CN111757538B

CN111757538B - Method and device for determining random access resources

Info

Publication number: CN111757538B
Application number: CN201910252544.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 袁世通; 刘凤威; 邱晶; 陈磊
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-29
Filing date: 2019-03-29
Publication date: 2022-05-13
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-29
Also published as: CN111757538A; WO2020199930A1

Abstract

A method and device for determining random access resources are used for determining the association relationship between a return link synchronization signal and the random access resources. The method for determining the random access resource comprises the following steps: the first network equipment acquires first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises an association relationship between a second synchronization signal and a random access resource and an association relationship between a synchronization signal block contained in the first synchronization signal and the random access resource; the first network device associates the second synchronization signal with the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource according to the first configuration information. By determining the relationship between the synchronization signal of the return link and the random access resource, the network equipment such as the IAB node and the like can carry out link detection and recovery through the measurement of the synchronization signal of the return link.

Description

Method and device for determining random access resources

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for determining a random access resource.

Background

In a network including an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) and a User Equipment (UE), an IAB node may initiate random Access using a random Access resource configuration that is the same as that of the UE at a longer distance than that of a normal UE, thereby causing Access in a super-cell coverage area. The result is access failure and interference to other UEs within the base station (gNB). If the UE in the whole cell is designed to use the preamble format supporting the long CP with a larger coverage area for such an IAB node with few initial accesses, it is not necessary. On one hand, the preamble format of the long CP occupies more wireless resources, and on the other hand, the network planning and deployment are not facilitated. To address this problem, each company in the standard discussion decides to individually configure a set of random access resources for the IAB node. The random access resource available when the user equipment UE or the IAB node is initially accessed is called a first random access resource, and the random access resource configured for the IAB node separately is called a second random access resource.

At the initial access, the UE or the IAB node needs to detect the synchronization signal sent by other network devices. Due to half-duplex constraint, when the IAB node measures the synchronization signals sent by other nodes, the IAB node cannot send the synchronization signals. The position of sending the synchronization signal by the IAB node itself needs to be different from other nodes. In which, in order that different IAB nodes can discover and measure each other, some synchronization signal transmissions are muted (muted), and when the DU module transmitting the synchronization signal is in the mute state, it does not transmit the synchronization signal, and only the MT module of the node measures the synchronization signal transmitted by the DU module of the other node.

Since the above synchronization signals for IAB node mutual discovery and measurement may be sent according to a non-fixed period due to being muted or otherwise, which affects UE behavior or performance in the network, the protocol provides that the above synchronization signals are not used for initial access. In the discussion of the standard, such synchronization signals are referred to as backhaul link SSBs and are not visible at initial access. In order to reduce the overhead of blind detection of synchronization signals by User Equipment (UE) during initial access, a protocol specifies that network devices such as a base station or an upper IAB node must send synchronization signals at predefined frequency point positions for initial access, and such synchronization signals are called synchronization-raster-frequency-point synchronization signals (on sync-raster SSB/PBCH) and are visible during initial access.

Because the synchronization signal of the return link is invisible during initial access, and there is no association method between the synchronization signal of the return link and the two sets of random access resources in the existing protocol, after the IAB node accesses the network, when the situation that the random access request needs to be sent again, such as link failure, interruption or route switching, occurs, the IAB node detects the synchronization signal of the return link, but cannot select the appropriate random access resource based on the measurement result of the synchronization signal of the return link, and initiate the random access request. Moreover, if the backhaul link synchronization signal and the random access resource are associated according to the association method of the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal in the existing protocol, more problems may be introduced because the number of synchronization signal blocks included in the backhaul link synchronization signal is different from the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a device for determining random access resources, which solve the problem that after an IAB node is accessed into a network, an appropriate random access resource cannot be selected based on a measurement result of a return link synchronization signal, and a random access request is initiated.

In order to achieve the technical effect, the embodiment of the application adopts the following technical scheme:

in a first aspect, a method for determining random access resources is provided, including: the first network equipment acquires first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises an incidence relation between a second synchronous signal and a random access resource and an incidence relation between a synchronous signal block contained in the first synchronous signal and the random access resource; the first network device associates the second synchronization signal with the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource according to the first configuration information. In the above technical solution, the IAB node is supported to perform link detection and recovery by measuring the backhaul link synchronization signal according to the synchronization grid by configuring the association relationship between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the random access resource.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the obtaining the first configuration information includes: the first network equipment determines the incidence relation between at least part of synchronous signal blocks contained in the second synchronous signal and the random access resource according to the incidence relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource; or, the first network device receives the first configuration information sent by the second network device.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method for determining, by a first network device, an association relationship between at least a part of synchronization signal blocks included in a second synchronization signal and a random access resource includes: and the first network equipment determines a synchronous signal block with at least time index consistent with the first synchronous signal in the second synchronous signal according to the incidence relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource, associates the synchronous signal block with the first random access resource, and associates a part of synchronous signal blocks in the second synchronous signal with the second random access resource.

With reference to the first or second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method for determining, by the first network device, an association relationship between at least a part of synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal and the random access resource further includes: and the first network equipment determines the synchronous signal blocks of which the time indexes are at least consistent with the first synchronous signal in the second synchronous signal according to the association relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource, associates the synchronous signal blocks with the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource, and does not associate the random access resource with partial synchronous signal blocks in the second synchronous signal.

With reference to the first or the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method for determining, by the first network device, an association relationship between at least a part of synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal and the random access resource further includes: and the first network equipment determines the relation between the synchronous signal blocks of which at least the time indexes are consistent with the first synchronous signal and the random access resource in the second synchronous signal according to the incidence relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the random access resource is a first random access resource and/or a second random access resource.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first network device receives first configuration information sent by the second network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure an association relationship between one or more second synchronization signal blocks and one or more random access occasions in the first and/or second random access resources.

With reference to the first or sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the receiving, by the first network device, the first configuration information sent by the second network device is further used to configure a QCL relationship between the second synchronization signal block and the first synchronization signal block, where the second synchronization signal block and the first synchronization signal block are at least consistent in time index; partial synchronous signal blocks in the second synchronous signal are not configured with QCL relationship; and the first network equipment determines the association relation between at least part of the second synchronization signal block and the random access resource according to the QCL relation between the second synchronization signal block and the first synchronization signal block.

