CN109451586B

CN109451586B - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN109451586B
Application number: CN201811472302.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邵华; 刘哲; 黄煌
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-05-11
Filing date: 2018-07-24
Publication date: 2020-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 2038-07-24
Also published as: CN109451586A; WO2019214730A1

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for determining TA (timing advance) effective time, wherein the method comprises the following steps: determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in L uplink carriers of the terminal equipment according to the first time interval; l is a positive integer, and the first time interval is the time interval between the receiving time of the downlink signal and the effective time of the timing advance TA; the first time interval is determined by a third time length, and the third time length is the maximum time length allowed to be indicated by a 12-bit or 6-bit timing advance command TAC under the corresponding second subcarrier interval; the second subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing of the third subcarrier spacing and the fourth subcarrier spacing; the third subcarrier spacing comprises subcarrier spacing corresponding to the L uplink carriers; the fourth subcarrier interval is the subcarrier interval of the message 3 transmitted by the terminal equipment, and the method can ensure the uplink timing synchronization between the terminal equipment and the network equipment.

Description

Communication method and communication device

This application claims priority from chinese patent application filed on 11/05/2018 at chinese patent office under application number 201810450341.7 entitled "communication method and communication apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for determining a timing advance TA validation time.

Background

In order to ensure orthogonality of uplink transmissions and avoid intra-cell interference, it is required that uplink signals from different terminal equipments (UEs) arrive at the network equipment substantially aligned in time. Therefore, the network device sends a Timing Advance (TA) to the terminal device, and the terminal device adjusts the time for sending the uplink signal according to the received TA, thereby implementing uplink timing synchronization between the terminal device and the network device.

A certain time interval exists between the starting time of receiving the downlink signal and the time of transmitting the uplink signal by the terminal equipment, and different terminal equipment has different time intervals. In the process of adjusting the TA, the terminal equipment firstly receives a TA adjusting command sent by the network equipment, and after a period of time, the terminal equipment applies a new TA until receiving the new TA adjusting command. The terminal equipment can control the time interval so as to control the TA effective time.

At present, due to different subcarrier spacing (SCS) of Uplink (UL) carrier resources, time intervals are different, and therefore TA effective times of different UL carriers in the same Timing Advance Group (TAG) are inconsistent; in addition, different TA validation times increase the implementation complexity of the terminal device.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for determining the TA effective time, which can ensure uplink timing synchronization between terminal equipment and network equipment.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: determining a first subcarrier interval from M subcarrier intervals, wherein the M subcarrier intervals are subcarrier intervals corresponding to L carriers used by terminal equipment, and L is more than or equal to M and more than or equal to 2; and determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first subcarrier interval.

The network equipment sends configuration information to the terminal equipment, and the configuration information is used for indicating the uplink subcarrier interval and sending a TA (timing advance) adjustment command to the terminal equipment; the terminal equipment receives a TA adjusting command sent by the network equipment, wherein the TA adjusting command comprises TA adjusting quantity, and the terminal equipment determines new TA according to the current TA and the TA adjusting quantity.

The base station determines the timing advance of each UE by measuring the uplink signal transmitted by the UE and informs the UE of the timing advance. For a terminal device, the time when a downlink signal is received from the terminal device UEThere is a certain time interval, referred to as a first time interval N in this application, until the TA's start becomes effective. The first time interval N can be defined as K time slots (slots), and the total duration of the first time interval N includes four parts of duration as shown in FIG. 4, N₁、N₂、L₂And TA_max。

The mobile communication system supports multiple subcarrier intervals (for example, each subcarrier interval is suitable for different service types or operating frequencies), and the length of the cyclic prefix CP corresponding to each symbol of different subcarrier intervals is different. Correspondingly, the anti-delay impact performance corresponding to different subcarrier intervals is different, so that the UE uses different timing advance under different scenes, and the diversified requirements of the 5G mobile communication system on uplink synchronization can be met. At present, different sub-carriers are spaced at 15KHz,30KHz, 60KHz, 120KHz in the carrier resource, and there may be more possibilities later, it being understood that the present application includes but is not limited thereto.

This results in N in the case of different subcarrier spacings of the uplink carriers₁、N₂、TA_maxThe different absolute lengths of the uplink carrier waves cause inconsistency of the effective time of the TA of different uplink carrier waves in the same TAG. Different TA effective time increases the realization complexity of the terminal equipment, and simultaneously, the TA effective time does not accord with the definition of the same TAG.

The embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining TA effective time, which determines a time interval N before the TA effective time, and ensures that the time interval N is consistent for the same terminal device UE under the condition of including a plurality of uplink carrier subcarrier intervals. Therefore, in the same TAG, the TA effective time of the terminal equipment is consistent, and the uplink timing synchronization between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be ensured.

Optionally, the terminal device determines the first subcarrier interval from the M subcarrier intervals, and the specific method for determining the first subcarrier interval includes the following steps:

situation one

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂Subcarriers of reference smallest uplink carrierThe wave spacing. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, N is calculated₁、N₂In time, the standard is 15 KHz.

Situation two

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂The subcarrier spacing of the largest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, N is calculated₁、N₂In time, 30KHz is taken as the standard.

Situation three

For the L uplink carriers, the TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the smallest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, TA is calculated_maxIn time, the standard is 15 KHz.

Situation four

For the L uplink carriers, the TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the largest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, TA is calculated_maxIn time, 30KHz is taken as the standard.

Situation five

For the L uplink carriers, the N₁、N₂、TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the smallest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, the UE configures 2 uplink carriers, and the subcarrier intervals are 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, and then the time interval is calculated based on 15 KHz.

Situation six

For the L uplink carriers, the N₁、N₂、TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the largest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, the UE configures 2 uplink carriers, and the subcarrier intervals are 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, and then the time interval is calculated based on 30 KHz.

Situation seven

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂Reference minimum uplink carrier subcarrier spacing, TA_maxReference maximum uplinkSubcarrier spacing of the carriers.

For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, N is calculated as the time interval₁、N₂TA at 15KHz_maxSubject to 30 KHz.

Situation eight

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂Reference maximum uplink carrier subcarrier spacing, TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the smallest uplink carrier is referred to.

For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, N is calculated as the time interval₁、N₂TA at 30KHz_maxSubject to 15 KHz.

Situation nine

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂Reference minimum uplink carrier subcarrier spacing, TA_maxThe minimum of the subcarrier spacing in the reference uplink carrier and the subcarrier spacing of the carrier resource used for transmitting Msg3, i.e.: μ ═ min (Msg3SCS, UL SCS).

Situation ten

For the L uplink carriers and the T random access process message 3(Msg3) subcarrier intervals, N1 and N2 refer to the subcarrier interval of the minimum uplink carrier, TA_maxThe largest/smallest subcarrier spacing in the reference, namely: μ ═ min (max (Msg3 SCS), UL SCS) or μ ═ min (min (Msg3 SCS), UL SCS).

For example, the base station configures random access resources on the UL carrier and the SUL carrier, and if the Msg3 has a subcarrier spacing of 15KHz or 30KHz, respectively, then TA is used_maxThe corresponding μ references a minimum of 15KHz or μ references a maximum of 30 KHz.

Optionally, the above-mentioned L uplink carrier subcarrier intervals may also be SCS of all active bandwidth portions BWPs, or subcarrier intervals of multiple BWPs configured by the terminal device, or subcarrier intervals of all BWPs.

