US Patent 11870680 Communication method and apparatus

A communication method and apparatus are provided for transmitting packets of a data stream between user equipment. After receiving a first packet from a first user equipment, a user plane function (UPF) forwards the first packet to a second user equipment at a first moment, so that the first packet that arrives at the UPF before the first moment is not forwarded to the second user equipment until the first moment, to support deterministic sending and ensure that a time sensitive communication (TSC) packet is sent at a determined moment, so as to provide deterministic delay assurance for applications such as industrial control and telemedicine.