CN111684835B

CN111684835B - Feedback information indicating method and device

Info

Publication number: CN111684835B
Application number: CN201880088627.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李铮; 吴毅凌; 陈刘海
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-02-06
Filing date: 2018-02-06
Publication date: 2021-10-15
Anticipated expiration: 2038-02-06
Also published as: WO2019153126A1; CN111684835A

Abstract

A method and a device for indicating feedback information are provided, which are used for saving time-frequency resources as much as possible when an uplink data packet is fed back. In the method, a network device sends first downlink control information through a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated to a terminal device and first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (PHHARQ) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position. And then the terminal equipment receives the first downlink control information carried by the first downlink control channel, and after sending the uplink data packet at the first time-frequency position indicated by the first downlink control information, acquires the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information.

Description

Feedback information indicating method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for indicating feedback information.

Background

In a mobile communication system, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a terminal device and a network device often use a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) technology to verify whether transmitted data is correctly received in a communication process, so as to improve data transmission quality. For example, in the uplink data transmission process, the terminal device may send an uplink data packet on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), where the uplink data packet includes user data and a Buffer Status Report (BSR) for indicating a remaining amount of unsent data, and if the network device can correctly receive the uplink data packet carried on the PUSCH, the network device continues to allocate an air interface resource to the terminal device, and indicates the allocated air interface resource to be used for new transmission on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and feeds back a correct response instruction (PHICH) on a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel (physical HARQ indication channel), so that the terminal device may send a next uplink data packet on the PUSCH by using the resource allocated by the network device. On the contrary, if the network device fails to correctly receive the uplink data packet carried on the PUSCH, after allocating an air interface resource to the terminal device, the allocated air interface resource is indicated on the PDCCH for retransmission and a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) is fed back on the PHICH, so that the terminal device may re-send the data packet that the network device fails to correctly receive on the PUSCH by using the air interface resource allocated by the network device.

As can be seen from the above manner, in the design of the mobile communication system, when the network device performs the feedback of the uplink data, the air interface resources allocated by the PDCCH and PHICH feedback and the reception condition of the uplink data are fixed. That is, each time the terminal device sends one uplink data packet, the base station needs to occupy two channels, namely PDCCH and PHICH, for feedback. However, the frequency domain resources of the narrowband internet of things communication system are tense, so that the narrowband internet of things communication system does not have sufficient time-frequency resources for performing feedback of the uplink data packet, and the existing feedback mode for the uplink data packet is not suitable for the narrowband internet of things communication system.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides an indication method and device of feedback information, so that time-frequency resources are saved as much as possible when an uplink data packet is fed back.

In a first aspect, a network device sends first downlink control information through a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated to a terminal device and first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position.

Further, the terminal device receives first downlink control information carried by a first downlink control channel, and after sending an uplink data packet at a first time-frequency position indicated by the first downlink control information, acquires the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information.

In the embodiment of the application, by the method for indicating the feedback information, before the network device sends the feedback information to the terminal device each time, the network device can flexibly select the downlink channel for carrying the feedback information and indicate the downlink channel to the terminal device in advance, so that the terminal device can obtain the feedback information from the corresponding downlink channel. For example, the network device sends the feedback information and indicates the uplink resource allocated to the terminal through the downlink control channel, so that the received result of the received uplink data packet can be fed back while the scheduling of the uplink resource is completed, the frequency domain resource is saved, and the feedback delay can be reduced. For another example, the feedback information is sent through a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, so that the coverage performance is better and the feedback efficiency is higher. Compared with the prior art in which two channels are fixedly adopted for feedback of the uplink data packet, the method for flexibly selecting one of the two channels for feedback can save time-frequency resources for feeding back the uplink data packet.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

Wherein the time-frequency resource information comprises at least one of the following information: a first channel index value, where the first channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource location occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel carrying the first feedback information; the size of a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; the number of repetitions of the physical hybrid automatic repeat indicator channel; the bit occupied by the first feedback information in a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; and time delay information, where the time delay information is used to indicate a time length of an interval between the terminal device sending the first uplink data packet and the network device sending the first feedback information on the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

In the above manner, by adding the field indicating the time-frequency resource information of the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel to the first downlink control information, the terminal device can conveniently and accurately obtain the first feedback information from the corresponding time-frequency position, and the feedback efficiency can be improved.

Further, after the network device sends the first downlink control information through the first downlink control channel, the network device may monitor the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position, and further, the network device may determine whether to correctly receive the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the network device sends the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel when determining that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is correctly received, where the first feedback information is used to represent that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; or, when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is not correctly received, the network device sends the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, where the first feedback information is used to characterize that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received.

In the above manner, the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel is used to send the first feedback information, so that the coverage performance is better, and the feedback efficiency is higher because the amount of data carried by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel is smaller than the amount of data carried by the downlink control channel.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the network device sends the second downlink control information through the second downlink control channel when determining that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is correctly received, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; or, when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is incorrectly received, the network device sends the second downlink control information through the second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is incorrectly received.

The second downlink control information may further include a second time-frequency position of the uplink resource re-allocated to the terminal device, and second indication information; the second indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send second feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (PHHARQ) indication channel, and the second feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a second uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the second time-frequency position.

In the above manner, the downlink control channel is adopted to send the first feedback information, and simultaneously, the information such as the uplink resource and the like allocated to the terminal device can be indicated, so that the scheduling of the uplink resource can be completed, and simultaneously, the receiving result of the received uplink data packet can be fed back, thereby not only saving the frequency domain resource, but also ensuring that the time delay of the feedback process is lower.

In a possible implementation manner, when the network device determines that the second uplink packet is correctly received and determines that uplink resources do not need to be allocated to the terminal device, the first feedback information may be represented by a second channel index value, where the second channel index value is an invalid value, the second channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource position in the uplink resources allocated to the terminal device, and the invalid value indicates that the uplink resources allocated to the terminal device by the network device are invalid.