It should be understood that in the random access process, the uplink carrier resource for transmitting Msg3May be 15KHz, and after the random access procedure is completed, the subcarrier interval for transmitting uplink resources may be reconfigured, e.g., the subcarrier interval for allocated carrier resources may be 30KHz or 60KHz, and thus, in order to take into account the effect of random access, here, TA is used_maxIn the determination of (3), the influence of the Msg3 subcarrier spacing is considered. Meanwhile, since multiple uplink carriers may all correspond to the random access resource, each uplink carrier may correspond to different message 3 subcarrier intervals, for example, when the UE configures an uplink UL carrier and a Supplemental Uplink (SUL) carrier, the message 3 may have 2 subcarrier intervals, for example, 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively. Therefore, in TA_maxThe influence of the spacing of the multiple Msg3 subcarriers is also taken into account in the determination of (3).

For example, the uplink carrier subcarrier spacing used by the UE is different from Msg3, and TA is used to support the maximum coverage_maxThe minimum value among Msg3 and the subcarrier spacing SCS of the configured uplink carriers should be taken. For example, the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 60KHz and 30KHz, and during the random access process, the subcarrier spacing SCS of the carrier resource for transmitting Msg3 is 15KHz, and when calculating the time interval, N is used for calculating the time interval₁、N₂TA at 30KHz_maxSubject to 15 KHz.

Ten possible N's are listed above₁、N₂、TA_maxWith reference to the first subcarrier spacing, it is to be understood that the above is by way of example and not limitation, and that there may be more references to N in various determinations of the first subcarrier spacing₁、N₂、TA_maxIncluding but not limited to the combination of the first subcarrier spacing referenced herein.

Optionally, in the process of determining the first subcarrier interval, the terminal device may set a first threshold, determine the first threshold as the first subcarrier interval, and participate in the subsequent determination of the TA effective time.

Optionally, the method provided by the present application may also be used in combination with the prior art, for example, a minimum value is obtained in the determined first subcarrier interval of the uplink carrier resource and the determined subcarrier interval of the downlink carrier resource, so as to obtain a subcarrier interval, which is not described herein again. It is to be understood that this application includes, but is not limited to.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, determining an effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier of the L carriers according to the first subcarrier spacing includes: determining a first time interval corresponding to a first carrier in the L carriers according to the first subcarrier interval, where the first time interval is a time interval between a receiving time of a downlink signal and an effective time of a TA; and determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval.

Optionally, the terminal device determines, according to the first subcarrier interval, a first time interval corresponding to a first carrier in the L carriers, where the first time interval is a time interval between a receiving time of the downlink signal and an effective time of the TA; and determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval.

For example, when the subcarrier spacing of the downlink DL is 15KHz, the subcarrier spacing of the uplink carrier is 30KHz, and μ ═ min (μ ═ min)_DL,μ_UL) Min (15KHz,30KHz) is 15KHz, and the first time interval N is ceil (N) from equation (1)₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max)＝ceil(13symbol+10symbol+0.5ms+2ms)＝ceil(58symbol)＝5ms。

With reference to the first aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, the determining, by the first subcarrier interval, a first time interval corresponding to a first carrier of the L carriers, where the first time interval includes one or more of a first duration, a second duration, and a third duration, and the determining, by the first subcarrier interval, includes:

determining a first time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the first time length is the time length required for processing the downlink signal; and/or

Determining a second time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the second time length is the time length required by preparing an uplink signal; and/or

And determining a third time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the third time length is the maximum time length allowed to be indicated by the timing advance command TAC with 12 bits or 6 bits corresponding to the first subcarrier interval.

Optionally, the first time interval may refer to a maximum subcarrier interval or a minimum subcarrier interval. For example, the maximum subcarrier spacing is 30KHz, the minimum subcarrier spacing is 15KHz, and the first time interval determined according to the above method is 5 ms. Referring to the 15KHz subcarrier spacing, 5ms is equivalent to 5 slots, i.e. for the 15KHz uplink carrier, TA is applied from the 6 th slot. Referring to the 30KHz subcarrier spacing, 5ms is equivalent to 10 slots, and for the 30KHz uplink carrier, TA is applied from the 11 th slot.

Optionally, when referring to the maximum subcarrier spacing, for a small subcarrier spacing, the first time interval cannot achieve an integer number of slots, and rounding-up operation needs to be performed on the first time interval. And the rounding operation represents that a numerical value which is larger than the original first time interval and is the minimum integral multiple of the time slot duration corresponding to the minimum subcarrier interval is selected. For example, the first time interval determined according to the above method is 2.5ms, and includes 2 carriers (15KHz and 30KHz), and since 2.5ms is not an integer multiple of the time slot corresponding to the 15KHz subcarrier interval, it is necessary to first round the first time interval 2.5ms up according to the step size of 15KHz, that is, 3 ms. 3ms corresponds to 3 slots (15KHz) and 6 slots (30KHz), respectively. Thus, a new TA is applied from the 4 th slot for a 15KHz subcarrier spacing and from the 7 th slot for a 30KHz subcarrier spacing.

It should be understood that 12 bits is only an example and not a limitation, and other possible values smaller than 12 bits, such as 6 bits, can be taken.

It should be understood that the time duration required for processing the downlink signal is related to the downlink signal configuration, such as the demodulation reference signal configuration, and/or the downlink signal subcarrier spacing, and/or the UE processing capability. It should be understood that the time duration required for preparing the uplink signal is related to the uplink signal subcarrier spacing, and/or the UE processing capability.

It should be understood that the process of determining the first time interval recited herein may be performed by separately determining N according to equation (1)₁、N₂、L₂、TA_maxAre summed to obtain a first time interval N. The embodiment of the application can also determine only N₁、N₂、L₂、TA_maxMay only need to determine at least one of the durations during the development of the technology, the first time interval N may be obtained by a certain relationship. Here, where N is determined by the methods provided herein₁、N₂、L₂、TA_maxAny method for one or more of these durations is within the scope of the present application.

With reference to the first aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, when at least two carriers of the L carriers are used for a random access procedure and a carrier used for transmitting the message Msg3 includes at least two subcarrier intervals, before determining the third duration according to the first subcarrier interval, the method further includes: a first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the at least two subcarrier spacings.

With reference to the first aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, the first time interval further includes a fourth duration, where the fourth duration is a duration determined by the terminal device according to a cell reuse mode; and/or

The fourth time duration is a time duration determined by the terminal device according to the frequency range in which the terminal device or the network device operates.

With reference to the first aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, the method further includes: determining a first mapping relation, wherein the first mapping relation comprises a one-to-one mapping relation between a plurality of subcarrier intervals and a plurality of durations; and determining an effective time of a timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first subcarrier spacing, including: determining a first time interval corresponding to the first subcarrier interval according to the first mapping relation; and determining the effective moment of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval. Specifically, the terminal device obtains the subcarrier intervals of all uplink carriers in a TAG according to the configuration of the network device; and then receiving the MAC-CE which is sent by the network equipment and contains the TA adjusting command, determining the TA effective moment, and then applying the new TA contained in the MAC-CE.

After receiving the MAC-CE comprising the TA adjusting command, the terminal equipment determines a first time interval according to the minimum or maximum uplink subcarrier interval in the same TAG. For example, the terminal device may determine the first time interval according to a preset function.