With reference to the seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the random access resource is a first and/or a second random access resource.

In a second aspect, a method for determining random access resources is provided, including: the first network equipment receives second configuration information sent by the second network equipment, wherein the second configuration information comprises the association period of the first synchronization signal and the second random access resource and/or the information of the number of synchronization signal blocks contained in the second synchronization signal; and the first network equipment determines the incidence relation between the second synchronous signal and the second random access resource according to the second configuration information.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first network device receives information that the second configuration information sent by the second network device directly indicates the number of synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal or indirectly indicates the number of synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal by indicating a sending position of the synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the second configuration information may be a system message, an RRC message, or an F1-AP message.

In a third aspect, a target network device is provided, including: the acquisition module is used for determining the incidence relation between at least part of synchronous signal blocks contained in the second synchronous signal and the random access resource according to the incidence relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource; or the acquisition module is used for receiving first configuration information sent by the second network equipment; the association module is used for associating the second synchronous signal block which is consistent with the time index of the first synchronous signal block in the second synchronous signal to the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource; and the configuration module is used for configuring the association relation between one or more second synchronization signal blocks and one or more random access occasions in the first and/or second random access resources.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the configuration module is further configured to configure a QCL relationship between at least the second synchronization signal block and the first synchronization signal block, where the second synchronization signal block and the first synchronization signal block are consistent in time index.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the association module is further configured to determine, according to the second configuration information, an association relationship between the second synchronization signal and the second random access resource.

In a fourth aspect, a source network device is provided, comprising: the sending module is used for sending first configuration information to the first network equipment; second configuration information further used for sending to the first network equipment; and the access module is used for the initial access of the first network equipment.

In a fifth aspect, a third network device is provided, which includes: a memory, a processor, the memory having code and data stored therein, the memory coupled to the processor, the processor executing the code in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform a method related to a first network device in the first aspect and all embodiments thereof or the second aspect and all embodiments thereof.

In a sixth aspect, a fourth network device is provided, which includes: a memory, a processor, the memory having code and data stored therein, the memory coupled to the processor, the processor executing the code in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform a method related to a second network device in the first aspect and all embodiments thereof or the second aspect and all embodiments thereof.

In a seventh aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, having stored therein instructions that, when run on a device, cause the device to perform the method related to the first network device in the first aspect and all embodiments thereof or the second aspect and all embodiments thereof.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a readable storage medium having stored therein instructions that, when run on a device, cause the device to perform the method related to the second network device of the first aspect and all embodiments thereof or the second aspect and all embodiments thereof.

In a ninth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is disclosed, which when run on a computer causes the computer to perform the method for determining random access resources as provided by the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, a computer program product is disclosed, comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of determining random access resources as provided by the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

It is understood that the above-mentioned apparatus, computer storage medium or computer program product for determining random access resources are all used for executing the corresponding method provided above, and therefore, the beneficial effects achieved by the above-mentioned method can refer to the beneficial effects of the corresponding method provided above, and the beneficial effects of the corresponding method provided above are referred to in the specification in detail, and are not described herein again.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating association of a random access resource and a synchronization signal.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the association between the random access timing and the synchronization signal of the synchronization grid frequency point.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the association of a random access opportunity with a backhaul link synchronization signal.

Fig. 4 is a method for determining random access resources according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a logic diagram illustrating a method for indirectly associating backhaul link synchronization signals with a first random access resource.

Fig. 6 is a diagram of another method for determining random access resources according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the association between the random access opportunity and the synchronization of the grid frequency point and the backhaul link.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a target network device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a source network device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a third network device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a fourth network device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, not all embodiments, and that all other embodiments, which can be obtained by a person skilled in the art without making any inventive step based on the embodiments of the present application, belong to the protection scope of the present application.

It should be understood that the names of all nodes and messages in the present application are only names set for convenience of description in the present application, and the names in the actual network may be different, and it should not be understood that the present application defines the names of various nodes and messages, on the contrary, any name having the same or similar function as the node or message used in the present application is considered as a method or equivalent replacement in the present application, and is within the protection scope of the present application, and will not be described in detail below.

The technical solution described herein can be applied to a fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) system, and can also be applied to a next generation mobile communication system.

For convenience of description, terms or concepts related to the embodiments of the present application are explained below.

(1) Access Backhaul Integration (IAB): for an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, where the sum of available resources is fixed for the access and backhaul links, the resource partitioning between the access and backhaul links can be dynamically changed and the immediate needs of the User Equipment (UE) across the network are met. The access link refers to a link for providing access service for a common UE by a network device (IAB node, gNB, etc.). The backhaul link refers to a link for transmitting information and data between network devices, where the information and data include signaling and data sent from a core network or a higher-level network device node and necessary for the network device to operate, and also include signaling and data of a UE.

(2) Network equipment refers to equipment in an access network that communicates over the air interface with wireless terminal equipment through one or more cells. For example, the Base Station may be a Base Station, including but 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 Baseband Unit (BBU), an LTE (Evolved LTE, LTE) Base Station, an NR Base Station (Next evolution Node B, gNB), and the like. The node may also be an upper-level IAB node or a node having a relay function, for example, a relay node applied to a v2x scenario in the car networking technology, a relay node UE in UE cooperative communication, and the like, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

(3) A Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), which forms a mapping relationship with a Random Access Channel (RACH). The PRACH is a channel used to transmit the RACH. The PRACH is an uplink random Access Channel, and after receiving a Fast Physical Access Channel (FPACH) response message, the IAB Node or the UE sends a Radio Resource Control Connection Request (RRC Connection Request) message on the PRACH according to information indicated by the Node B, to establish Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection. If there are multiple PRACH channels, the IAB node or UE will select the corresponding PRACH channel according to the FPACH indication information.

(4) Time Division Multiplexing (TDM): the system or the wireless resources are divided according to the time scale, and a plurality of users or devices or modules may use all the resources of the system on the allocated time resources, including frequency domain resources, hardware resources, and the like. In a scenario including an IAB node, the TDM refers to that access and backhaul functions (or modules) of the IAB are transmitted in a time division manner, and only the access function (or module) or only the backhaul function (or module) operates in a specific time unit. Two functions (or modules) cannot operate simultaneously.

