Data Transmission Method and Device

• US 20170048914A1
• Filed: 10/31/2016
• Published: 02/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Zeng, Qinghai, Zhang, Hongping
• Granted Patent: US 10,098,173 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/16 Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A data transmission method including sending, by a base station, request information, an identifier of a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP), and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address of the base station to user equipment, receiving, by the base station, a second IP address assigned by the WLAN AP to the user equipment and confirmation information that are sent by the user equipment, and performing, by the base station, multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, where the IP tunnel is determined using the first IP address and the second IP address.

Claims

1. A data transmission method, comprising:

sending, by a base station, request information, an identifier of a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP), and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address of the base station to user equipment, wherein the request information is used to request the user equipment to perform multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP;

receiving, by the base station, a second IP address assigned by the WLAN AP to the user equipment and confirmation information that are sent by the user equipment, wherein the confirmation information is used to confirm that the user equipment performs the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP; and

performing, by the base station, the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through an IP tunnel, wherein the IP tunnel is determined using the first IP address and the second IP address.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the base station has a base station protocol stack, and wherein performing the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the user equipment comprises:

adding, by the base station, an IP header to a first protocol data unit generated at an aggregation layer in the base station protocol stack, and sending the first protocol data unit with the added IP header to the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel;

or

receiving, by the base station, a second protocol data unit that is sent by the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, deleting an IP header of the second protocol data unit, and instructing the aggregation layer in the base station protocol stack to process the second protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted, wherein the IP header is added by the user equipment to the second protocol data unit generated at an aggregation layer in a user equipment protocol stack.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein adding the IP header to the first protocol data unit, and sending the first protocol data unit with the added IP header to the user equipment comprises adding, by the base station, the IP header to the first protocol data unit generated at the aggregation layer in the base station protocol stack, and sending the first protocol data unit with the added IP header to the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, wherein the IP header comprises radio bearer information that is corresponding to the first protocol data unit and added by the base station according to location information, and the radio bearer information is used by the user equipment to instruct an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in the user equipment protocol stack to process the first protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted, or

wherein receiving the second protocol data unit that is sent by the user equipment, deleting the IP header of the second protocol data unit, and instructing the aggregation layer in the base station protocol stack to process the second protocol data unit comprises receiving, by the base station, the second protocol data unit that is sent by the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, obtaining, from the IP header of the second protocol data unit according to location information, radio bearer information corresponding to the second protocol data unit, deleting the IP header of the second protocol data unit, and instructing an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in the base station protocol stack to process the second protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the location information is sent by the base station to the user equipment, or agreed by the base station and the user equipment according to a communications protocol, and wherein the location information is used to indicate a location of the radio bearer information in the IP header.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the radio bearer information comprises a radio bearer identifier or a logical channel identifier.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the IP header further comprises priority information of a logical channel corresponding to the logical channel identifier, or priority information of a radio bearer corresponding to the radio bearer identifier.

7. The method according to claim 2, further comprising performing, by the base station, integrity protection on the first protocol data unit with the added IP header.

8. A data transmission method, comprising:

receiving, by user equipment, request information, an identifier of a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP), and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address of a base station that are sent by the base station, wherein the request information is used to request the user equipment to perform multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP;

sending, by the user equipment, a second IP address assigned by the WLAN AP to the user equipment and confirmation information to the base station, wherein the confirmation information is used to confirm that the user equipment performs the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP; and

performing, by the user equipment, the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP and through an IP tunnel, wherein the IP tunnel is determined using the first IP address and the second IP address.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the user equipment has a user equipment protocol stack, and wherein performing the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station comprises:

receiving, by the user equipment, a first protocol data unit that is sent by the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, deleting an IP header of the first protocol data unit, and instructing an aggregation layer in the user equipment protocol stack to process the first protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted, wherein the IP header is added by the base station to the first protocol data unit generated at an aggregation layer in a base station protocol stack;

or

adding, by the user equipment, an IP header to a second protocol data unit generated at the aggregation layer in the user equipment protocol stack, and sending the second protocol data unit with the added IP header to the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein receiving the first protocol data unit, deleting the IP header of the first protocol data unit, and instructing the aggregation layer in the user equipment protocol stack to process the first protocol data unit comprises receiving, by the user equipment, the first protocol data unit that is sent by the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, obtaining, from the IP header of the first protocol data unit according to location information, radio bearer information corresponding to the first protocol data unit, deleting the IP header of the first protocol data unit, and instructing an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in the user equipment protocol stack to process the first protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted, or

wherein adding the IP header to the second protocol data unit, and sending the second protocol data unit with the added IP header to the base station comprises adding, by the user equipment, the IP header to the second protocol data unit generated at the aggregation layer in the user equipment protocol stack, and sending the second protocol data unit with the added IP header to the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, wherein the IP header comprises radio bearer information that is corresponding to the second protocol data unit and added by the user equipment according to location information, and the radio bearer information is used by the base station to instruct an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in the base station protocol stack to process the second protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the location information is sent by the base station to the user equipment, or agreed by the base station and the user equipment according to a communications protocol, and wherein the location information is used to indicate a location of the radio bearer information in the IP header.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the radio bearer information comprises a radio bearer identifier or a logical channel identifier.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the IP header further comprises priority information of a logical channel corresponding to the logical channel identifier, or priority information of a radio bearer corresponding to the radio bearer identifier.

14. The method according to claim 9, further comprising performing, by the user equipment, integrity protection on the second protocol data unit with the added IP header.