With reference to the first aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, the first subcarrier spacing is a smallest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings; or the first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings.

It should be understood that the first subcarrier spacing may be determined by one or more of a maximum value/minimum value of all uplink subcarrier spacings, a maximum value/minimum value of all active bandwidth portions, a maximum value/minimum value of a plurality of BWPs configured by the terminal device, or a maximum value/minimum value of all BWPs. Alternatively, the subcarrier spacing may be fixed, for example, at a low frequency (operating frequency of 6GHz or less), 15KHz may be fixed.

With reference to the first aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, after determining, according to the first subcarrier spacing, an effective time of a timing advance TA of each carrier of the L carriers, the method further includes:

and sending the uplink information according to the timing advance TA.

In the above, the detailed process of determining the effective time of the timing advance TA by the terminal device is introduced, and after the terminal device determines the first time interval N, the effective time of the TA can be determined by adding the time length represented by the first time interval N from the time of receiving the downlink signal. After the terminal device determines the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers, it may send uplink information according to the timing advance TA.

In a second aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a determining unit, configured to determine a first subcarrier interval from M subcarrier intervals, where the M subcarrier intervals are subcarrier intervals corresponding to L carriers used by the terminal device, and L is greater than or equal to M and greater than or equal to 2; the determining unit is further configured to determine, according to the first subcarrier spacing, an effective time of a timing advance TA of each of the L carriers.

With reference to the second aspect, in some possible implementations, the determining unit is further configured to: determining a first time interval corresponding to a first carrier in the L carriers according to the first subcarrier interval, where the first time interval is a time interval between a receiving time of a downlink signal and an effective time of a TA; and determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval.

With reference to the second aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, the first time interval includes one or more of a first time duration, a second time duration, and a third time duration, and the determining unit is further configured to: determining a first time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the first time length is the time length required for processing the downlink signal; and/or determining a second time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the second time length is the time length required by preparing an uplink signal; and/or determining a third time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the third time length is the maximum time length allowed to be indicated by the timing advance command TAC with 12 bits or 6 bits corresponding to the first subcarrier interval.

With reference to the second aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, when at least two carriers of the L carriers are used for the random access procedure, and the carrier used for transmitting the message Msg3 includes at least two subcarrier intervals, before determining the third duration according to the first subcarrier interval, the determining unit is further configured to: a first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the at least two subcarrier spacings.

With reference to the second aspect and the foregoing implementation manner, in some possible implementation manners, the first time interval further includes a fourth duration, where the fourth duration is a duration determined by the terminal device according to the cell reuse mode; and/or

With reference to the second aspect and the foregoing implementations, in some possible implementations, the determining unit is further configured to: determining a first mapping relation, wherein the first mapping relation comprises a one-to-one mapping relation between a plurality of subcarrier intervals and a plurality of durations; and determining a first time interval corresponding to the first subcarrier interval according to the first mapping relation; and determining the effective moment of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval.

With reference to the second aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, the first subcarrier spacing is a smallest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings; or the first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings.

With reference to the second aspect and the foregoing implementation manners, in some possible implementation manners, the apparatus further includes a sending unit, configured to send uplink information according to the timing advance TA.

In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus has a function of implementing a behavior of a terminal device in any one of the possible implementation methods of the first aspect and the first aspect. 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.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementations, the communication apparatus includes a memory and a processor, where the processor is configured to be coupled to the memory and execute instructions in the memory to implement any one of the first aspect and any one of the possible implementation method designs; the memory is used for storing program instructions and data.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method of any one of the first and second aspects described above.

In a fifth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which comprises computer program code, when the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method according to any one of the first aspect and any one of the possible implementation method designs of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a system on a chip is provided, which comprises a processor for enabling a network device to perform the functions recited in the above aspects, such as generating, receiving, determining, sending, or processing data and/or information recited in the above methods. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the terminal device. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram of an example of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is an interaction diagram of a terminal device and a network device in a TA adjustment process.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device transmitting uplink information according to a timing advance TA.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example of the effective time of the TA according to the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method for determining a TA validation time provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an example of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another example of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The manner, case, category and division of the embodiments in the present application are only for convenience of description and should not be construed as a particular limitation, and features in various manners, categories, cases and embodiments may be combined without contradiction.

It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols applied in future communication systems, which includes but is not limited to this application.

It should be further noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the "predefined" may be implemented by saving a corresponding code, table, or other means that can be used to indicate related information in advance in a device (for example, a terminal device and a network device), and the present application is not limited to a specific implementation manner thereof. For example, the predefined may refer to a definition in a protocol.

It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably, but those skilled in the art can understand the meaning. Information (information), signal (signal), message (message), channel (channel) may sometimes be mixed, it should be noted that the intended meaning is consistent when the distinction is not emphasized. "of", "corresponding", and "corresponding" may sometimes be used in combination, it being noted that the intended meaning is consistent when no distinction is made.

It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, "reporting" and "feedback" are often used interchangeably, but those skilled in the art can understand the meaning thereof. For the terminal device, reporting CSI and feeding back CSI may both be CSI transmitted through a physical uplink channel. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, the intended meanings thereof are consistent when the differences are not emphasized.

It should be further noted that "and/or" describes an association relationship of the associated object, indicating that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, which may indicate: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, a fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) mobile communication system, a New Radio (NR) communication system, a future mobile communication system, and the like.

For the convenience of understanding the embodiments of the present application, a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be first described in detail by taking the communication system shown in fig. 1 as an example. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 suitable for use with embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the wireless communication system 100 may include one or more network devices, such as the network device 101 shown in fig. 1; the wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more terminal devices, e.g., terminal device # 1102, terminal device # 2103 shown in fig. 1. The wireless communication system 100 may support Coordinated multipoint transmission/Reception (CoMP), that is, multiple cells or multiple network devices may cooperate to participate in data transmission of one terminal device or jointly receive data sent by one terminal device, or multiple cells or multiple network devices perform cooperative scheduling or cooperative beamforming. Wherein the plurality of cells may belong to the same network device or different network devices and may be selected according to channel gain or path loss, received signal strength, received signal order, etc.

It should be understood that the network device in the wireless communication system may be any device having a wireless transceiving function or a chip that can be disposed on the device, and the device includes but is not limited to: a base station, an evolved node B (eNB), a home base station, an Access Point (AP), a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a Transmission Point (TP), a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, and the like, and may also be a gNB in an NR system, or may also be a component or a part of a device constituting the base station, such as a Central Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), or a baseband unit (BBU). It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, there is no limitation on the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the radio access network device. In this application, a radio access network device is referred to as a network device for short, and if no special description is provided, network devices are referred to as radio access network devices in this application. In this application, the network device may refer to the network device itself, or may be a chip applied to the network device to complete a wireless communication processing function.

In some deployments, the gNB may include CUs and DUs. The gNB may also include a Radio Frequency Unit (RFU). A CU implements part of the function of a gNB, and a DU implements part of the function of the gNB, for example, the CU implements functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and the DU implements functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. Since the information of the RRC layer eventually becomes or is converted from the information of the PHY layer, the higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling or PDCP layer signaling, can also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or DU + RU under this architecture. It is to be understood that the network device may be a CU node, or a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in the access network RAN, or may be divided into network devices in the core network CN, which is not limited herein.