(5) MT/DU (Mobile-Termination/Distributed Unit): the IAB node can be logically divided into an MT (Mobile-Termination) module and a du (distributed unit) module. In a scenario including an IAB node, the IAB node is connected to a superior node or its host base station through an MT module, and the IAB provides an access service for a user equipment UE or a child node through a DU module. The MT and DU modules may be logically functionally distinct and there is not necessarily an actual physical distinction.

(6) Half Duplex Constraint (Half Duplex Constraint, HDC): specifically, in an IAB scenario, the half-duplex constraint means that when an MT module of an IAB node transmits, a DU module cannot receive. Similarly, when the DU module transmits, the MT module cannot receive.

(7) Quasi-co-location (QCL): the quasi-co-location relationship is used to indicate that the plurality of resources have one or more same or similar communication characteristics, and the same or similar communication configuration may be adopted for the plurality of resources having the co-location relationship. For example, if two antenna ports have a co-located relationship, the channel large scale characteristic of one port transmitting one symbol can be inferred from the channel large scale characteristic of the other port transmitting one symbol. The large scale features may include: delay spread, average delay, doppler spread, doppler shift, average gain, reception parameters, terminal device received beam number, transmit/receive channel correlation, received angle of Arrival, spatial correlation of receiver antennas, angle of Arrival (angle-of-Arrival, AoA), average angle of Arrival, AoA spread, etc. Specifically, the parity indication is used to indicate whether the at least two antenna ports have a parity relationship: the co-located indication is used to indicate whether the csi reference signals sent by the at least two antenna ports are from the same transmission point, or the co-located indication is used to indicate whether the csi reference signals sent by the at least two antenna ports are from the same beam group.

The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably. "plurality" means two or two

In view of the above, in the embodiments of the present application, "a plurality" may also be understood as "at least two". "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.

In the 5G system, the initial access process of the IAB node is basically the same as that of the user equipment UE, and in order to better understand the method for determining the random access resource disclosed in the embodiment of the present application, the following first explains the related technology related to the embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that, the IAB node in the description of the present application may also be replaced with an IAB device, and may also be other network devices with similar functions, for example, a node with a relay function, which is not limited in the present application. The descriptions of the operation and method of the IAB node referred to in the specification can be replaced by other network devices with similar functions, and the description of the present application only uses the IAB node as an example.

When a User Equipment (UE) wants to access a network, it needs to initiate a random access (random access) operation. Heretofore, the UE acquires a configuration of a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) by reading a System Information Block1 (SIB 1) broadcasted by a network device (e.g., a base station). The configuration indicates time, frequency domain resources, preamble information, retransmission times, transmission power, etc. that the UE can use. The random access procedure of the IAB node is basically the same as that of the user equipment UE.

In a network comprising an IAB node and a user equipment UE, the IAB node may initiate random access at a greater distance than a normal user equipment UE, using the same random access resource configuration as the UE, so that super-cell coverage access occurs. The result is access failure and interference to other UEs within the base station. The reason is that the configuration of random access is related to the cell coverage area designed by network planning, and different random access preamble signal formats support access at different distances.

If the UE in the whole cell is designed to use the preamble format supporting the long CP with a larger coverage area for such an IAB node with few initial accesses, it is not necessary. On one hand, the preamble format of the long CP may occupy more Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, i.e., occupy more radio resources, and on the other hand, is also not favorable for network planning and deployment. For example, originally planning a cell covering only 5km, in order for an IAB node to expand the random access channel RACH coverage to 10km, a UE-initiated RACH may cause interference to a neighboring cell.

To address this problem, each company in the standard discussion decides to individually configure a set of random access resources for the IAB node. In order to distinguish from the random access resources available when the UE and the IAB node initially access, the random access resources available when the UE and the IAB node initially access are referred to as first random access resources. The random access resource separately configured for the IAB node is referred to as a second random access resource. It is to be appreciated that the set of IAB node-specific second random access resources can use a different preamble format than the user equipment, UE, to support more distant access. In addition, the set of random access resources can use a relatively long period and sparse resource density to reduce the overhead introduced by the additional random access resources. The specific format or period depends on the implementation. It should be noted that the first random access resource usually exists in the access network, and is visible when the user equipment UE and the IAB node initially access. The second random access resource may not be present in some access networks because it is dedicated to the IAB node.

At the time of initial access, the UE or the IAB node needs to detect a synchronization signal sent by another network device before reading a system message broadcasted by the network device. In a synchronous network, the synchronization signal is typically sent within some 5 milliseconds (ms). Taking the network device as a base station as an example, the base station needs to transmit synchronization signals to multiple directions within the coverage area within 5 ms. Assuming that a 5G base station needs to cover a range of 360 ° around, and each single transmission of a synchronization signal can cover a range of 6 °, the base station needs to transmit 60 synchronization signals in different directions within 5ms, so as to ensure that the UE can measure the synchronization signal at any position of the cell.

The synchronization signals are typically transmitted in sequence, each identified and distinguished using a synchronization signal time index (time index). Assuming that the synchronization signal transmitted by the base station includes 40 synchronization signal blocks, for example, the 40 synchronization signal blocks can be represented by time indexes 0-39. The actual time index numbering may not be numbered one by one according to the transmission order of the 40 synchronization signal blocks, or may not be numbered from the first synchronization signal block, or may be selectively numbered according to a certain rule, for example, according to the rule of an arithmetic progression, and the like, which is not limited in the present application. In the following technical introduction and description of the embodiments, the present application takes the above 40 synchronization signal blocks, and takes the numbering manner of time indexes 0 to 39 as an example, and the synchronization signal blocks of other synchronization signals are also numbered according to this manner, which is not described again.

The synchronization signal sent by the network device may carry a small amount of information, which is used for the UE or the IAB node to obtain basic cell information, such as a cell id (identification), whether to prohibit access, a receiving (time-frequency) position of broadcast information carrying random access information, and the like.

