heteronor-DU.

Wherein at least one backup path in the second backup route path set satisfies the following condition: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is different from the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier. Or the modules of the second backup route path set for sending the data packets corresponding to the backup paths are the same as the modules of the first BAP route identifier for sending the data packets.

If at least one backup path in the second backup route path set satisfies the following conditions: the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the backup path is different from the module for sending the data packet corresponding to the first BAP route identifier, and the IAB node may select the rerouted backup path in the second backup path set through one of the following four schemes.

Scheme 1 is similar to scheme 1 above, scheme 2 is similar to scheme 2 above, except that the backup route set for selecting the rerouted backup route is different, and specific reference may be made to scheme 1 and scheme 2 above, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

Alternatively, the schemes 1 and 2 may be performed in the case where the rerouted backup path is not selected in the above-described mode 1 or mode 2.

Scheme 3, the iab node selects a rerouted backup path in the second subset of the second set of backup routing paths. Wherein the second subset comprises backup paths in the second set of backup routing paths that satisfy the first condition described above. Or the second subset comprises backup paths of the second set of backup routing paths that fulfill the second condition described above.

Scheme 3 is similar to scheme 3 above, except that the backup route set for selecting the rerouted backup route is different, and specific reference may be made to scheme 3 above, and the description will not be repeated here.

Alternatively, scheme 3 may be performed in the case where the above-described mode 3 does not select a rerouted backup path.

In a possible implementation manner, if the IAB node selects a rerouted backup path from the first set of backup paths in the above manner 3, and does not select a rerouted backup path, the constraint may be disabled (or relaxed) before the rerouted backup path is selected from the second set of backup paths, and the rerouted route path is selected from the first set of backup paths except the first subset.

For example, assuming that the first subset includes backup paths in the first backup path set that satisfy the first condition, if the IAB node does not select a rerouted backup path from among the backup paths in the first backup path set that satisfy the first condition, the rerouted backup path may be selected from among the backup paths in the first backup path set that do not satisfy the first condition.

Optionally, if the IAB node selects a rerouted backup path from the second set of backup paths through the above scheme 3, and does not select a rerouted backup path, the constraint may be disabled (or relaxed), and a rerouted route is selected from the second set of backup paths except for the second subset.

It will be appreciated that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the base station and the terminal include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and method steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application scenario and design constraints imposed on the solution.

Fig. 13 and 14 are schematic structural diagrams of possible communication devices according to an embodiment of the present application. These communication devices may be used to implement the functions of the IAB node in the above method embodiments, and thus may also implement the advantages provided by the above method embodiments. The communication device comprises a first processing module 1301 and a communication module 1302, and may also comprise a second processing module 1303.

The communication module 1302 is configured to receive a first data packet, where the first data packet carries a first BAP route identifier; a first processing module 1301, configured to send the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to the first BAP route identifier.

Optionally, the first processing module 1301 is further configured to: before the first packet is sent through the communication module 1302 according to the first BAP route identifier, determining that a module sending the first packet is the DU module according to first information, where the first information indicates a correspondence between the first BAP route identifier and a module sending the first packet.

The first processing module 1301 is specifically configured to, when sending the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to the first BAP route identifier: transmitting the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to a first backhaul link routing information list; wherein the first backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of: the first BAP route identification, the next hop BAP address, or the non-F1 topology indication information.

Optionally, the communication module 1302 is further configured to: and receiving a second data packet, wherein the second data packet carries a second BAP route identifier.

The first processing module 1301 is further configured to: determining that a module for transmitting the second data packet is a mobile terminal MT module of the network node according to second information, wherein the second information indicates a corresponding relation between the second BAP route identifier and the module for transmitting the second data packet; and sending the second data packet to a second processing module 1303 of the apparatus.

The second processing module 1303 is configured to send the second data packet through the communication module 1302 according to the second BAP route identifier.