It should also be understood that the terminal equipment in the wireless communication system may also be referred to as a terminal, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (tablet computer), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, or a wireless terminal applied to scenes such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), industrial control (industrial control), unmanned driving (self driving), remote medical (remote medical), smart grid (smart grid), transportation safety (transportation safety), smart city (smart city), and smart home (smart home). The terminal device and the chip applicable to the terminal device are collectively referred to as a terminal device in the present application. It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

Optionally, in the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1, the network device may be a serving network device, and the serving network device may refer to a network device that provides at least one of RRC connection, non-access stratum (NAS) mobility management, and security input for the terminal device through a radio air interface protocol. Optionally, the network device may also be a cooperative network device. The service network device can send a control signaling to the terminal device, and the cooperative network device can send data to the terminal device; or, the serving network device may send a control signaling to the terminal device, and the serving network device and the cooperative network device may send data to the terminal device; or, both the service network device and the cooperative network device may send a control signaling to the terminal device, and both the service network device and the cooperative network device may send data to the terminal device; or, the cooperative network device may send a control signaling to the terminal device, and at least one of the serving network device and the cooperative network device may send data to the terminal device; alternatively, the cooperative network device may send control signaling and data to the terminal device. The present embodiment is not particularly limited to this.

It should be understood that, for convenience of understanding only, the network device and the terminal device are schematically illustrated in fig. 1, but this should not limit the present application, and the wireless communication system may further include a greater or lesser number of network devices, and may also include a greater number of terminal devices, and the network devices communicating with different terminal devices may be the same network device, or different network devices, and the number of network devices communicating with different terminal devices may be the same or different, which is included in the present application but not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, without loss of generality, the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail by taking an interaction process between a terminal device and a network device as an example. The terminal device may be any terminal device in a wireless communication system having a wireless connection relationship with one or more network devices. It can be understood that any terminal device in the wireless communication system can implement wireless communication based on the same technical solution, and hereinafter, the terminal device is denoted by UE, and the base station is identified by the gNB. This application includes but is not limited to.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a few terms or expressions referred to in the present application will be briefly described below.

1. Timing Advance Group (TAG): the network device configures a group of cells through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, that is, the network device configures a timing advance TA for a cell, and a TAG is formed when a plurality of cells have the same TA. And for the uplink carrier of each cell, the same uplink transmission timing advance TA is adopted.

2. Timing Advance (TA)

The signal is delayed in space transmission, and the TA is used for characterizing the distance between the terminal equipment and the antenna port of the network equipment. In order to ensure orthogonality of uplink transmission processes of different terminal devices and ensure time synchronization at the base station side, that is, in order to ensure that uplink signals of different UEs arrive at the base station at a desired time, the communication system may use an uplink timing advance (uplink timing advance) mechanism, and the UE sends uplink information according to the timing advance, which is a negative offset (negative offset) between the start time of the downlink subframe and the start time of the uplink subframe in nature in the view of the UE. The base station can control the time when the uplink signals from different UEs reach the base station by properly controlling the offset of each UE, and can transmit the uplink information according to a smaller timing advance for the UE which is closer to the base station, and the uplink information needs to be transmitted according to a larger timing advance for the UE which is farther from the base station because the signal has a larger transmission delay.

In one TAG, the network device configures the same timing advance TA for one or more cells, and at the same time, the network device adjusts the TA according to the information such as the location and distance of the terminal device. It should be understood that the network device may be adjusted according to a certain period, or the network device may be adjusted according to the information of the location, distance, etc. of the terminal device, which is included in the present application but not limited thereto.

The terminal equipment receives a TA adjusting command sent by the network equipment, the TA adjusting command comprises TA adjusting quantity, the terminal equipment determines new TA according to TA of the current cell and the newly received TA adjusting quantity, and sends uplink information according to the new TA.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of interaction between a terminal device and a network device during TA adjustment. As shown in fig. 2, the process of terminal device TA adjustment includes S201 to S204.

S201, the network equipment sends configuration information to the terminal equipment, and the configuration information is used for indicating the interval of uplink subcarriers;

s202, the network equipment sends a TA adjusting command to the terminal equipment;

s203, the terminal equipment receives a TA adjusting command sent by the network equipment and determines the effective time interval of the TA;

and S204, after a period of time, applying a new TA. A new TA is applied on subsequent timeslots until a new TA adjustment command is received.

It should be understood that, in an actual TA adjustment process, the terminal device may perform a part of or all of the above steps, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

The base station informs the UE of the timing advance through a Timing Advance Command (TAC), and different UEs correspond to different timing advances. FIG. 3 showsAnd the UE sends a schematic diagram of uplink information according to the timing advance. In fig. 3, if the distance of signal transmission between UE and base station is D, the base station expects to be at T₀Receiving the uplink signal sent by the UE at any time, the UE needs to be at T₀-T_TAAnd sending uplink information at a moment, wherein TA represents timing advance, the value of TA is D/c, and c represents the transmission rate of the electromagnetic waves. Because the UE has mobility, the distance D between the UE and the base station for signal transmission also changes, so the UE needs to continuously adjust the value of the timing advance to ensure that the error between the time when the uplink signal reaches the base station and the time when the base station expects the uplink signal to reach the base station is within an acceptable range.

The base station determines the timing advance of each UE by measuring the uplink signal transmitted by the UE, theoretically, the base station can measure the timing advance according to any uplink signal transmitted by the UE, and the base station can inform the UE of the timing advance in the following two ways.

In a first mode

In the random access process, a base station may notify a timing advance TA to a UE through a TAC field of a Random Access Response (RAR), in which case, the base station determines the timing advance TA by measuring a preamble sequence (preamble) sent by the UE, the size of the TAC field of the RAR may be, for example, 11 bits (bit), and the range of a corresponding timing advance coefficient is 0 to 1282, and for the random access, the timing advance coefficient is multiplied by 16T_sThe value of the current uplink timing advance is obtained, wherein, 16T_sFor the length of time, in LTE systems, T_s1/(15000 × 2048) seconds.

Mode two

In the rrc connected state, the base station may send a TAC MAC CE to the UE through a timing advance command MAC control element (TAC MAC CE).

The UE performs uplink synchronization with the base station in the random access process, but the communication environment of the UE may change with time, so that the timing advance in the random access process is no longer applicable to a new communication environment, for example:

the transmission delay between the UE moving at a high speed and the base station can change greatly in a short time;

when the current transmission path disappears, switching to a new communication path, wherein the transmission delay of the new communication path is greatly changed relative to the original communication path;

the crystal oscillator of the UE deviates, and the uplink timing is possibly wrong due to long-time deviation accumulation;

doppler shift caused by UE movement.

Therefore, the UE needs to continuously update its timing advance.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the validation time of the TA. Currently, in NR, for a terminal device, there is a certain time interval from a time when the terminal device receives a downlink signal to a time when the TA is initially valid, which is referred to as a first time interval N in this application. The first time interval N can be defined as K time slots (slots), and the total duration of the first time interval N includes four portions of duration as shown, N respectively₁、N₂、L₂And TA_maxIt can be expressed as:

N＝ceil(N₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max)……………………………(1)

in the above formula (1), ceil represents rounding up, N₁、N₂、TA_maxAnd the uplink subcarrier spacing. N is a radical of₁Represents the time required for the terminal device to process a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), N₂Represents a time delay, L, of a terminal device preparing a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)₂Processing delay, TA, of a Media Access Control (MAC) layer representing a terminal device_maxIs the maximum length of time allowed to be indicated by the timing advance command TAC. Specifically, for example, TA_maxThe maximum duration of the indication allowed by the 12-bit TAC may be set, or the maximum duration of the indication allowed by the 6-bit TAC may be set.