Due to half-duplex constraint, when the IAB node measures the synchronization signals sent by other nodes, the IAB node cannot send the synchronization signals. The position of sending the synchronization signal by the IAB node itself needs to be different from other nodes. In which, in order that different IAB nodes can discover and measure each other, some synchronization signal transmissions are muted (muted), and when the DU module transmitting the synchronization signal is in the mute state, it does not transmit the synchronization signal, and only the MT module of the node measures the synchronization signal transmitted by the DU module of the other node.

Since the above synchronization signals for IAB node mutual discovery and measurement may be sent according to a non-fixed period due to being muted or otherwise, which affects UE behavior or performance in the network, the protocol provides that the above synchronization signals are not used for initial access. Such a synchronization signal is referred to as a backhaul link SSB in the discussion of the standard. In order to reduce the overhead of blind detection of synchronization signals by User Equipment (UE) during initial access, the protocol specifies that network devices such as a base station or an upper IAB node must send synchronization signals at predefined frequency point positions for initial access, and such synchronization signals are called synchronization-raster frequency point synchronization signals (on sync-raster SSB/PBCH). In order to prevent the UE from erroneously detecting the backhaul link synchronization signal not used for initial access when initially accessing, such synchronization signal may be placed on an asynchronous grid-connected frequency point, and therefore, the backhaul link synchronization signal placed on the asynchronous grid-connected frequency point may also be referred to as an asynchronous grid-connected frequency point synchronization signal (off-sync _ aster SSB) in the standard.

Therefore, in a scene including an IAB node, a base station or a network device such as a higher-level IAB node may need to send two kinds of synchronization signals, one is a synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal, which is used for initial access of a UE or the IAB node and is visible during initial access; the other is a backhaul link synchronization signal, also called an asynchronous grid frequency point synchronization signal, which is used for mutual discovery and measurement of IAB nodes and is invisible during initial access.

Two random access resources and two synchronization signals related to initial access of the IAB node are introduced above, and the association relationship between the two is explained below.

The random access resource consists of several random access occasions (RACH occasion, RO). When initiating random access, the UE firstly detects a synchronization signal of a synchronization grid frequency point with the maximum received signal intensity. The UE determines a random access time RO according to the number of synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal blocks (informed by system message broadcast) sent by the network equipment and the associated configuration of each synchronous signal block in the random access resource configuration.

Since the common reference signal (CRS, LTE) is transmitted in the form of a scanning beam, the UE implicitly tells the network device which synchronization signal corresponds to the direction in which the UE receives the signal with the strongest strength by selecting a random access time RO and based on the association relationship between the random access time and the synchronization signal, so that the network device can transmit a random access response in the direction.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating association of a random access resource and a synchronization signal. As shown in fig. 1, the base station receives the random access request at the time-frequency position shaded in the figure, and then the base station can transmit the random access response using the same beam as that for transmitting the synchronization signal 1. The fact that the beams are the same means that the two beams have the same parameters such as antenna ports, beamforming gain and transmission angle. It should be noted that, in the example of fig. 1, one synchronization signal corresponds to one random access occasion, and actually, by configuration, it may be implemented that one synchronization signal corresponds to multiple random access occasions, or multiple synchronization signals correspond to one random access occasion. The initial access process of the IAB node and the UE is basically the same, and the association relationship between the random access resource and the synchronization signal may also be established by using the above process.

The above describes the related technology when the IAB node initially accesses, and the following will analyze in detail the problems of the prior art when the IAB node accesses the network and needs to send a random access request for some reasons, such as link failure or interruption, link quality detection, and a random access request is sent to a new target node in route switching.

For the IAB node initially accessing the network, as with the ordinary user equipment UE, only the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal visible in the initial access can be measured initially. As can be seen from the above, the IAB node may be configured with two sets of random access resources, i.e. the first random access resource and the second random access resource, at the time of initial access. Because the two sets of random access resources are visible and available for the initially accessed IAB node, the association relationship between the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal and the two sets of random access resources can be established according to the random access mechanism in the existing protocol. It should be noted that, in the existing protocol, there is a method for associating the first random access resource with the synchronization signal of the synchronization grid frequency point. Therefore, the association relationship between the second random access resource and the synchronization signal of the synchronization grid frequency point can be established according to the method in the existing protocol.

However, when the IAB node accesses the network, it may be configured to measure the off-sync _ rat SSB, which is not visible at the initial access. Then the IAB node can theoretically use the backhaul link synchronization signal as the basis for link quality detection, or when the route is switched, it can send a random access request to the new target node to complete new network access, or when the current link fails or is interrupted, the IAB node manages that the connection can be recovered by using the measurement result of the backhaul link synchronization signal.

The problem is that after the IAB node accesses the network, when the random access request is sent again for some reasons, the return link synchronization signal can be detected, but the appropriate random access resource cannot be selected based on the measurement result of the return link synchronization signal, and the random access is directly initiated to perform link detection and recovery. The fundamental reason is that the backhaul link synchronization signal is invisible at the initial access, and there is no association method between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the random access resource in the existing protocol. Therefore, in the existing framework, based on the measurement result of the synchronization signal of the return link, the appropriate random access resource cannot be associated, the random access is initiated, and the link detection and recovery are completed.

Aiming at the problems, a solution which is easily conceived is to establish an association relationship between a return link synchronization signal and a random access resource by adopting an association method of a synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal and the random access resource in the existing protocol. However, in practice, the association method in the existing protocol directly associates the backhaul link synchronization signal with the random access resource, which may cause additional problems:

(1) the backhaul link synchronization signal should be associated with which set of the first random access resource and the second random access resource;

(2) the number of synchronization signal blocks contained in the backhaul link synchronization signal may be different from the synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signal, and how to perform association according to the association method in the existing protocol. For example, if the backhaul link synchronization signal comprises 46 synchronization signal blocks and the synchronization trellis frequency point synchronization signal comprises 40 synchronization signal blocks, the remaining or more 6 backhaul link synchronization signal blocks are related to the random access resource.

In addition, the number of sync signal blocks included in the two sync signals is not the same, and if the backhaul link sync signal and the random access resource are related according to the association method in the existing protocol, more problems may be introduced.