In the foregoing manner, the invalid second channel index value is used as the first feedback information to indicate that the terminal device has no available uplink resource for sending the uplink data packet, so that the terminal device can be implicitly indicated that the first uplink data packet has been successfully received, and uplink resources do not need to be allocated to retransmit the first uplink data packet or to newly transmit a next uplink data packet. And the invalid second channel index value is used as the first feedback information, and the original field in the downlink control information is not required to be increased or changed, so that the realization process is simpler and more convenient.

For the terminal side, after receiving the first downlink control information carried by the first downlink control channel, the terminal device may send an uplink data packet at the first time-frequency position indicated by the first downlink control information, and determine the downlink channel carrying the first feedback information that needs to be monitored.

In a possible implementation manner, if it is determined that the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the terminal device determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the downlink control channel; if the terminal device determines that the first indication information is used for indicating that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the terminal device determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

In the above manner, the terminal device may determine the downlink channel to be monitored according to the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, so that the downlink channel may be selectively monitored, and the processing pressure of the terminal device may be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, when the terminal device obtains the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, the terminal device may determine a time-frequency position of the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel according to a first channel index value and delay information indicated in the time-frequency resource information, and further, after monitoring the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel at the determined time-frequency position, obtain the first feedback information carried by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

If the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the terminal device may obtain the first feedback information carried by the second downlink control channel after monitoring the second downlink control channel through search space search when obtaining the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information.

In the foregoing manner, the terminal device may receive feedback information of the network device for the uplink data packet from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, and then may determine whether to retransmit the uplink data packet or the like according to a reception result of the uplink data packet fed back in the feedback information.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has the function of implementing the network device according to the first aspect, where the function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. The modules may be software and/or hardware.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit, and functions performed by the transmitting unit and the processing unit may correspond to steps performed by the network device according to the first aspect, which is not described herein again.

In another possible implementation manner, the communication device includes a processor and a transceiver, and the processor may control the transceiver to send and receive signals to implement the method performed by the network device in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In another possible implementation, the apparatus may further include one or more memories for coupling with the processor, which stores computer program instructions and/or data necessary to implement the functions of the network device according to the first aspect. The one or more memories may be integral with the processor or separate from the processor. The present application is not limited. The processor may execute the computer program instructions stored in the memory to perform the method performed by the network device in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the communication apparatus has a function of implementing the terminal device according to the first aspect, and the function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. The modules may be software and/or hardware.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit, and functions executed by the transmitting unit and the processing unit may correspond to steps executed by the terminal device according to the first aspect, which is not described herein again.

In another possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver, and the processor may control the transceiver to send and receive signals to implement the method performed by the terminal device in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In another possible implementation, the apparatus may further include one or more memories for coupling with the processor, which stores computer program instructions and/or data necessary to implement the functions of the terminal device according to the first aspect. The one or more memories may be integral with the processor or separate from the processor. The present application is not limited. The processor may execute the computer program instructions stored in the memory to perform the method performed by the terminal device in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication system comprising the network device according to the first aspect and at least one terminal device according to the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a chip, which may be connected to a memory, and configured to read and execute a program code stored in the memory, so as to implement any one of the methods involved in the network device in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect and the first aspect, or implement any one of the methods involved in the terminal device in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect and the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer storage medium for storing a program or instructions, which when executed on a computer, can perform any one of the methods in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or can perform any one of the methods in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible narrowband internet of things communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for indicating feedback information of an uplink data packet according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 500 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 600 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

(1) A network device, which may be referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN) device, is a device for accessing a terminal device to a wireless network, and includes but is not limited to: an evolved node B (eNB), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved node B or home node B, HNB), a Base Band Unit (BBU), a wireless fidelity (WIFI) Access Point (AP), a transmission point (TRP or transmission point, TP), a node B (gbb) that continues to evolve, and the like.

(2) A terminal device, which is a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, may include various handheld devices with wireless communication functions, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, drones or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, as well as various forms of User Equipment (UE), Mobile Stations (MS), terminals (terminal equipment), transmission and reception points (TRP or transmission point, TP), and the like.

(3) HARQ is a technology formed by combining forward error correction coding (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ). Specifically, the sending end transmits a data packet to be sent out through an antenna port after FEC coding and modulation of a physical layer. After the data packet arrives at the receiving end, the receiving end demodulates and decodes the received data packet at the physical layer, and feeds back the decoding result to the sending end. If the receiving end can correctly receive the data packet, the receiving end sends ACK to the sending end, and if the receiving end fails to correctly receive the data packet, the receiving end sends NACK to the sending end. Correspondingly, after receiving the ACK fed back by the receiving end, the transmitting end may continue to transmit the next data packet, whereas after receiving the NACK fed back by the receiving end, the transmitting end retransmits the data packet that the receiving end fails to correctly receive. The embodiment of the application mainly relates to a process of feeding back ACK or NACK by network equipment aiming at an uplink data packet sent by terminal equipment. In addition, the embodiment of the application can adopt an asynchronous HARQ mode, so that the terminal equipment can retransmit the data packet at any time after receiving the NACK fed back by the network equipment, and the retransmission scheduling is more flexible.

(4) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably; "a plurality" means two or more, and in view of this, a plurality may also be understood as "at least two" in the embodiments of the present application; "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone; and, unless stated to the contrary, the embodiments of the present application refer to the ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc., for distinguishing a plurality of objects, and do not limit the sequence, timing, priority, or importance of the plurality of objects.

In order to better understand the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, an application scenario of the embodiments of the present application is first described below.

The embodiment of the application can be applied to a narrow-band Internet of things communication system, such as a narrow-band communication system in the power industry. Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a possible narrowband internet of things communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes a terminal device, a base station, and a core network. The terminal equipment can be accessed to the base station, and further communication with a core network element is realized through the base station. The embodiment of the application mainly relates to communication between terminal equipment and a base station. Aiming at the uplink transmission process, if the uplink data packet to be sent by the terminal equipment is large and needs to be divided into small uplink data packets for sending, for each small uplink data packet transmission, the base station may instruct the terminal device to transmit the uplink data packet at the time-frequency position of which uplink resources, and the terminal device may further send the uplink data packet at the time-frequency position indicated by the base station, and further, after the terminal device sends the uplink data packet, the base station may send feedback information to the terminal device to characterize whether the uplink data packet sent by the terminal device is correctly received, and indicate a time-frequency position of the uplink resource re-allocated to the terminal device, so that the terminal device determines whether to transmit the next uplink data packet or retransmit the uplink data packet which is not correctly received by the base station at the time-frequency position of the re-allocated uplink resource.