In one possible implementation, the first time interval is other than N listed above₁、N₂、L₂And TA_maxIn addition, the method further includes a fourth time duration, where the fourth time duration is a time duration determined by the terminal device according to the cell reuse mode, or the fourth time duration is a time duration determined by the terminal device according to a frequency range in which the terminal device or the network device operates. For example, the time length for switching the terminal device in different operating modes or operating frequency bands is recorded as N_{TA offset}。

Alternatively, N may be_{TA offset}The sum of the time length represented by the said time length and the maximum time length allowed to be indicated by the 12-bit or 6-bit TAC is taken as a whole as TA_maxFor example, the maximum time allowed to be indicated by the TAC can be recorded as N_TAThen TA_max＝N_TA+N_{TA offset}. This is not limited by the present application.

It is to be understood that N_{TA offset}The time is the time for the terminal device to perform handover, for example, the time for the terminal device to perform uplink and downlink handover. Specifically, the uplink and downlink switching time N_{TA offset}In relation to the operating mode or operating frequency band of the communication system, according to the protocol N_{TA offset}The values of (A) are shown in Table 1. Wherein FR1 denotes a frequency band with a frequency less than 6GHz, and FR2 denotes a frequency band with a frequency greater than 6 GHz. The FR2 band may be FDD, or TDD, or both.

TABLE 1

Operating modes and frequency bands for uplink transmissions	N_{TA offset}(unit: T)_C)
		FDD FR1 frequency band	0
TDD FR1 frequency band	39936or 25600
		FR2 frequency band	13792

Alternatively, when considering the case of coexistence of LTE and NR, N_{TA offset}The values of (A) are shown in Table 2. FR2 may be FDD, TDD, or both, among others.

TABLE 2

Operating modes and frequency bands for uplink transmissions	N_{TA offset}(unit: T)_C)
		FDD FR1 and TDD bands do not include LTE and NR coexistence scenarios	25600
FDD FR1 frequency band including LTE and NR coexistence scenario	0
		TDD FR1 frequency band including LTE and NR coexistence scenario	39936
FR2 frequency band	13792

Wherein N is_{TA offset}The value of (C) may be determined by RRC signaling, Downlink Control Information (DCI), and medium access control control element (MAC-C)E) One or more message acquisitions; or determined in an implicit manner, e.g. by implicitly indicating N_{TA offset}A value of (d); or N_{TA offset}Is predefined or preconfigured. It is to be understood that this application is directed to N_{TA offset}The manner of obtaining the value of (b) is not limited.

FR1 represents a scene with an operating frequency of less than 6GHz, and FR2 represents a scene with an operating frequency of 6GHz or more. Unit T_c＝1/(Δf_max·N_f)，Δf_max＝480·10³Hz,N_f4096. Alternatively,. DELTA.f_max＝{15,30,60,120,240}×10³Applied to different operating frequency bands or subcarrier spacings, N_fThe {512,1024,2048} applies to different Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) sampling frequencies.

When the terminal equipment is configured with a second uplink carrier, N_{TA offset}May be determined based on non-SUL carriers. Here, the second uplink carrier refers to a Supplemental Uplink (SUL) carrier.

It should be understood that when determining TA_maxIn the process of (1) consider N_{TA offset}Then, the above formula (1) can also be equivalently expressed as:

N＝ceil(N₁+N₂+L₂+N_TA+N_{TA offset})………………………(2)

in addition, it should be noted that the downlink signal in the embodiment of the present application may be a signal transmitted by a PDCCH, such as DCI (DCI) and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS); or may be data or information transmitted by the PDSCH. The uplink signal may be data or information transmitted by the PUSCH, such as uplink scheduling information (PUSCH), Uplink Control Information (UCI), feedback information, and the like, and specifically, such as Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK), Scheduling Request (SR), and the like. It is to be understood that this application includes, but is not limited to.

The 5G mobile communication system supports various subcarrier intervals (for example, each subcarrier interval is suitable for different service types or operating frequencies), and the length of Cyclic Prefix (CP) corresponding to symbols of different subcarrier intervals is different. Correspondingly, the anti-delay impact performance corresponding to different subcarrier intervals is different, so that the UE uses different timing advance under different scenes, and the diversified requirements of the 5G mobile communication system on uplink synchronization can be met. At present, different sub-carriers are spaced at 15KHz,30KHz, 60KHz, 120KHz in the carrier resource, and there may be more possibilities later, it being understood that the present application includes but is not limited thereto.

According to the TS 38.214 protocol, N₁The relationship with the uplink subcarriers is also shown in table 3 below. Wherein mu represents the subcarrier spacing, wherein 0,1,2 and 3 respectively correspond to 15KHz,30KHz, 60KHz and 120 KHz. PDSCH decoding time N in Table 3₁There are two different reference cases, because the TA adjustment command of the present application can be included in the MAC-CE and carried on the PDSCH, one is the decoding time of the PDSCH with the additional demodulation reference signal DMRS, and the other is the decoding time of the PDSCH without the additional demodulation reference signal DMRS, the present application embodiment is described in detail by taking the larger decoding time, i.e., the decoding time of the PDSCH with the additional DMRS as an example, and it should be understood that the present application embodiment includes but is not limited thereto.

TABLE 3

It should be understood that here the symbol (symbol) is the smallest unit of time domain resource. The time length of one symbol is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. The length of one symbol may be different for different subcarrier spacings. The symbols may include uplink symbols and downlink symbols, and the uplink symbols may be referred to as single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, for example and without limitation; the downlink symbol may be referred to as an OFDM symbol, for example, and the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited thereto.

N₂The relationship with the uplink sub-carrier is also shown in table 4 below, where μ denotes the sub-carrier spacing, where 0,1,2, and 3 correspond to 15KHz,30KHz, 60KHz, and 120KHz, respectively.

TABLE 4

μ	PUSCH preparation time N₂(Unit: symbol)
		0	10
1	12
		2	23
3	36

TA_maxThe relationship with the uplink sub-carrier is also shown in Table 5, in which TA is listed when the sub-carrier spacing is 15KHz,30KHz, 60KHz, 120KHz, respectively_maxThe length of time of (c).

TABLE 5

Subcarrier spacing (unit: KHz)	TA_max(unit: ms)
		15	2
30	1
		60	0.5
120	0.25

In the determination process of the actual time interval N, as described above, one Timing Advance Group (TAG) includes multiple cells, each cell may include multiple terminal devices UE, and each UE is configured with multiple Uplink (UL) carrier resources. In the existing scheme, for a plurality of uplink carrier resources in a timing advance group TAG, due to different subcarrier spacing (SCS), specifically, when a terminal device UE configures subcarrier spacing of 15KHz,30KHz, 60KHz, and 120KHz, a time interval N can be determined for each subcarrier spacing.

For example, when the reference subcarrier interval is 15KHz, the first time interval N-ceil (N) is obtained from equation (1)₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max) Ceil (13symbol +10symbol +0.5ms +2ms) ceil (58symbol) 5 ms. Wherein, 0.5ms is 7symbol, 2ms is 28 symbol.