The concept of association period (association period) is defined in the existing protocols. The random access resource appears periodically in some system frames (10ms), and when the random access opportunity RO in one system frame is small or the number of synchronization signals is large, the random access resource in one system frame may not be completely associated with all the synchronization signals. At this point, random access resources over multiple system frames are required.

In order to correlate all synchronization signals, the protocol supports the correlation of synchronization signals with a plurality of consecutive system frames in which random access resources are present. But the association period must be a power of 2, e.g., {1,2,4,8 }. Assuming that all synchronization signals are associated, 3 system frames with random access resources are used, and the next system frame with random access resources is not associated with any synchronization signal. The reason for specifying this protocol is related to the system maximum frame number of 1024, and is not described herein.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the association between the random access timing and the synchronization signal of the synchronization grid frequency point. In the example shown in fig. 2, the random access resource period is 160ms, and the base station transmits 40 synchronization grid-frequency synchronization signals, and the 40 synchronization grid-frequency synchronization signals are sequentially numbered by using time indexes 0 to 39, such as SSB0, SSB38, and the like. After the IAB associates the synchronization signals with the random access time RO according to the configuration, the two synchronization signals correspond to one random access time, and all the synchronization signals are associated until the 2 nd system frame with the random access resources.

When initiating random access, the IAB node may measure a synchronization signal of a synchronization raster frequency point and associate the synchronization signal to a random access time RO. However, if the IAB node is configured to measure a larger number of backhaul link synchronization signals and associate them with any set of random access resources after accessing the network, problems may arise.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the association of a random access opportunity with a backhaul link synchronization signal. Assuming that the number of backhaul link synchronization signals is 42, according to the example in fig. 2, a third system frame with random access resources should be used for associating the synchronization signals SSB 40 and SSB41, as shown in fig. 3. However, at the time of initial access, the IAB node only knows the number of visible synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signals and the association method, but does not know the number of asynchronous raster frequency point synchronization signals. If the method for associating the synchronization signal of the synchronization grid frequency point with the random access resource in the existing protocol is used, the third system frame with the random access resource in fig. 3 is taken as the next association period and is associated with the synchronization signals SSB0 and SSB 1. That is, in fig. 3, if the base station receives the random access request at the time-frequency position of the circle in the drawing, it is not known whether the access request response should be sent to the direction corresponding to SSB0 and SSB1 or the access request response should be sent to the direction corresponding to SSB 40 and SSB 41.

To address the technical problems herein: (1) the return link synchronization signal should be associated with one of the two sets of random access resources; (2) how to realize the association between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the random access resource when the number of synchronization signal blocks contained in the backhaul link synchronization signal is different from that of the synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signal. That is, how to perform link detection and recovery based on the measurement result of the backhaul link synchronization signal and according to the association relationship between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the random access resource when the IAB node needs to reinitiate the random access request after accessing the network. The application provides a newly defined association method of a return link synchronous signal and a random access resource, and the association of the return link synchronous signal and the random access resource is established through a newly defined protocol rule; and a method for introducing new configuration is also provided, and the probability of successful completion of random access by the IAB node in the system is improved by configuring the association period or the number of the back-transmission link synchronous signal blocks.

Fig. 4 is a method for determining random access resources according to an embodiment of the present application. The method realizes the association of the return link synchronous signal and the random access resource through newly defined protocol rules or supporting individual configuration. The core of the embodiment is a return link synchronization signal block which is consistent with a time index or has a certain functional relationship, and the association relationship between at least the synchronization signal block with the time index consistent with the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal in the return link synchronization signal and the random access resource is determined according to the association relationship between the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal and the first random access resource.

S401, the IAB node selects corresponding random access resources to initiate random access according to the measurement result of the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signals, and the access to the network is completed.

It should be noted that the IAB node may also be an IAB device, and may also be replaced with other network devices having similar functions, for example, a node having a relay function, which is not limited in this application. The descriptions related to the methods of the IAB node in the embodiments may be replaced by other network devices with similar functions, and the description in the embodiments is only given by taking the IAB node as an example.

The corresponding random access resource may be a first random access resource or a second random access resource. In general, the IAB node detects two random access resources at the time of initial access, and associates with both random access resources, but selects one random access resource for initial access.

S402, after the IAB node accesses the network, receiving the backhaul link synchronization signal measurement configuration sent by the network device, where the backhaul link synchronization signal measurement configuration at least includes the number of backhaul link synchronization signals sent by the network side in an association period.

It should be noted that the network device may be a base station of the IAB node or an upper IAB node, and may also be another network device with a relay function. The association period must be a power of 2, e.g., {1,2,4,8 }.

S403, the IAB node associates the backhaul link synchronization signal with the random access resource according to the rule predefined by the protocol.

The rules predefined by the protocol include at least one or more of the following:

(1) the backhaul link synchronization signal is associated with a first random access resource.

The IAB node determines the incidence relation between the return link synchronous signal block, at least the time index of which is consistent with the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal or has a certain functional relation, and the first random access resource in the return link synchronous signal according to the incidence relation between the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal and the first random access resource.

The synchronization signals transmitted by the upper node to be accessed of the IAB node are transmitted in sequence, and each synchronization signal is identified and distinguished by using a synchronization signal time index (time index). The actual time index numbering may not be one-to-one in the transmission order of the 40 sync signal blocks, or not from the first sync signal block, or selectively according to a certain rule, etc. In the following, the method for associating the backhaul link synchronization signal with the first random access resource is explained by taking the example that the upper node sends 40 synchronization signals and the 40 synchronization signals are consecutively numbered by using time indexes 0 to 39.

It is assumed that the time indexes of each synchronization signal block in the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal and the backhaul link synchronization signal are numbered in a continuous numbering manner. The existing protocol has a correlation method of a synchronization signal of a synchronization grid frequency point and a first random access resource. And according to the incidence relation between the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal and the first random access resource, determining the incidence relation between the synchronous signal block of which at least the time index is consistent with the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal and the first random access resource in the return link synchronous signal. Optionally, a backhaul link synchronization signal block having a certain functional relationship with the time index of the synchronization signal block of the synchronization raster frequency point may also be specified, and according to the association relationship between the synchronization signal of the synchronization raster frequency point and the first random access resource, the association relationship between the synchronization signal block of the backhaul link synchronization signal, at least having a certain functional relationship between the time index and the synchronization signal of the synchronization raster frequency point, and the first random access resource is determined. For example, the IAB node associates the backhaul link synchronization signal block SSB10 to the same random access occasion in the same association period of the first random access resource associated with the synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signal block SSB10 according to the time index correspondence between the backhaul link synchronization signal block SSB10 and the synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signal block SSB 10.