In the existing mobile communication system, because available frequency domain resources are sufficient, a base station can fixedly indicate a time-frequency resource position which is allocated for the terminal equipment and used for bearing an uplink data packet through a PDCCH (physical Downlink control channel), and feeds back ACK (acknowledgement) or NACK (negative acknowledgement) through a PHICH (physical hybrid automatic repeat request) to indicate whether the base station correctly receives the uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at this time. However, in the existing narrowband internet of things communication system, the available authorized spectrum is less and discretized, each channel carrier is only about 25Khz, and the PDCCH and the PHICH need to occupy one carrier respectively to enable the signal coverage to reach the standard, so as to ensure the signal transmission performance. In view of the particularity of the narrowband internet of things communication system, if the existing mode is adopted, the feedback of the uplink data packet is fixedly carried out through the PDCCH and the PHICH, which means that two 25Khz carriers are required to be occupied for each feedback of the uplink data packet, and this undoubtedly aggravates the shortage of frequency domain resources for the narrowband internet of things communication system with insufficient frequency domain resources. Therefore, the embodiment of the application provides a method and a device for indicating feedback information, which can save time-frequency resources for feeding back an uplink data packet.

It is to be understood that the scheme in the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to other wireless communication systems, for example, to a New Radio (NR) system in the future, or to other wireless communication systems with relatively short spectrum resources.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an uplink data packet transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application, and in particular, a flowchart illustrating a method for indicating feedback information of an uplink data packet, where in the following description, the method is applied to the application scenario shown in fig. 1 as an example. The process of the method is described as follows:

step 201: the terminal device sends a Scheduling Request (SR) or a BSR to the base station, and is configured to request uplink resources from the base station.

Specifically, when the terminal device requests the base station for the uplink resource through the SR, the terminal device may only indicate that the base station has the uplink data packet to be sent, but does not indicate how many bytes of data the uplink data packet to be sent by the base station terminal device specifically contains. Specifically, the BSR may represent a byte range of an uplink data packet that is not sent by the terminal device by using an index value, and different index values may represent different byte ranges. Different byte ranges represented by different index values can indicate whether the terminal equipment has an unsent uplink data packet. For example, when the byte range represented by the index value is zero, it indicates that the terminal device does not have an uplink data packet that is not sent, i.e., indicates that the base station does not need to continue allocating uplink resources. And when the byte range represented by the index value is not zero, it indicates that the terminal device still has an uplink data packet which is not transmitted, that is, indicates that the base station still needs to allocate uplink resources.

Step 202: the base station allocates uplink resources for the terminal equipment and sends first downlink control information through a first PDCCH, wherein the first downlink control information comprises a first time-frequency position of the uplink resources allocated for the terminal equipment and first indication information.

Specifically, if the base station receives the SR sent by the terminal device, because the SR can only indicate that the terminal device has an uplink data packet to be sent, and does not indicate how many bytes of data the uplink data packet to be sent by the terminal device specifically contains, after receiving the SR, the base station can partition a part of uplink resources from schedulable uplink resources to allocate to the terminal device, so that the terminal device sends the uplink data packet. If the base station receives the BSR sent by the terminal device, the base station may allocate uplink resources to the terminal device according to uplink data packet information that is not sent by the terminal device and the condition of schedulable uplink resources indicated in the BSR, so that the terminal device sends an uplink data packet.

Further, the base station may carry uplink grant information (UL grant) in the first downlink control information carried by the first PDCCH, where the UL grant includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated to the terminal device, so as to instruct the terminal device to send the first uplink data packet at the first time-frequency position. The first time frequency position may specifically refer to a position on a time domain resource corresponding to the PUSCH and a position of a carrier resource.

In this embodiment of the application, a field may be newly added in the UL grant, the first indication information is represented by the newly added field, the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the base station to send the first feedback information is a PDCCH or a PHICH, and the first feedback information is used to represent whether the base station correctly receives the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position.

For example, a bit (bit) may be newly added to represent the first indication information, when the value of the 1bit is 0, the downlink channel used by the base station to send the first feedback information is indicated as PDCCH, and when the value of the 1bit is 1, the downlink channel used by the base station to send the first feedback information is indicated as PHICH. Of course, in practical application, it may be further set that when the 1-bit value is 1, the downlink channel used for instructing the base station to send the feedback information is PDCCH, and when the 1-bit value is 0, the downlink channel used for instructing the base station to send the first feedback information is PHICH, and certainly, two or more bits may be used to represent the first indication information, which is not limited in this application.

In this embodiment of the application, when the first indication information indicates that the downlink channel adopted by the base station to send the first feedback information is the PHICH, time-frequency resource information of the PHICH may also be added to the UL grant. Specifically, the time-frequency resource information may include at least one of the following information: a first channel index value (it should be understood that, in a narrowband internet of things communication system, the channel index value described in this embodiment may also be referred to as a carrier index value), where the first channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource location occupied by a PHICH that carries the first feedback information; the size of a transmission block sent by the PHICH; the repetition number of the PHICH; bits occupied by the first feedback information in a transmission block sent by the PHICH; and time delay information, wherein the time delay information is used for indicating the interval duration between the terminal equipment sending the first uplink data packet and the network equipment sending the first feedback information by the PHICH. By indicating the time-frequency resource information of the PHICH in the UL grant, the terminal equipment can conveniently acquire the first feedback information carried by the PHICH on which time-frequency resource. In addition, in practical application, when the base station performs feedback of the uplink data packet through the PHICH, the base station may carry feedback information of the uplink data packet sent by one or more terminal devices in the PHICH, so as to achieve better feedback efficiency. In addition, the bit positions occupied by the terminal equipment in the transmission block sent by the PHICH aiming at the feedback information of the uplink data packet of the terminal equipment can be indicated in the time-frequency resource information of the PHICH, so that the terminal equipment can accurately acquire the feedback information of the uplink data packet.