When the reference subcarrier spacing is 30KHz, the first time interval N-ceil (N) is obtained from equation (1)₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max) Ceil (13symbol +12symbol +0.5ms +1ms) ceil (67symbol) 2.5 ms. Wherein 0.5ms is 14symbol, and 1ms is 28 symbol.

From the above calculation procedure, it can be seen that N is caused in the case of different UL carrier subcarrier spacings₁、N₂、TA_maxThe different absolute lengths of the different UL carriers cause the inconsistency of the TA effective time of different UL carriers in the same TAG. Different TA give birth toThe effective time increases the complexity of the terminal equipment, and meanwhile, the terminal equipment does not conform to the definition of the same TAG.

The embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining TA effective time, which determines a time interval N before the TA effective time, and ensures that the time interval N is consistent for the same terminal device UE under the condition of a subcarrier interval including multiple UL carriers. Therefore, in the same TAG, the TA effective time of the terminal equipment is consistent, and the uplink timing synchronization between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be ensured.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method for determining a TA validation time according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 500 includes:

s510, the terminal device determines a first subcarrier interval from M subcarrier intervals, wherein the M subcarrier intervals are subcarrier intervals corresponding to L carriers used by the terminal device, and L is greater than or equal to M and greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, the first subcarrier spacing is a smallest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings; or the first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings.

It should be understood that the first subcarrier spacing may be determined by one or more of a maximum value/a minimum value of all uplink subcarrier spacings, or a maximum value/a minimum value of all active bandwidth parts (BWPs), or a maximum value/a minimum value of a plurality of BWPs configured by the terminal device, or a maximum value/a minimum value of all BWPs. The subcarrier spacing may also be fixed according to a fixed value, for example, for a low frequency (an operating frequency is less than or equal to 6GHz), the bit may be fixed to 15KHz, and the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited to this.

In this embodiment, a terminal device is taken as an example for explanation, and it is assumed that a network device configures L uplink carrier resources for a terminal device # a, where each carrier resource in the L uplink carrier resources has a subcarrier spacing, that is, the L uplink carrier resources total M subcarrier spacings. Wherein, the subcarrier spacing of two or more uplink carrier resources in the L uplink carrier resources may be the same. At present, different sub-carriers are spaced at 15KHz,30KHz, 60KHz, 120KHz in the carrier resource, and there may be more possibilities later, it being understood that the present application includes but is not limited thereto.

For example, if the network device configures 4 uplink carrier resources for terminal device # a, the 4 uplink carriers may have only one subcarrier interval, for example, the subcarrier interval of each uplink carrier in the 4 uplink carriers is 15 KHz; or the 4 uplink carriers may have two subcarrier intervals, for example, the subcarrier intervals of 1 uplink carrier in the 4 uplink carriers are all 15KHz, and the subcarrier intervals of the other 3 uplink carriers are all 30 KHz; or the 4 uplink carriers may have three subcarrier intervals, for example, the subcarrier interval of 1 uplink carrier in the 4 uplink carriers is 15KHz, the subcarrier interval of 1 uplink carrier is 30KHz, and the subcarrier interval of the other 2 uplink carriers is 60 KHz; or the 4 uplink carriers may have four subcarrier intervals, for example, the subcarrier intervals of 1 uplink carrier in the 4 uplink carriers are all 15KHz, the subcarrier intervals of 1 uplink carrier are all 30KHz, the subcarrier intervals of 1 uplink carrier are all 60KHz, and the subcarrier intervals of the other 1 uplink carriers are all 120 KHz. The above list is only one possible case, just to illustrate the possible relation between subcarrier spacing and carrier resources, it being understood that the present application includes but is not limited to this.

As can be seen from the above list, the relationship between L and M may be that the number of carrier resources L is greater than or equal to the number of subcarrier spacings M, where L ≧ M ≧ 2 is limited, mainly because when the network device configures 1 carrier resource for the terminal device, the 1 carrier resource necessarily has only 1 subcarrier spacing, for example, 15KHz subcarrier spacing. At this time, in the calculation process of the first time interval, N₁、N₂、TA_maxAll the sub-carrier spacing of 15KHz is determined according to table 1, table 2 and table 3, respectively, so that the problem of inconsistent TA effective time of different uplink carriers does not occur, and therefore M in the present application may be a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

Optionally, when calculating the first time interval N according to the number of subcarrier intervals, the subcarrier interval of the carrier resource of the downlink signal is referred to.

Optionally, when referring to the maximum subcarrier spacing, for a small subcarrier spacing, the first time interval cannot achieve an integer number of slots, and rounding-up operation needs to be performed on the first time interval. And the rounding operation represents that a numerical value which is larger than the original first time interval and is the minimum integral multiple of the time slot duration corresponding to the minimum subcarrier interval is selected. For example, the first time interval determined according to the above method is 2.5ms, and includes 2 carriers (15KHz and 30KHz), and since 2.5ms is not an integer multiple of the time slot corresponding to the 15KHz subcarrier interval, it is necessary to first round the first time interval 2.5ms up according to the step size of 15KHz, that is, 3 ms. 3ms corresponds to 3 slots (15KHz) and 6 slots (30KHz), respectively. Thus, a new TA is applied from the 4 th slot for a subcarrier spacing of 15KHz, and from 7 slots for a subcarrier spacing of 30 KHz.

In particular, in respect of N₁In the determination of (1), μ ═ min (μ)_DL,μ_UL) In which μ_DLSubcarrier spacing, μ, corresponding to PDSCH_ULA sub-carrier spacing corresponding to an uplink transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK). In the case of N₂In the determination of (1), μ ═ min (μ)_DL,μ_UL) In which μ_DLMay be a subcarrier spacing, mu, corresponding to a PDCCH for scheduling PUSCH in downlink_ULA subcarrier spacing corresponding to uplink transmission of PUSCH. In the case of TA_maxIn the course of the determination of (3),μ in corresponds to the subcarrier spacing of the uplink PUSCH. It should be understood that the downlink carrier resources DL, which are collectively referred to as PDCCH or PDSCH, generally correspond to only one subcarrier interval, and the present application includes but is not limited thereto.

For example, when the subcarrier spacing of the downlink DL is 15KHz, the subcarrier spacing of the uplink carrier is 30KHz, and μ ═ min (μ ═ min)_DL,μ_UL)＝min(15KHz,30KHz)＝15KHz。

In S510, the terminal device determines a first subcarrier interval from M subcarrier intervals, and the specific method for determining the first subcarrier interval includes the following steps:

situation one

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂The subcarrier spacing of the smallest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, N is calculated₁、N₂In time, the standard is 15 KHz.

Situation two

Situation three

Situation four

Situation five

Situation six

Situation seven

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂Reference minimum uplink carrier subcarrier spacing, TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the largest uplink carrier is referred to.

Situation eight

Situation nine

Situation ten

For the L uplink carriers and the T random access process message 3(Msg3) subcarrier intervals, N1 and N2 refer to the subcarrier of the smallest uplink carrierInterval, TA_maxThe largest/smallest subcarrier spacing in the reference, namely: μ ═ min (max (Msg3 SCS), UL SCS) or μ ═ min (min (Msg3 SCS), UL SCS).