Optionally, the first processing module 1301 is specifically configured to, when sending the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to the first backhaul link routing information list, at least one of the following: performing BAP header rewriting on the first data packet; determining a next hop BAP address according to the first backhaul link routing information list; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; the first data packet is sent to a transmission node corresponding to the next hop BAP address through the communication module 1302.

The first processing module 1301, when sending the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to the first BAP route identifier, may be specifically configured to: transmitting the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to a second backhaul link routing information list; the second backhaul link routing information list includes first information, where the first information indicates a module that sends the first data packet; the second backhaul link routing information list further includes at least one of: the first BAP route identification, the next hop BAP address, or the non-F1 topology indication information.

The first processing module 1301 may be specifically configured to at least one of the following when sending the first data packet according to the second backhaul link routing information list: performing BAP header rewriting on the first data packet; determining a next hop BAP address according to the second backhaul link routing information list; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; determining a module for transmitting the first data packet according to the first information; and sending the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next-hop BAP address through the module of the first data packet.

The first processing module 1301, when sending the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to the first BAP route identifier, may be specifically configured to: determining a next hop BAP address according to the third backhaul link routing information list; determining a module for transmitting the first data packet according to the next hop BAP address and the link connection relation of the network node; transmitting the first data packet through the communication module 1302 according to the module for transmitting the first data packet and the third backhaul link routing information list; wherein the third backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of: the first BAP route identification, the next hop BAP address, or the non-F1 topology indication information.

The first processing module 1301 may be specifically configured to, when sending the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third backhaul link routing information list, at least one of the following: performing BAP header rewriting on the first data packet; determining a next hop BAP address according to the third backhaul link routing information list; performing radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet; and sending the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through a module for sending the first data packet.

The first processing module 1301 is illustratively a distributed unit DU module. The second processing module 1303 is a mobile terminal MT module.

Or the first processing module 1301 is an MT module. The second processing module 1303 is a DU module.

As shown in fig. 14, the communication device may include a first processor 1401 and an interface circuit 1402, and may further include a second processor 1403. The first processor 1401, the second processor 1403 and the interface circuit 1402 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1402 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory 1404, configured to store instructions executed by the first processor 1401 and the second processor 1403, or to store input data required for the first processor 1401 and the second processor 1403 to execute the instructions, or to store data generated after the first processor 1401 and the second processor 1403 execute the instructions.

When the communication device is used to implement the method shown in fig. 9, 11 or 12, the first processor 1401 is used to implement the functions of the first processing module 1301, the interface circuit 1402 is used to implement the functions of the communication module 1302, and the second processor 1403 is used to implement the functions of the second processing module 1303.

It is to be appreciated that the processor (e.g., first processor, second processor) in embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital Signal Processors (DSP), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (field programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, it may be any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing software instructions by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, erasable programmable read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may reside in a base station or terminal. The processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a base station or terminal.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a base station, a user equipment, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired or wireless means. The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, tape; but also optical media such as digital video discs; but also semiconductor media such as solid state disks. The computer readable storage medium may be volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage medium.

In various embodiments of the application, where no special description or logic conflict exists, terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logic.

It will be appreciated that the various numerical numbers referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence number of each process does not mean the sequence of the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to the function and the internal logic.

Claims

1. A method of communication, the method comprising:

A distributed unit DU module of a network node receives a first data packet, wherein the first data packet carries a first Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) route identifier;

and the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the DU module of the network node transmitting the first data packet according to the first BAP route identification, the method further comprises:

The DU module of the network node determines that the module for transmitting the first data packet is the DU module according to first information, wherein the first information indicates the corresponding relation between the first BAP route identifier and the module for transmitting the first data packet;

The DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, including:

The DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a first return link route information list;

wherein the first backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of: the first BAP route identification, the next hop BAP address, or the non-F1 topology indication information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

The DU module of the network node receives a second data packet, wherein the second data packet carries a second BAP route identifier;