Step 203: the terminal device receives first downlink control information carried by a first PDCCH, and transmits a first uplink data packet at the first time-frequency position, wherein the first uplink data packet may contain a BSR (buffer status report) which indicates uplink data packet information which is not transmitted by the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the application, the time-frequency position corresponding to the first PDCCH can be indicated to the terminal device in advance through a high-level signaling, so that the terminal device can obtain the first downlink control information carried by the first PDCCH at the corresponding time-frequency position. For example, the base station may indicate a time-frequency location corresponding to the first PDCCH through RRC signaling (e.g., msg4) during a process of establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with the terminal device. Certainly, in practical application, the terminal device may also search the first PDCCH through the search space to obtain the first downlink control information carried by the first PDCCH.

Step 204: and the base station judges whether the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received or not, and sends first feedback information on the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information based on the judgment result.

In this embodiment of the application, the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information and used for carrying the first feedback information is divided into two modes, namely a PDCCH and a PHICH, and a process of sending the first feedback information by the base station is introduced below for the two modes, respectively.

The first method is as follows: the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel adopted by the base station for sending the first feedback information is a PDCCH

Step 204a 1: and the base station judges whether the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received.

If yes, executing steps 204b 1-204 d 1; if the determination result is negative, step 204e1 is executed.

Step 204b 1: the base station determines whether uplink resources need to be allocated to the terminal device, so that the terminal device continues to send the second uplink data packet, if so, that is, the base station determines that uplink resources need to be allocated to the terminal device, step 204c1 is executed, and if not, that is, the base station determines that uplink resources do not need to be allocated to the terminal device, step 204d1 is executed.

Specifically, the base station may determine whether to allocate uplink resources to the terminal device according to information such as the BSR and the schedulable uplink resources carried in the first uplink data packet. For example, when the byte range represented by the index value corresponding to the BSR carried by the first uplink data packet indicates that the terminal device does not have an uplink data packet that is not sent, the base station may determine that uplink resources do not need to be allocated to the terminal device. For another example, when the byte range represented by the index value corresponding to the BSR carried by the first uplink data packet indicates that the terminal device has an uplink data packet that is not sent, but the base station does not have schedulable uplink resource to allocate to the terminal device, the base station may also determine that there is no need to allocate uplink resource to the terminal device. Of course, in practical application, the terminal device may also perform comprehensive analysis by combining with other information, such as current channel condition, cell load, and the like, to determine whether uplink resources need to be allocated to the terminal device, which is not listed in this application.

Step 204c 1: the base station sends second downlink control information to the terminal equipment through a second PDCCH, wherein first feedback information contained in the second downlink control information is a New Data Indicator (NDI), and the NDI indicates that the first uplink data packet is correctly received.

The second downlink control information carries a UL grant, and the UL grant includes the first feedback information. In an embodiment of the present application, the first feedback information may be represented by NDI. And when the field value corresponding to the NDI is the first field value, representing that the first uplink data packet is correctly received. For example, the NDI may be represented by 1bit, and when a value of a field value corresponding to the NDI is 1, the first uplink data packet may be represented to be correctly received, and the uplink resource reallocated by the base station may be indicated to be used by the terminal device for sending the second uplink data packet. When the first feedback information indicates that the first uplink data packet is correctly received, the second uplink data packet is an uplink data packet transmitted by the terminal device for the first time, otherwise, when the first feedback information indicates that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received, the second uplink data packet is the first uplink data packet retransmitted by the terminal device.

Specifically, the UL grant carried by the second downlink control information may further include a second time-frequency position of the uplink resource re-allocated to the terminal device, and second indication information. The reallocated uplink resource is used for the terminal device to send a second uplink data packet, the second indication information is used for indicating that a downlink channel adopted by the base station to send the second feedback information is a PDCCH or a PHICH, and the second feedback information is used for indicating whether the base station correctly receives the second uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the second time-frequency position.

According to the embodiment of the application, the second time-frequency position of the uplink resource which is allocated again for the terminal equipment can be directly indicated on the second PDCCH, and the receiving result of the first uplink data packet which is sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position can be fed back, so that the receiving result of the received uplink data packet can be fed back while the uplink resource is scheduled, the frequency domain resource is saved, and the time delay of the feedback process is low.

Step 204d 1: and the base station sends second downlink control information to the terminal equipment through a second PDCCH, wherein first feedback information contained in the second downlink control information is a second channel index value, and the second channel index value is an invalid value and is used for indicating correct receiving of the first uplink data packet.

In the embodiment of the present application, the uplink resource allocated by the base station to the terminal device may include a frequency domain resource, that is, a carrier resource. Because each channel in the narrow-band internet-of-things communication system occupies a carrier of 25Khz, the position of the carrier resource of the uplink channel for carrying the uplink data packet in the uplink resource allocated by the base station to the terminal device can be indicated by the second channel index value. When the second channel index value is an invalid value, the uplink resource allocated by the base station to the terminal device is invalid, and the terminal device cannot transmit an uplink data packet at the carrier resource position indicated by the second channel index value. And the invalid second channel index value is used as first feedback information to indicate that the terminal equipment does not have available uplink resources for sending the uplink data packet, so that the terminal equipment can be implicitly indicated that the first uplink data packet is successfully received, and uplink resources are not required to be allocated to retransmit the first uplink data packet or a newly transmitted next uplink data packet. And the invalid second channel index value is used as the first feedback information, and the original field in the downlink control information is not required to be increased or changed, so that the realization process is simpler and more convenient.

Step 204e 1: and the base station sends second downlink control information to the terminal equipment through a second PDCCH, wherein the first feedback information contained in the second downlink control information is NDI, and the NDI indicates that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received.