Optionally, the above-mentioned L uplink carrier subcarrier intervals UL SCS may also be SCS of bandwidth portions in all active states, or subcarrier intervals of multiple BWPs configured by the terminal device, or subcarrier intervals of all BWPs.

It should be understood that, during the random access procedure, the subcarrier spacing of the uplink carrier resource for transmitting Msg3 may be 15KHz, and after the random access procedure is completed, the subcarrier spacing for transmitting uplink resource may be reconfigured, for example, the subcarrier spacing of the allocated carrier resource may be 30KHz or 60KHz, and thus, in order to take the effect of random access into consideration, here, TA is used_maxIn the determination of (3), the influence of the Msg3 subcarrier spacing is considered. Meanwhile, since multiple uplink carriers may all correspond to the random access resource, each uplink carrier may correspond to different message 3 subcarrier intervals, for example, when the UE configures an uplink UL carrier and a Supplemental Uplink (SUL) carrier, the message 3 may have 2 subcarrier intervals, for example, 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively. Therefore, in TA_maxThe influence of the spacing of the multiple Msg3 subcarriers is also taken into account in the determination of (3).

Ten kinds are listed abovePossible N₁、N₂、TA_maxWith reference to the first subcarrier spacing, it is to be understood that the above is by way of example and not limitation, and that there may be more references to N in various determinations of the first subcarrier spacing₁、N₂、TA_maxIncluding but not limited to the combination of the first subcarrier spacing referenced herein.

In summary, the method for determining the first subcarrier spacing provided in the embodiment of the present application aims to ensure that, for the same terminal device UE, the time interval N is consistent when the terminal device UE includes multiple uplink carrier subcarrier spacings. Therefore, in the same TAG, the TA effective time of the terminal equipment is consistent, and the uplink timing synchronization between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be ensured.

And S520, the terminal equipment determines the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first subcarrier interval.

Through the method of S510, the terminal device determines the first subcarrier interval, and can further determine the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier.

Optionally, the terminal device determines the first time length N according to the first subcarrier interval₁The first time length is the time length required for processing the downlink signal; and/or determining a second duration N according to the first subcarrier spacing₂The second time length is the time length required for preparing an uplink signal; and/or determining a third time length TA according to the first subcarrier interval_maxThe third time length is the maximum time length allowed to be indicated by the 12-bit timing advance command TAC under the corresponding first subcarrier interval; the terminal equipment is according to the first time length N₁A second duration N₂And a third duration TA_maxOne or more durations, determining the first time interval. It should be understood that 12 bits is only an example and not a limitation, and other possible values less than 12 bits, such as 6 bits, may be used.

Optionally, the first time interval further includes a fourth duration, where the fourth duration is a duration determined by the terminal device according to the cell reuse mode; and/or the fourth time duration is a time duration determined by the terminal device according to the frequency range in which the terminal device or the network device operates. For example, the fourth time duration may be a time duration for the terminal device to switch in different operating modes or operating frequency bands. For the fourth time length, refer to the related description above, and will not be described herein again. It should be understood that the time duration required for processing the downlink signal is related to the downlink signal configuration, such as the demodulation reference signal configuration, and/or the downlink signal subcarrier spacing, and/or the UE processing capability. It should be understood that the time duration required for preparing the uplink signal is related to the uplink signal subcarrier spacing, and/or the UE processing capability.

It should be understood that the process for determining the first time interval, root, recited hereinAccording to the formula (1), N can be determined separately₁、N₂、L₂、TA_maxAre summed to obtain a first time interval N. The embodiment of the application can also determine only N₁、N₂、L₂、TA_maxMay only need to determine at least one of the durations during the development of the technology, the first time interval N may be obtained by a certain relationship. Here, where N is determined by the methods provided herein₁、N₂、L₂、TA_maxAny method for one or more of these durations is within the scope of the present application.

Specifically, examples of determining the first time interval N corresponding to the aforementioned ten cases are listed as follows.

Situation one

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂The subcarrier spacing of the smallest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, N is calculated₁、N₂When the standard is 15KHz, N₁＝13symbol，N₂＝10symbol。

Situation two

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂The subcarrier spacing of the largest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, N is calculated₁、N₂When the measured voltage is 30KHz, N₁＝13symbol，N₂＝12symbol。

Situation three

For the L uplink carriers, the TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the smallest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, TA is calculated_maxIn time, TA is based on 15KHz_max＝2ms。

Situation four

For the L uplink carriers, the TA_maxReferring to subcarriers of a largest uplink carrierThe wave spacing. For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, TA is calculated_maxIn time, TA is based on 30KHz_max＝1ms。

Situation five

For the L uplink carriers, the N₁、N₂、TA_maxThe subcarrier spacing of the smallest uplink carrier is referred to. For example, the UE configures 2 uplink carriers, and the subcarrier intervals are 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, and then the time interval is calculated based on 15 KHz. For the uplink carrier with the uplink sub-carrier interval of 15KHz and 30KHz, the first time interval N equals ceil (N)₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max)＝ceil(13symbol+10symbol+0.5ms+2ms)＝ceil(58symbol)＝5ms。

Situation six

For the L uplink carriers, the N₁、N₂、TA_maxThe maximum uplink subcarrier spacing is referenced. For example, the UE configures 2 uplink carriers, and the subcarrier intervals are 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, and then the time interval is calculated based on 30 KHz. For the uplink carrier with the uplink sub-carrier interval of 15KHz and 30KHz, the first time interval N equals ceil (N)₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max)＝ceil(13symbol+12symbol+0.5ms+1ms)＝ceil(67symbol)＝2.5ms。

Situation seven

For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, N is calculated as the time interval₁、N₂TA at 15KHz_maxSubject to 30 KHz. For uplink carriers with uplink subcarrier spacing of 15Khz and 30Khz, the first time interval N equals ceil (N)₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max)＝ceil(13symbol+10symbol+0.5ms+1ms)＝ceil(44symbol)＝4ms。

Situation eight

For example, if the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively, N is calculated as the time interval₁、N₂TA at 30KHz_maxSubject to 15 KHz. For uplink carriers of 15Khz and 30Khz, the first time interval N equals ceil (N)₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max)＝ceil(13symbol+12symbol+0.5ms+2ms)＝ceil(60symbol)＝5ms。

Situation nine

For the L uplink carriers, N₁、N₂Reference minimum uplink carrier subcarrier spacing, TA_maxThe smallest subcarrier spacing in the reference uplink carrier and the subcarrier spacing of the carrier resource used for transmitting Msg3, namely: μ ═ min (Msg3SCS, UL SCS).

Situation ten

For the L uplink carriers and the M random access process message 3(Msg3) subcarrier intervals, N1 and N2 refer to the minimum subcarrier interval, TA_maxThe largest/smallest subcarrier spacing in the reference, namely: μ ═ min (max (Msg3 SCS), ULSCS) or μ ═ min (min (Msg3 SCS), UL SCS).

For example, the base station configures random access resources on the UL carrier and the SUL carrier, and if the subcarrier interval of the message 3 is 15KHz or 30KHz, respectively, the TA is_maxThe corresponding μ references a minimum of 15KHz or μ references a maximum of 30 KHz.

Optionally, the above-mentioned L uplink subcarrier intervals UL SCS may also be SCS of bandwidth portions in all active states, or subcarrier intervals of multiple BWPs configured by the terminal device, or subcarrier intervals of all BWPs.

