The DU has all or some protocol layer functions of an existing base station, namely, some RRC/SDAP/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY protocol layer function units, for example, including some RRC functions and PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY protocol layer functions; or including PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY protocol layer functions; or including RLC/MAC/PHY protocol layer functions, or including some RLC/MAC/PHY functions; or including only all or some PHY functions. It should be noted that the functions of the protocol layers mentioned herein may change, and all changes fall within the protection scope of this application.
It should be understood that in this embodiment of this application, different protocol layers may be separately deployed on the first network node and the second network node. A possible implementation is: deploying at least a first protocol layer on the second network node, and deploying at least a second protocol layer and a third protocol layer on the first network node.
For example, the first protocol layer may be an RRC layer, the second protocol layer may be a MAC layer, and the third protocol layer may be a PHY layer.
It should be understood that the examples of the first protocol layer, the second protocol layer, and the third protocol layer are merely example descriptions, and should not constitute any limitation to this application. The first protocol layer and the second protocol layer may alternatively be other protocol layers defined in an existing protocol (for example, the LTE protocol) or a future protocol. This is not particularly limited in this application.