Specifically, when the field value corresponding to the NDI is the second field value, it is characterized that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received. For example, when the NDI is represented by 1bit, it may be set that when a value of a field value corresponding to the NDI is 0, the first uplink data packet is not correctly received, and the uplink resource reallocated by the base station may be indicated to be used by the terminal device to send a second uplink data packet, where the second uplink data packet is the first uplink data packet retransmitted by the terminal device.

It should be understood that, in the above procedure, when the first feedback information is sent through the PDCCH, the manner of using the field value corresponding to the NDI to indicate whether the first uplink data packet is correctly received or incorrectly received is only illustrated as an example (step 204c1 and step 204e1 above), and in practical application, a field may be further added in the downlink control information, and the added field is used to represent ACK or NACK, etc., which is not limited in this application.

By the above mode, the base station can indicate the uplink resource allocated to the terminal equipment through the PDCCH and simultaneously feed back the receiving condition of the uplink data packet sent last time by the terminal equipment, so that the frequency domain resource can be saved, and compared with the mode of feeding back the uplink data packet through the PDCCH and the PHICH together, the time delay of the feedback process is lower.

The second method comprises the following steps: the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel adopted by the base station for sending the first feedback information is PHICH

Step 204a 2: and the base station judges whether the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received.

Step 204b 2: and the base station sends first feedback information to the terminal equipment through the PHICH, wherein the first feedback information comprises ACK (acknowledgement character) when the judgment result is yes, and the first feedback information comprises NACK (negative acknowledgement character) when the judgment result is no.

In the embodiment of the application, the PHICH may also carry feedback information of an uplink data packet sent by other terminal devices, and a bit occupied by the first feedback information in a transport block sent by the PHICH may be indicated to the terminal device in advance through the first PDCCH, so that the terminal device obtains the first feedback information of the uplink data packet sent by itself at the corresponding bit. Because the data volume borne by the PHICH is generally from several bits to tens of bits, and is less compared with the data volume borne by the PDCCH, the covering performance can be better and the feedback efficiency is higher when the PHICH is adopted to feed back the uplink data packet.

Considering that the frequency domain resources of the narrowband internet of things communication system are in short supply, when the uplink data packet is actually fed back, a proper channel can be flexibly selected to feed back the uplink data packet according to the actual schedulable uplink resource condition, the time delay requirement on the feedback information and other requirements.

Step 205: and the terminal equipment acquires the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information.

Specifically, after receiving first downlink control information carried by a first PDCCH, a terminal device may demodulate the first downlink control information to obtain the first indication information, in this embodiment, a downlink channel indicated by the first indication information is divided into two cases, namely, a PDCCH and a PHICH, where if it is determined that the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by a base station to send first feedback information is the PDCCH, the terminal device may determine that the downlink channel to be monitored is the PDCCH, and may continue to monitor the PDCCH, and may not need to monitor the PHICH. If the terminal equipment determines that the first indication information is used for indicating the base station to send the first feedback information and the downlink channel is the PHICH, the terminal equipment can determine that the downlink channel needing to be monitored is the PHICH, and then can monitor the PHICH and suspend monitoring the PDCCH. Of course, in practical application, the specific monitoring mode may also be adjusted according to practical requirements, for example, when the terminal device has a strong capability and can monitor multiple channels simultaneously, the process of determining which downlink channel to monitor may not be performed, and the PDCCH and the PHICH are directly monitored simultaneously.

The following is introduced for the process of acquiring the first feedback information from the PDCCH or the PHICH by the terminal in the above two cases, respectively.

In the first case: the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel adopted by the base station for sending the first feedback information is a PDCCH

Step 205a 1: and the terminal equipment acquires the first feedback information carried by the second PDCCH after monitoring the second PDCCH by searching the search space.

Specifically, when the base station sends the first feedback information through the second PDCCH, if the base station does not indicate the time-frequency position of the terminal PDCCH through other signaling, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH in a blind detection manner, for example, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH in a search space to obtain second downlink control information carried on the second PDCCH, and further demodulate the first feedback information from the obtained second downlink control information.

If the NDI is demodulated from the second downlink control information, the terminal device may determine that the base station has correctly received the first uplink data packet when determining that the field value corresponding to the NDI is the first field value, and may determine that the base station has not correctly received the first uplink data packet when determining that the field value corresponding to the NDI is the second field value. If the second downlink control information further includes a second time-frequency position of the uplink resource reallocated for the terminal device and second indication information, the terminal device may send the second uplink data packet at the second time-frequency position after confirming that the base station has correctly received the first uplink data packet. Subsequently, the terminal device may further obtain second feedback information of the base station for the second uplink data packet through the downlink channel indicated in the second indication information. The detailed transmission process is not described in detail, and reference may be made to the above flow.

If the second channel index value is demodulated from the second downlink control information, the terminal device confirms that the base station has correctly received the first uplink data packet when determining that the second channel index value is an invalid value, and the transmission process of the uplink data packet is finished.

In the second case: the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel adopted by the base station for sending the first feedback information is PHICH

As can be seen from the content described in step 202, if the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information is the PHICH, and the base station sends the first downlink control information through the first PDCCH, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information of the PHICH, so that the terminal device can determine the time-frequency position of the PHICH according to the time-frequency resource information indicated in the first downlink control information, and obtain the first feedback information at the determined time-frequency position. The specific process is as follows:

step 205a 2: and the terminal equipment determines the time-frequency position of the PHICH according to a first channel index value indicated in the time-frequency resource information and time delay information contained in the first downlink control information.

Step 205b 2: and after the terminal equipment monitors the PHICH at the determined time-frequency position of the PHICH, acquiring the first feedback information carried by the PHICH.

Wherein the first channel index value is used for indicating a carrier resource position occupied by the PHICH; the time delay information is used for indicating the time length of the interval between the terminal equipment sending the first uplink data packet and the base station sending the first feedback information on the PHICH. Through the two parameters, the terminal device can obtain the first feedback information at which carrier resource positions at which time intervals the first uplink data packet is sent.