The DU module of the network node determines that the module for sending the second data packet is a mobile terminal MT module of the network node according to second information, wherein the second information indicates the corresponding relation between the second BAP route identifier and the module for sending the second data packet;

the DU module of the network node sends the second data packet to the MT module of the network node;

and the MT module of the network node sends the second data packet according to the second BAP route identifier.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a first backhaul link routing information list, comprising at least one of:

the DU module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet;

The DU module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the first return link route information list;

The DU module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet;

And the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the next-hop BAP address.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identification, comprising:

The DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a second return link route information list;

The second backhaul link routing information list includes first information, where the first information indicates a module that sends the first data packet;

The second backhaul link routing information list further includes at least one of: the first BAP route identification, the next hop BAP address, or the non-F1 topology indication information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a second backhaul link routing information list, comprising at least one of:

The DU module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the second return link route information list;

the DU module of the network node determines a module for transmitting the first data packet according to the first information;

and the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through the module for sending the first data packet.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identification, comprising:

The DU module of the network node determines the BAP address of the next hop according to the third return link route information list;

The DU module of the network node determines a module for sending the first data packet according to the next hop BAP address and the link connection relation of the network node;

the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third return link routing information list;

Wherein the third backhaul link routing information list includes at least one of: the first BAP route identification, the next hop BAP address, or the non-F1 topology indication information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the DU module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third backhaul link routing information list, comprising at least one of:

9. A method of communication, the method comprising:

A mobile terminal MT module of a network node receives a first data packet, wherein the first data packet carries a first Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) route identifier;

and the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein prior to the MT module of the network node transmitting the first data packet according to the first BAP route identification, the method further comprises:

The MT module of the network node determines that the module for transmitting the first data packet is the MT module according to first information, wherein the first information indicates the corresponding relation between the first BAP route identifier and the module for transmitting the first data packet;

The MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the first BAP route identifier, including:

The MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a first return link route information list;

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

The MT module of the network node receives a second data packet, wherein the second data packet carries a second BAP route identifier;

The MT module of the network node determines that the module for transmitting the second data packet is a distributed unit DU module of the network node according to second information, wherein the second information indicates the corresponding relation between the second BAP route identifier and the module for transmitting the second data packet;

The MT module of the network node sends the second data packet to the DU module of the network node;

and the DU module of the network node sends the second data packet according to the second BAP route identifier.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a first backhaul link routing information list, comprising at least one of:

the MT module of the network node rewrites the BAP header of the first data packet;

the MT module of the network node determines a next hop BAP address according to the first return link routing information list;

The MT module of the network node performs radio link control layer channel mapping on the first data packet;

And the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet to a transmission node corresponding to the next-hop BAP address.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the MT module of the network node sending the first data packet according to the first BAP route identification comprises:

The MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a second return link route information list;

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to a second list of backhaul link routing information, comprising at least one of:

The MT module of the network node determines a next hop BAP address according to the second return link routing information list;

The MT module of the network node determines a module for transmitting the first data packet according to the first information;

and the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet to the transmission node corresponding to the BAP address of the next hop through the module for sending the first data packet.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the MT module of the network node sending the first data packet according to the first BAP route identification comprises:

The MT module of the network node determines a next hop BAP address according to the third return link route information list;

the MT module of the network node determines a module for transmitting the first data packet according to the next hop BAP address and the link connection relation of the network node;

The MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module for sending the first data packet and the third return link routing information list;

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the MT module of the network node sends the first data packet according to the module that sent the first data packet and the third backhaul link routing information list, comprising at least one of:

The MT module of the network node determines a next hop BAP address according to the third return link routing information list;

17. A communication device comprising a transceiver and a processor:

the transceiver is used for the device to communicate;

the processor configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory, to cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 or any one of claims 9 to 16.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the communication method of any one of claims 1 to 8 or the communication method of any one of claims 9 to 16.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium has stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 or the communication method according to any one of claims 9 to 16.