15. A base station, comprising:

a network interface;

a memory;

a processor; and

a bus,

wherein the network interface, the memory, and the processor are separately connected to the bus,

wherein the processor invokes, using the bus, a program stored in the memory and is configured to;

send request information, an identifier of a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP), and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address of the base station to user equipment using the network interface, wherein the request information is used to request the user equipment to perform multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP;

receive, using the network interface, a second IP address assigned by the WLAN AP to the user equipment and confirmation information that are sent by the user equipment, wherein the confirmation information is used to confirm that the user equipment performs the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP; and

perform, the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through an IP tunnel, wherein the IP tunnel is determined using the first IP address and the second IP address.

16. The base station according to claim 15, wherein when performing the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, the processor is further configured to:

add an IP header to a first protocol data unit generated according to an aggregation layer function of a base station protocol stack, and send the first protocol data unit with the added IP header to the user equipment using the WLAN AP, through the IP tunnel, and using the network interface;

or

receive, using the network interface, a second protocol data unit that is sent by the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, delete an IP header of the second protocol data unit, and process, according to an aggregation layer function of a base station protocol stack, the second protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted, wherein the IP header is added by the user equipment to the second protocol data unit generated according to an aggregation layer function of a user equipment protocol stack.

17. The base station according to claim 15, wherein when performing the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, the processor is further configured to:

add an IP header to a first protocol data unit generated according to an aggregation layer function of a base station protocol stack, and send the first protocol data unit with the added IP header to the user equipment using the WLAN AP, through the IP tunnel, and using the network interface, wherein the IP header comprises radio bearer information that is corresponding to the first protocol data unit and added by the processor according to location information, and the radio bearer information is used by the user equipment to process, according to an aggregation layer function of an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in a user equipment protocol stack, the first protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted;

or

receive, using the network interface, a second protocol data unit that is sent by the user equipment using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, obtain, from an IP header of the second protocol data unit according to location information, radio bearer information corresponding to the second protocol data unit, delete the IP header of the second protocol data unit, and process, according to an aggregation layer function of an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in a base station protocol stack, the second protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted.

18. The base station according to claim 17, wherein the location information is used to indicate a location of the radio bearer information in the IP header, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

send the location information to the user equipment using the network interface;

or

agree on the location information with the user equipment according to a communications protocol.

19. The base station according to claim 17, wherein the radio bearer information comprises a radio bearer identifier or a logical channel identifier.

20. The base station according to claim 19, wherein the IP header further comprises priority information of a logical channel corresponding to the logical channel identifier, or priority information of a radio bearer corresponding to the radio bearer identifier.

21. The base station according to claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to perform integrity protection on the first protocol data unit with the added IP header.

22. A user equipment, comprising:

a network interface;

a memory;

a processor; and

a bus,

wherein the network interface, the memory, and the processor are separately connected to the bus,

wherein the processor invokes, using the bus, a program stored in the memory and is configured to;

receive, using the network interface, request information, an identifier of a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP), and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address of a base station that are sent by the base station, wherein the request information is used to request the user equipment to perform multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP;

send a second IP address assigned by the WLAN AP to the user equipment and confirmation information to the base station using the network interface, wherein the confirmation information is used to confirm that the user equipment performs the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP; and

perform, by the processor, the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP and through an IP tunnel, wherein the IP tunnel is determined using the first IP address and the second IP address.

23. The user equipment according to claim 22, wherein when performing the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, the processor is further configured to:

receive, using the network interface, a first protocol data unit that is sent by the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, delete an IP header of the first protocol data unit, and process, according to an aggregation layer function of a user equipment protocol stack, the first protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted, wherein the IP header is added by the base station to the first protocol data unit generated according to an aggregation layer function of a base station protocol stack;

or

add an IP header to a second protocol data unit generated according to the aggregation layer function of a user equipment protocol stack, and send the second protocol data unit with the added IP header to the base station using the WLAN AP, through the IP tunnel, and using the network interface.

24. The user equipment according to claim 22, wherein when performing the multi-stream aggregation data transmission to the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, the processor is further configured to:

receive, using the network interface, a first protocol data unit that is sent by the base station using the WLAN AP and through the IP tunnel, obtain, from an IP header of the first protocol data unit according to location information, radio bearer information corresponding to the first protocol data unit, delete the IP header of the first protocol data unit, and process, according to an aggregation layer function of an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in a user equipment protocol stack, the first protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted;

or

add, by the processor, an IP header to a second protocol data unit generated according to an aggregation layer function of a user equipment protocol stack, and send the second protocol data unit with the added IP header to the base station using the WLAN AP, through the IP tunnel, and using the network interface, wherein the IP header comprises radio bearer information that is corresponding to the second protocol data unit and added by the processor according to location information, and the radio bearer information is used by the base station to process, according to an aggregation layer function of an aggregation layer entity that is in a mapping relationship with the radio bearer information and in a base station protocol stack, the second protocol data unit whose IP header is deleted.

25. The user equipment according to claim 24, wherein the location information is used to indicate a location of the radio bearer information in the IP header, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, using the network interface, the location information sent by the base station;

or

agree on the location information with the base station according to a communications protocol.

26. The user equipment according to claim 24, wherein the radio bearer information comprises a radio bearer identifier or a logical channel identifier.

27. The user equipment according to claim 26, wherein the IP header further comprises priority information of a logical channel corresponding to the logical channel identifier, or priority information of a radio bearer corresponding to the radio bearer identifier.

28. The user equipment according to claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to perform integrity protection on the second protocol data unit with the added IP header.