If the number of backhaul link synchronization signal blocks is greater than the first synchronization signal block, the IAB node considers that the remaining backhaul link synchronization signals are not associated with the random access resource.

Since the second random access resource may not exist in some application scenarios, associating the backhaul link synchronization signal with the first random access resource is more generic and general, and is easy to implement.

(2) The backhaul link synchronization signal is associated with a second random access resource.

The IAB node determines the incidence relation between the return link synchronous signal block, at least the time index of which is consistent with the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal or has a certain functional relation, and the second random access resource in the return link synchronous signal according to the incidence relation between the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal and the second random access resource.

The association method between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the second random access resource is the same as the association method between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the first random access resource in the rule (1), and is not described again. If the number of backhaul link synchronization signal blocks is greater than the first synchronization signal block, the IAB node considers that the remaining backhaul link synchronization signals are not associated with the random access resource.

The second random access resource is a set of random access resources which are configured for the IAB node separately, and the random access resources can use a preamble signal format different from that of the UE to support the access at a longer distance. In addition, the random access resource can also use a relatively long period and sparse resource density to reduce the overhead introduced by the additional random access resource. Therefore, the association between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the second random access resource can be established, and the full utilization of the resource can be realized. If the network device configures two sets of random access resources for the IAB node, the IAB node may also establish an association relationship with both sets of random access resources.

Based on the association of backhaul link synchronization signals with the second random access resource in this rule, the IAB node may also indirectly associate backhaul link synchronization signals with the first random access resource. Specifically, the IAB node can establish an association relationship with the first random access resource and the second random access resource based on the measurement result of the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal at the time of initial access. When the higher node or its host base station configures the association between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the second random access resource, the IAB node may derive the association between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the first random access resource.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a logic diagram illustrating a method for indirectly associating backhaul link synchronization signals with first random access resources. As shown in fig. 5, the backhaul link synchronization signal (SSB index m) and the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal are both associated with the second random access resource (RO z), and the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal may be associated with the first random access resource at the same time, so that the backhaul link synchronization signal may be associated with the first random access resource.

(3) The backhaul link synchronization signal associates both the first random access resource and the second random access resource.

Considering that the actual transmission number of backhaul link synchronization signals and synchronization signals of synchronization grid frequency points may not be consistent, one possible constraint rule is: the association relationship between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the initial access random access resource is valid only for a part of the synchronization signals, i.e. a part of the backhaul link synchronization signal with the same time index as the synchronization signal of the synchronization grid frequency point.

Considering that the actual transmission number of backhaul link synchronization signals and synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signals may not be consistent, one possible constraint rule is: the part of the backtransmission link synchronous signal block which is consistent with the time index of the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal block or has a certain functional relation is associated with the first random access resource; for the remaining part of backhaul link synchronization signal blocks not associated with the first random access resource, if the base station configures the number of backhaul link synchronization signal blocks or otherwise indicates an association relationship, the "remaining" backhaul link synchronization signal blocks establish an association relationship with the second random access resource.

In the rule (1), the remaining part of the returned link synchronization signal blocks is considered not to be associated with the random access resource, which may affect the recovery of the link by the IAB node, and the association relationship between the "remaining" part of the returned link synchronization signal blocks and the second random access resource is established, so that it can be ensured that a random access opportunity corresponding to a beam with the strongest received signal strength is found to initiate random access.

In addition to the method of protocol pre-defining rules mentioned in the above embodiments, in a possible implementation, the IAB node may configure association relationship between one or more backhaul link synchronization signal blocks and the random access occasion RO through new signaling. Optionally, a binding configuration that the synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signal block and the backhaul link synchronization signal block, which have a QCL relationship and a consistent time index or a certain functional relationship in the time index, may be specified in the protocol. The binding configuration specifically includes one or more of the following: frequency point information, SSB time index number, SSB number, QCL type and the like. According to the binding configuration of the QCL relationship of the two types of synchronization signal blocks, the association relationship between the synchronization signal blocks of the backhaul link and the random access resource can be established. If the number of backhaul link synchronization signal blocks is greater than the number of synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signal blocks, the remaining backhaul link synchronization signal blocks are considered to have no binding configuration of QCL relationship.

The above embodiment directly or indirectly establishes an association relationship between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the random access resource, thereby supporting the IAB node to perform link detection and recovery based on the measurement result of the backhaul link synchronization signal. Compared with the prior art or the prior protocol, after the method of the embodiment is adopted, the random access operation can be completed based on the existing signal (the backhaul link synchronization signal) without configuring an additional reference signal (such as a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)) for the IAB node to measure.

Fig. 6 is a diagram of another method for determining random access resources according to an embodiment of the present application. In view of the problem of inconsistent number of backhaul link synchronization signal blocks and synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal blocks, the embodiment of fig. 6 introduces a new configuration that can successfully associate backhaul link synchronization signals to random access resources. Considering that the introduced configuration will not generate new protocol impact on the UE, in this embodiment, it is assumed that backhaul link synchronization signal blocks, at least those parts of synchronization signal blocks which are more than synchronization raster frequency point synchronization signal in number, are only associated with the second random access resource. The embodiment shown in fig. 6 specifically includes the following steps:

s601, when the IAB node is initially accessed, the system message sent by the network equipment (the intended access node) is received. The system message carries an association period indicating an association period of a synchronization grid synchronization signal with a second random access resource.

It should be noted that the random access resource appears periodically in some system frames, and when the random access time in one system frame is small or the number of synchronization signals is large, the random access resource in one system frame may not be completely associated with the synchronization signals. At this point, random access resources over multiple system frames are required. The plurality of consecutive system frames in which the random access resource exists constitute an association period of the synchronization signal with the random access resource. But the association period must be a power of 2, e.g., {1,2,4,8 }. Assuming that all synchronization signals are correlated, 3 system frames with random access resources are used, and the next system frame with random access resources is not correlated with any synchronization signal.