And when the PHICH also carries feedback information of uplink data packets sent by other terminal equipment, the terminal equipment can demodulate the first feedback information from corresponding bit positions through the bit positions occupied by the first feedback information in the transmission block sent by the PHICH and indicated in the time-frequency resource information.

Specifically, if the first feedback information is demodulated to be ACK, the terminal device may confirm that the base station has correctly received the first uplink data packet. If the first feedback information is demodulated to be NACK, the terminal device may confirm that the base station did not correctly receive the first uplink data packet. Subsequently, after acquiring the uplink resource allocated by the base station, the terminal device may continue to send the second uplink data packet at the time-frequency position of the uplink resource indicated by the base station. The detailed transmission process is not described in detail, and reference may be made to the above flow.

In the embodiment of the application, in the downlink control information carried by the PDCCH, a downlink channel adopted when the base station sends the feedback information to the terminal device is indicated, and the feedback information represents whether the base station correctly receives the uplink data packet sent by the terminal device, so that before the base station sends the feedback information to the terminal device each time, the downlink channel for carrying the feedback information can be flexibly selected and indicated to the terminal device in advance, so that the terminal device can obtain the feedback information from the corresponding downlink channel. For example, when the frequency domain resource is in short supply, the base station may send feedback information and indicate the uplink resource allocated to the terminal through the PDCCH, so that the scheduling of the uplink resource may be completed and the reception result of the received uplink data packet may be fed back, which not only saves the frequency domain resource, but also reduces the feedback delay. For another example, when the frequency domain resources are sufficient, the feedback information of the uplink data packets of one or more terminal devices may be sent through the PHICH, so that the coverage performance is better and the feedback efficiency is higher.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus, where the apparatus has corresponding functions to implement the network device (e.g., base station) related to the foregoing method embodiments. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. The modules may be software and/or hardware.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 300 according to an embodiment of the present application, where the device 300 may include a processing unit 301 and a transceiver unit 302. The processing unit 301 is configured to control the transceiver unit 302 to send first downlink control information through a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated to a terminal device and first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the apparatus 300 to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the apparatus 300 correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by a terminal device at the first time-frequency position.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the apparatus to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

Wherein the time-frequency resource information comprises at least one of the following information: a first channel index value, where the first channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource location occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel carrying the first feedback information; the size of a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; the number of repetitions of the physical hybrid automatic repeat indicator channel; the bit occupied by the first feedback information in a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; time delay information, where the time delay information is used to instruct the terminal device to send the first uplink data packet and instruct the device 300 to send the interval duration between the first feedback information and the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the apparatus 300 to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the processing unit 301, after controlling the transceiver unit 302 to send the first downlink control information through a first downlink control channel, is further configured to:

judging whether the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received or not;

when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is correctly received, controlling the transceiver unit 302 to send the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, where the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; or, when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is incorrectly received, controlling the transceiver unit 302 to send the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, where the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is incorrectly received.

In a possible embodiment, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the apparatus 300 to transmit the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processing unit 301, after controlling the transceiver unit 302 to transmit the first downlink control information through the first downlink control channel, is further configured to:

judging whether a first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received or not;

when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is correctly received, controlling the transceiver unit 302 to send the second downlink control information through the second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; or, when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is not correctly received, the transceiver unit 302 is controlled to send the second downlink control information through the second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received.

In a possible implementation manner, the second downlink control information further includes a second time-frequency position of the uplink resource re-allocated to the terminal device, and second indication information; the second indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the apparatus 300 to send second feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) channel, and the second feedback information is used to characterize whether the apparatus 300 correctly receives a second uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the second time-frequency position.

In a possible implementation manner, the first feedback information is a second channel index value, and the second channel index value is an invalid value, where the second channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource position in uplink resources allocated to the terminal device, and the invalid value indicates that the uplink resources allocated to the terminal device by the apparatus 300 are invalid.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 400 provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 400 may include a processor 401 and a transceiver 402. The processor 401 may also be a controller. The processor 401 is configured to support a network device to perform the functions involved in the above-described method embodiments. The transceiver 402 is configured to support messaging functions of a network device. The apparatus 400 may also include a memory 403, the memory 403 for coupling with the processor 401, which stores computer program instructions and/or data necessary for the network device. The processor 401, the transceiver 402 and the memory 403 are connected, the memory 403 is used for storing computer program instructions necessary for implementing the functions of the network device involved in the above method embodiments, and the processor 401 is used for executing the computer program instructions stored in the memory 403 to control the transceiver 402 to transmit and receive signals, so as to complete the steps of the network device in the above method embodiments for executing the corresponding functions.

Specifically, the processor 401 is configured to control the transceiver 402 to send first downlink control information through a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated to a terminal device and first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the apparatus 400 to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the apparatus 400 correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by a terminal device at the first time-frequency position.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the apparatus 400 to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

Wherein the time-frequency resource information comprises at least one of the following information: a first channel index value, where the first channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource location occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel carrying the first feedback information; the size of a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; the number of repetitions of the physical hybrid automatic repeat indicator channel; the bit occupied by the first feedback information in a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; time delay information, where the time delay information is used to instruct the terminal device to send the first uplink data packet and instruct the device 400 to send the interval duration between the first feedback information sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

In a possible implementation manner, the processor 401, after controlling the transceiver 402 to transmit the first downlink control information through the first downlink control channel, is further configured to: judging whether the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received or not; when the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is determined to be correctly received, controlling the transceiver 402 to send the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, where the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; or, when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is incorrectly received, controlling the transceiver 402 to send the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, where the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is incorrectly received.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the apparatus 400 to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processor 401, after controlling the transceiver 402 to send the first downlink control information through the first downlink control channel, is further configured to: judging whether a first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received or not; when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is correctly received, controlling the transceiver 402 to send the second downlink control information through the second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; or, when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is not correctly received, controlling the transceiver 402 to send the second downlink control information through the second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received.