And S602, the IAB node determines the incidence relation between the synchronous grid frequency point synchronous signal and the second random access resource according to the system information, thereby determining the random access resource used for initiating the random access.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the association between the random access opportunity and the synchronization of the grid frequency point and the backhaul link. For example, in the example shown in fig. 7, the association period of the synchronization signal of the synchronization raster frequency point and the second random access resource is originally 2, and the IAB node determines, through the indication of the system message, that the association period of the synchronization signal of the synchronization raster frequency point and the second random access resource is 4, and the association period of the backhaul link synchronization signal and the second random access resource is the same. Then, when initially accessing, the IAB node does not select the random access opportunity only associated to the random resource period of the backhaul link synchronization signal to send the random access request, thereby avoiding that the network device cannot determine the direction of sending the access request response.

In a possible implementation manner, the system message in the above embodiment may also explicitly indicate the sending number of the backhaul link synchronization signal blocks, or implicitly indicate the sending position of the backhaul link synchronization signal blocks, and then the sending number of the backhaul link synchronization signal blocks is estimated according to the sending position of the backhaul link synchronization signal blocks. The IAB node determines the association period of the synchronous raster frequency point synchronous signals and the second random access resources according to the association relation between the synchronous raster frequency point synchronous signal blocks and the random access time, and then determines the association period of the backhaul link synchronous signals and the second random access resources according to the sending number of the backhaul link synchronous signal blocks which are explicitly or implicitly indicated in the system message and the association method between the synchronous raster frequency point synchronous signals and the random access time, thereby ensuring that the IAB node successfully accesses the network according to the method for indicating the association period in the system message.

Optionally, the system message sent by the network device (intended access node) in the foregoing embodiment may also be replaced by an RRC message or an F1-AP message or other forms of signaling, which is used to indicate the association period between the synchronization signal of the synchronization grid frequency point and the second random access resource, or the sending number of the synchronization signal blocks of the backhaul link. It should be noted that the system message sent by the network device is also generally an RRC message, but the system message is generally sent by broadcasting, and the above-mentioned alternative RRC message is generally sent by unicast.

In the above embodiment, by configuring the association period or the number of the backhaul link synchronization signal blocks, when the number of the synchronization grid frequency point synchronization signal blocks is inconsistent with the number of the backhaul link synchronization signal blocks, the wrong association random access opportunity is avoided. The probability that the IAB node successfully completes the random access process in the system is improved.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic structural diagram of a target network device 800. The target network device 800 may implement the functionality of the network devices referred to above that are similar to the IAB node functionality. The target network device 800 may include an acquisition module 801, an association module 802, and a configuration module 803. The obtaining module 801 may be configured to perform S401 and S402 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and/or to support the process of introducing new configurations or QCL relationships described herein, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. Association module 802 may be used to perform S403 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 or S602 in the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. The configuration module 803 may be used to perform the configuration of binding of one or more backhaul link synchronization signal blocks and backhaul link synchronization signal blocks with QCL relationship by configuring the association relationship of the backhaul link synchronization signal blocks and the random access occasions RO or configuring the time indexes to be consistent or having some functional relationship with the time indexes in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 through new signaling, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a source network device 900. The source network device 900 may implement the functionality of the network devices referred to above. The source network device 900 may include a sending module 901 and an access module 902. The sending module 901 may be configured to perform S402 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 or S601 in the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. Access module 902 may be used to perform S401 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present application, the target network device 800 and the source network device 900 are presented in the form of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, or may be presented in the form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality.

In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art may also realize the target network device 800 by the structure shown in fig. 10.

As shown in fig. 10, the third network device 1000 may include: memory 1001, processor 1002, system bus 1003, and communication interface 1004. The memory 1001, the processor 1002, and the communication interface 1004 are connected by a system bus 1003, the memory 1001 may be provided in the processor 1002, and the memory 1001 and the processor 1002 may be implemented by chips. The memory 1001 is used for storing computer executable instructions, and when the network device 1000 runs, the processor 1002 executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory 1001, so as to make the network device 1000 execute the steps executed by the IAB node in the method for determining random access resources provided by the embodiments shown in fig. 4 and fig. 6. For a specific method for determining the random access resource, reference may be made to the description above and the related description in the drawings, and details are not repeated here. The communication interface 1004 may be a transceiver, or a separate receiver and transmitter, among other things.

In one example, the obtaining module 801 may correspond to the communication interface 1004 in fig. 10. The association module 802 and the configuration module 801 may be embedded in the processor 1002 of the third network device apparatus 1000 or may be independent of the processor 1002 in the form of hardware/software.

In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art may also realize the source network device 900 by the structure shown in fig. 11.

As shown in fig. 11, the fourth network device 1100 may include: memory 1101, processor 1102, system bus 1103, and communication interface 1104. The memory 1101, the processor 1102, and the communication interface 1104 are connected by a system bus 1103, the memory 1101 may be provided in the processor 1102, and the memory 1101 and the processor 1102 may be implemented by chips. The memory 1101 is used for storing computer executable instructions, and when the network device 1100 runs, the processor 1102 executes the computer executable instructions stored by the memory 1101, so as to make the network device 1100 execute the steps executed by the network device in the method for determining random access resources provided by the embodiment shown in fig. 4 and the embodiment shown in fig. 6. For a specific method for determining the random access resource, reference may be made to the description above and the related description in the drawings, and details are not repeated here. Communication interface 1104 may be a transceiver, or a separate receiver and transmitter, among other things.

In one example, the sending module 901 may correspond to the communication interface 1104 in fig. 11. The access module 1102 may be embedded in hardware/software or separate from the memory 1101 of the fourth network device apparatus 1100.

Optionally, the target network device 800 and the source network device 900 may also be field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated chips (ASICs), system chips (SoC), Central Processing Units (CPU), Network Processors (NP), digital signal processing circuits (DSP), Micro Controller Units (MCU), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs) or other integrated chips. Alternatively, the target network device 800 and the source network device 900 may be separate network elements.