In a possible implementation manner, the second downlink control information further includes a second time-frequency position of the uplink resource re-allocated to the terminal device, and second indication information; the second indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the apparatus 400 to send second feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) channel, and the second feedback information is used to characterize whether the apparatus 400 correctly receives a second uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the second time-frequency position.

In a possible implementation manner, the first feedback information is a second channel index value, and the second channel index value is an invalid value, where the second channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource position in uplink resources allocated to the terminal device, and the invalid value indicates that the uplink resources allocated to the terminal device by the apparatus 400 are invalid.

Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application further provides another communication apparatus, where the apparatus has a corresponding function of implementing the terminal device related to the above method embodiment. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. The modules may be software and/or hardware.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 500 according to an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 500 may include a processing unit 501 and a transceiver unit 502. The transceiver unit 502 is configured to receive first downlink control information carried by a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated by a network device to the apparatus 500 and first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by the apparatus 500 at the first time-frequency position. The processing unit 501 is configured to obtain the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information after the transceiver unit 502 sends the uplink data packet at the first time/frequency position.

In a possible implementation manner, after the transceiver unit 502 receives the first downlink control information carried by the first downlink control channel, the processing unit 501 is further configured to:

if it is determined that the first indication information is used to indicate that the downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processing unit 501 determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the downlink control channel;

if it is determined that the first indication information is used to indicate that the downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the processing unit 501 determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel;

the processing unit 501, when acquiring the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, is specifically configured to: determining the time-frequency position of the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel according to the first channel index value indicated in the time-frequency resource information and the time delay information; after the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicating channel is monitored at the determined time-frequency position, acquiring the first feedback information carried by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicating channel; wherein, the first channel index value is used for indicating the carrier resource position occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; the delay information is used to instruct the apparatus 500 to send the first uplink data packet and instruct the network device to send the duration of the interval between the first feedback information sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processing unit 501, when acquiring the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, is specifically configured to: and acquiring the first feedback information carried by the second downlink control channel after monitoring the second downlink control channel through searching space search.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 600 according to an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 600 may include a processor 601 and a transceiver 602. The processor 601 may also be a controller. The processor 601 is configured to enable the terminal device to perform the functions involved in the above-described method embodiments. The transceiver 602 is configured to support messaging functions for end-point devices. The apparatus 600 may further comprise a memory 603, the memory 603 being adapted to be coupled to the processor 601 and storing necessary computer program instructions and/or data for the terminal device. The processor 601, the transceiver 602 and the memory 603 are connected, the memory 603 is configured to store computer program instructions necessary for implementing the functions of the terminal device involved in the foregoing method embodiments, and the processor 601 is configured to execute the computer program instructions stored in the memory 603 to control the transceiver 602 to transmit and receive signals, so as to complete the steps of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments for executing the corresponding functions.

Specifically, the transceiver 602 is configured to receive first downlink control information carried by a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated by a network device to the apparatus 600 and first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by the apparatus 600 at the first time-frequency position. The processor 601 is configured to obtain the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information after the transceiver 602 sends the uplink data packet at the first time/frequency position.

In a possible implementation manner, after the transceiver 602 receives the first downlink control information carried by the first downlink control channel, the processor 601 is further configured to: if it is determined that the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processor 601 determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the downlink control channel; if it is determined that the first indication information is used to indicate that the downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the processor 601 determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

the processor 601, when acquiring the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, is specifically configured to: determining the time-frequency position of the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel according to the first channel index value indicated in the time-frequency resource information and the time delay information; after the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicating channel is monitored at the determined time-frequency position, acquiring the first feedback information carried by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicating channel;

wherein, the first channel index value is used for indicating the carrier resource position occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; the delay information is used to indicate a time length of an interval between the sending of the first uplink data packet by the apparatus 600 and the sending of the first feedback information by the network device in the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processor 601, when acquiring the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, is specifically configured to: and acquiring the first feedback information carried by the second downlink control channel after monitoring the second downlink control channel through searching space search.

It is understood that the drawings of the embodiments of the present application only show simplified designs of network devices and terminal devices. In practical applications, the network device and the terminal device are not limited to the above structures, and may further include an antenna array, a duplexer, and a baseband processing section, for example.

It should be noted that the Processor referred to in the foregoing embodiments of the present Application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure. A processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, a DSP and a microprocessor, or the like. Wherein the memory may be integrated in the processor or may be provided separately from the processor.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the foregoing network device and at least one terminal device.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, where the chip may be connected to a memory, and is configured to read and execute a program code stored in the memory, so as to implement any one of the methods related to the foregoing terminal device or the foregoing network device.

The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer storage medium for storing programs or instructions, and when the programs or instructions are executed, the method may be performed in any method related to the foregoing terminal device or network device.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, configured to store a computer program, where the computer program is configured to execute the method for indicating feedback information in the foregoing method embodiment.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

Embodiments of the present application are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Claims

1. A method for indicating feedback information, the method comprising:

the network equipment sends first downlink control information through a first downlink control channel, wherein the first downlink control information comprises a first time-frequency position of uplink resources distributed for the terminal equipment and first indication information;

the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the time-frequency resource information comprises at least one of:

a first channel index value, where the first channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource location occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel carrying the first feedback information;

the size of a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel;

the number of repetitions of the physical hybrid automatic repeat indicator channel;

the bit occupied by the first feedback information in a transmission block sent by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel;

and time delay information, where the time delay information is used to indicate a time length of an interval between the terminal device sending the first uplink data packet and the network device sending the first feedback information on the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

4. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein after the network device sends the first downlink control information through the first downlink control channel, the method further comprises:

the network equipment judges whether the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is correctly received or not;

when the network device determines that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is correctly received, the network device sends the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, wherein the first feedback information is used for representing that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the network equipment determines that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position is not correctly received, sending the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, wherein the first feedback information is used for representing that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, after the network device sends the first downlink control information through the first downlink control channel, the method further comprises:

the network equipment judges whether to correctly receive a first uplink data packet sent by the terminal equipment at the first time-frequency position;

when the network device determines to correctly receive the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position, sending second downlink control information through a second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate to correctly receive the first uplink data packet; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the network device determines that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is not correctly received, sending second downlink control information through a second downlink control channel, wherein the second downlink control information comprises the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used for indicating that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second downlink control information further comprises a second time-frequency location of the uplink resource re-allocated for the terminal device, and second indication information;

the second indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send second feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (PHHARQ) indication channel, and the second feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a second uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the second time-frequency position.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first feedback information is a second channel index value and the second channel index value is an invalid value, the second channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource location in uplink resources allocated to the terminal device, and the invalid value indicates that the uplink resources allocated to the terminal device by the network device are invalid.

8. A method for indicating feedback information, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives first downlink control information carried by a first downlink control channel, wherein the first downlink control information comprises a first time-frequency position of uplink resources distributed to the terminal equipment by network equipment and first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by a terminal device at the first time-frequency position;

and after the terminal equipment sends an uplink data packet at the first time-frequency position, acquiring the first feedback information from a downlink channel indicated by the first indication information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein after the terminal device receives the first downlink control information carried by the first downlink control channel, further comprising:

if the terminal device determines that the first indication information is used for indicating that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the terminal device determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the downlink control channel;

and if the terminal equipment determines that the first indication information is used for indicating that a downlink channel adopted by the network equipment for sending the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the terminal equipment determines that the downlink channel needing to be monitored is the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel;

the acquiring, by the terminal device, the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information includes:

the terminal equipment determines the time-frequency position of the physical hybrid automatic repeat indication channel according to the first channel index value indicated in the time-frequency resource information and the time delay information;

after monitoring the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel at the determined time-frequency position, the terminal equipment acquires the first feedback information carried by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel;

wherein, the first channel index value is used for indicating the carrier resource position occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; the time delay information is used for indicating the time length of the interval between the terminal equipment sending the first uplink data packet and the network equipment sending the first feedback information in the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

11. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the obtaining, by the terminal device, the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information includes:

and the terminal equipment acquires the first feedback information borne by the second downlink control channel after monitoring the second downlink control channel through searching the search space.

12. A communications apparatus, comprising: a processor and a transceiver;

the processor is configured to control the transceiver to send first downlink control information through a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated to a terminal device and first indication information;

the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the device to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by a terminal device at the first time-frequency position.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the apparatus to send the first feedback information is the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the time-frequency resource information comprises at least one of:

and time delay information, where the time delay information is used to indicate a time length between the terminal device sending the first uplink data packet and the device sending the first feedback information on the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

15. The apparatus of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the processor, after controlling the transceiver to transmit the first downlink control information over the first downlink control channel, is further configured to:

when the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is determined to be correctly received, controlling the transceiver to send the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, wherein the first feedback information is used for representing that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is determined to be incorrectly received, controlling the transceiver to send the first feedback information through the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel, wherein the first feedback information is used for representing that the first uplink data packet is incorrectly received.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein if the first indication information indicates that a downlink channel used by the apparatus for sending the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processor, after controlling the transceiver to send the first downlink control information through the first downlink control channel, is further configured to:

when the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is determined to be correctly received, controlling the transceiver to send second downlink control information through a second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is correctly received; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and when it is determined that the first uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the first time-frequency position is not correctly received, controlling the transceiver to send second downlink control information through a second downlink control channel, where the second downlink control information includes the first feedback information, and the first feedback information is used to indicate that the first uplink data packet is not correctly received.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second downlink control information further comprises a second time-frequency location of an uplink resource re-allocated for the terminal device, and second indication information;

the second indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the device to send second feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (PHHARQ) indication channel, and the second feedback information is used to characterize whether the device correctly receives a second uplink data packet sent by the terminal device at the second time-frequency position.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first feedback information is a second channel index value and the second channel index value is an invalid value, the second channel index value is used to indicate a carrier resource position in uplink resources allocated to the terminal device, and the invalid value indicates that the uplink resources allocated to the terminal device by the apparatus are invalid.

19. A communications apparatus, comprising: a processor and a transceiver;

the transceiver is configured to receive first downlink control information carried by a first downlink control channel, where the first downlink control information includes a first time-frequency position of an uplink resource allocated to the apparatus by a network device and first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel adopted by the network device to send first feedback information is a downlink control channel or a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indication channel, and the first feedback information is used to characterize whether the network device correctly receives a first uplink data packet sent by the apparatus at the first time-frequency position;

the processor is configured to obtain the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information after the transceiver sends the uplink data packet at the first time-frequency position.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor, after the transceiver receives first downlink control information carried by a first downlink control channel, is further configured to:

if the first indication information is used for indicating that the downlink channel adopted by the network equipment for sending the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processor determines that the downlink channel needing to be monitored is the downlink control channel;

if it is determined that the first indication information is used to indicate that the downlink channel adopted by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the processor determines that the downlink channel to be monitored is the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19 or 20, wherein if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel, the first downlink control information further includes time-frequency resource information corresponding to the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indication channel;

the processor, when acquiring the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, is specifically configured to:

determining the time-frequency position of the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel according to the first channel index value indicated in the time-frequency resource information and the time delay information;

after the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicating channel is monitored at the determined time-frequency position, acquiring the first feedback information carried by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicating channel;

wherein, the first channel index value is used for indicating the carrier resource position occupied by the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel; the delay information is used to indicate a duration of an interval between the sending of the first uplink data packet by the apparatus and the sending of the first feedback information by the network device in the physical hybrid automatic repeat request indicator channel.

22. The apparatus according to claim 19 or 20, wherein if the first indication information is used to indicate that a downlink channel used by the network device to send the first feedback information is a downlink control channel, the processor, when acquiring the first feedback information from the downlink channel indicated by the first indication information, is specifically configured to:

and acquiring the first feedback information carried by the second downlink control channel after monitoring the second downlink control channel through searching space search.

23. A chip, characterized in that it is connected to a memory for reading and executing a program code stored in said memory for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

24. A computer storage medium comprising a program or instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 11 when the program or instructions are run on a computer.