The present application also provides a computer storage medium, which may include a memory, where the memory may store a program, and when the program is executed, the program includes all the steps performed by the IAB node as described in the method embodiment shown in fig. 4.

The present application also provides a computer storage medium, which may include a memory, where the memory may store a program, and when the program is executed, the program includes all the steps executed by the network device as described in the method embodiment shown in fig. 6.

Since the network devices 800 to 1000 provided in the embodiments of the present application can be used to execute the above-mentioned communication method, the technical effects obtained by the embodiments of the method can be obtained by referring to the above-mentioned embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the application, the association relationship between the backhaul link synchronization signal and the random access resource is directly or indirectly established, so that the operation that the IAB node initiates the random access based on the measurement result of the backhaul link synchronization signal is supported. And the correlation period or the number of the back-transmission link synchronous signals is configured, so that the wrong correlation random access opportunity RO is avoided when the numbers of the two synchronous signals are inconsistent. Compared with the prior art/protocol, after the method of the scheme is adopted, the random access can be initiated based on the existing signal (the backhaul link synchronization signal) without configuring additional reference signal (such as CSI-RS) measurement for the IAB node. And the probability that the IAB node successfully completes the random access process in the system is also improved.

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.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to encompass such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for determining random access resources, comprising:

a first network device obtains first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises an association relationship between a second synchronization signal and a random access resource and an association relationship between a first synchronization signal and the random access resource, the random access resource is a first random access resource and/or a second random access resource, the first random access resource is an available random access resource when the first network device initially accesses, and the second random access resource is a random access resource configured by the first network device;

and the first network equipment associates the second synchronization signal with the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource according to the first configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the first configuration information comprises:

the first network equipment receives first configuration information sent by second network equipment;

the associating, by the first network device, the second synchronization signal with the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource according to the first configuration information includes:

and the first network equipment determines the association relationship between at least part of synchronous signal blocks contained in the second synchronous signal and the random access resources according to the association relationship between the first synchronous signal and the random access resources.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method for the first network device to determine the association relationship between at least part of the synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal and the random access resources comprises:

and the first network equipment determines a synchronous signal block with at least time index consistent with the first synchronous signal in the second synchronous signal according to the incidence relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource, and associates the synchronous signal block with the first random access resource, and a part of synchronous signal blocks in the second synchronous signal are associated with the second random access resource.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the method for the first network device to determine the association relationship between at least part of the synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal and the random access resources comprises:

the first network equipment determines a synchronous signal block with at least time index consistent with the first synchronous signal in the second synchronous signal according to the incidence relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource, and the synchronous signal block is associated to the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource, and part of synchronous signal blocks in the second synchronous signal are not associated with the random access resource.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the method for the first network device to determine the association relationship between at least part of the synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal and the random access resources comprises:

and the first network equipment determines the relation between the synchronous signal blocks of which at least the time indexes are consistent with the first synchronous signal and the random access resource in the second synchronous signal according to the incidence relation between the first synchronous signal and the random access resource.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network device receives first configuration information sent by the second network device, and is configured to associate one or more second synchronization signals with one or more random access occasions in the first random access resource and/or the second random access resource.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first network device receives the first configuration information sent by the second network device and is further configured to configure the QCL relationship of at least the time-indexed second synchronization signal block and the first synchronization signal block;

partial synchronous signal blocks in the second synchronous signal are not configured with QCL relationship;

and the first network equipment determines the association relation between at least part of the second synchronous signal blocks and the random access resources according to the QCL relation between the second synchronous signal blocks and the first synchronous signal blocks.

8. A method for determining random access resources, comprising:

a first network device receives second configuration information sent by a second network device, wherein the second configuration information includes an association period of a first synchronization signal and a second random access resource and/or information of the number of synchronization signal blocks contained in the second synchronization signal, and the second random access resource is a random access resource independently configured by the first network device;

and the first network equipment determines the incidence relation between the second synchronous signal and the second random access resource according to the second configuration information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first network device receives the information indicating the number of the synchronization signal blocks contained in the second synchronization signal directly from the second network device or indirectly indicating the number of the synchronization signal blocks contained in the second synchronization signal by indicating a transmission position of the synchronization signal blocks contained in the second synchronization signal.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the second configuration information is a system message, an RRC message, or an F1-AP message.

11. A first network device, comprising:

the acquisition module is used for determining the association relationship between at least part of synchronous signal blocks contained in the second synchronous signal and the random access resources according to the association relationship between the first synchronous signal and the random access resources, wherein the random access resources are first random access resources and/or second random access resources;

or, the obtaining module is configured to receive first configuration information sent by a second network device;

an association module, configured to associate a second synchronization signal block in a second synchronization signal, where the second synchronization signal block is consistent with a first synchronization signal block time index, with a first random access resource and/or a second random access resource, where the first random access resource is an available random access resource when the first network device initially accesses, and the second random access resource is a random access resource separately configured by the first network device;

and the configuration module is used for configuring the association relation between one or more second synchronization signal blocks and one or more random access occasions in the first and/or second random access resources.

12. The first network device of claim 11, wherein the configuration module is further configured to configure the QCL relationship of at least the time-indexed second synchronization signal block and the first synchronization signal block.

13. The first network device according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the associating module is further configured to determine an association relationship between the second synchronization signal and the second random access resource according to the second configuration information.

14. A second network device, comprising:

a sending module, configured to send first configuration information to a first network device, where the first configuration information includes an association relationship between a second synchronization signal and a random access resource and an association relationship between a first synchronization signal and a random access resource, the random access resource is a first random access resource and/or a second random access resource, the first random access resource is an available random access resource when the first network device initially accesses, and the second random access resource is a random access resource separately configured by the first network device;

the sending module is further configured to send second configuration information to the first network device, where the second configuration information includes an association period between the first synchronization signal and a second random access resource, and/or information about the number of synchronization signal blocks included in the second synchronization signal, and the second random access resource is a random access resource separately configured by the first network device;

and the access module is used for the initial access of the first network equipment.

15. A first network device, comprising: a memory, the memory storing code and data therein, the memory coupled to the processor, the processor executing the code in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method associated with the first network device of any of claims 1-10.

16. A computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when run on a device, cause the device to perform the first network device-related method of any one of claims 1-10.