It should be understood that the subcarrier spacing for transmitting the uplink carrier resource of Msg3 may be 15KHz during the random access procedure, and the subcarrier spacing for transmitting the uplink resource may be reconfigured, e.g., allocated carrier, after the random access procedure is completedThe subcarrier spacing of the resource may be 30KHz or 60KHz, and thus, in order to take into account the effect of random access, here TA is used_maxIn the determination of (3), the influence of the Msg3 subcarrier spacing is considered. Meanwhile, since multiple uplink carriers may all correspond to the random access resource, each uplink carrier may correspond to a different message 3 subcarrier spacing, for example, when the UE configures an uplink UL carrier and a SUL carrier, the message 3 may have 2 subcarrier spacings, for example, 15KHz and 30KHz, respectively. Therefore, in TA_maxThe influence of the spacing of the multiple Msg3 subcarriers is also taken into account in the determination of (3).

For example, the uplink carrier subcarrier spacing used by the UE is different from Msg3, and TA is used to support the maximum coverage_maxThe minimum value among Msg3 and the subcarrier spacing SCS of the configured uplink carriers should be taken. For example, the UE configures 2 uplink carriers with subcarrier spacing of 60KHz and 30KHz, and during the random access process, the subcarrier spacing SCS of the carrier resource for transmitting Msg3 is 15KHz, and when calculating the time interval, N is used for calculating the time interval₁、N₂TA at 30KHz_maxSubject to 15 KHz. When the subcarrier spacing SCS of the downlink DL is 15KHz, the first time interval N is ceil (N) for the uplink carriers of 30KHz and 60KHz₁+N₂+L₂+TA_max)＝ceil(13symbol+12symbol+0.5ms+2ms)＝ceil(60symbol)＝5ms。

Ten cases where the first time interval may be determined according to the first subcarrier interval are listed above, and it should be understood that the above cases are only examples and are not limiting, and the present application includes but is not limited thereto.

Optionally, in another possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines a first mapping relationship, where the first mapping relationship includes a one-to-one mapping relationship between multiple types of subcarrier intervals and multiple durations; the terminal equipment determines a first time interval corresponding to the first subcarrier interval according to the first mapping relation; and determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval.

Specifically, the terminal device obtains the subcarrier intervals of all uplink carriers in a TAG according to the configuration of the network device; and then receiving the MAC-CE which is sent by the network equipment and contains the TA adjusting command, determining the TA effective moment, and then applying the new TA contained in the MAC-CE.

And after the terminal receives the MAC-CE comprising the TA adjusting command, determining a first time interval according to the minimum or maximum uplink subcarrier interval in the same TAG. For example, the terminal device may determine the first time interval according to a preset function in table 6.

TABLE 6

Subcarrier spacing (unit: KHz)	First time interval (unit: ms)
		15	6+n
30	3+0.5n
		60	2.25+0.25n
120	1.5+0.125n

Wherein, the integer n can be { -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 }.

Alternatively, the first time interval N may be represented by the equivalent number of slots as the first time interval in table 4, as shown in table 7.

TABLE 7

Subcarrier spacing (unit: KHz)	Effective time interval (unit: time slots)
		15	6+n
30	6+n
		60	9+n
120	12+n

Wherein the set of values for integer n is { -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 }.

The UE may send uplink data according to the method shown in fig. 3, for example, the UE may determine the downlink radio frame i according to the received downlink radio frame i-1, and determine the downlink radio frame i according to the timing advance T_TADetermining the starting time of an uplink wireless frame i as T₀-T_TAWherein, T₀The starting time of the downlink radio frame i is received by the UE. And the UE determines the starting time of the uplink wireless frame i, namely the time for sending the uplink information. For UE transmitting uplink informationThe time may be a fraction of the time in the uplink radio frame.

The method for determining TA effective time provided by the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 2 to 5. It is understood that the terminal device includes hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions in order to implement the functions. The communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 6 to 8. Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 600 may correspond to (e.g., may be configured with or be itself) the terminal device described in the method 500. Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the terminal device according to the above-described embodiment, in the case of an integrated unit. The terminal device 600 includes: a determining unit 610 and a transmitting unit 620.

In one possible design, the communication device 600 may be a terminal device or a chip configured in the terminal device.

A determining unit 610, configured to determine a first subcarrier spacing from M subcarrier spacings, where the M subcarrier spacings are subcarrier spacings corresponding to L carriers used by the terminal device, and L ≧ M ≧ 2.

The determining unit 610 is further configured to determine, according to the first subcarrier spacing, an effective time of a timing advance TA of each carrier of the L carriers.

Optionally, the determining unit 610 is further configured to determine, according to the first subcarrier interval, a first time interval corresponding to a first carrier in the L carriers, where the first time interval is a time interval between a receiving time of a downlink signal and an effective time of a TA; and determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval.

Optionally, the determining unit 610 is further configured to determine a first duration according to the first subcarrier interval, where the first duration is a duration required for processing a downlink signal; and/or determining a second time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the second time length is the time length required by preparing an uplink signal; and/or determining a third time length according to the first subcarrier interval, wherein the third time length is the maximum time length allowed to be indicated by the 12-bit timing advance command TAC under the corresponding first subcarrier interval; the determining unit 610 determines the first time interval according to one or more of the first time duration, the second time duration and the third time duration.

Optionally, the first time interval further includes a fourth duration, where the fourth duration is a duration determined by the terminal device according to the cell reuse mode; and/or the fourth time duration is a time duration determined by the terminal device according to the frequency range in which the terminal device or the network device operates. For example, the fourth duration is a duration for the terminal device to switch in different operating modes or operating frequency bands. For the fourth time length, refer to the related description above, and will not be described herein again.

Optionally, the determining unit 610 is further configured to determine a first mapping relationship, where the first mapping relationship includes a one-to-one mapping relationship between multiple subcarrier intervals and multiple durations; determining a first time interval corresponding to the first subcarrier interval according to the first mapping relation; and determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in the L carriers according to the first time interval.

Optionally, the first subcarrier spacing is a smallest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings; or the first subcarrier spacing is a largest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings.

It should be understood that the first subcarrier spacing may be determined by one or more of a maximum value/a minimum value of all uplink subcarrier spacings, or a maximum value/a minimum value of all active BWPs, or a maximum value/a minimum value of a plurality of BWPs configured by the terminal device, or a maximum value/a minimum value of all BWPs. Alternatively, the subcarrier spacing may be fixed, for example, at a low frequency (operating frequency of 6GHz or less), 15KHz may be fixed.

Optionally, the apparatus 600 further includes a sending unit 620, configured to send uplink information according to the timing advance TA.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus 600 may correspond to the terminal device in the communication method 200 and the terminal device in the communication method 500 according to the embodiment of the present application, and the communication apparatus 600 may include modules for performing the methods performed by the terminal devices in the communication method 200 and the communication method 500 in fig. 2. Moreover, each module and the other operations and/or functions in the communication apparatus 600 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows in the communication method 200 and the communication method 500 in fig. 2, and are not described herein again for brevity.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the terminal device 700 includes a processor 710 and a transceiver 720. Optionally, the terminal device 700 further comprises a memory 730. The processor 710, the transceiver 720 and the memory 730 communicate with each other via the internal connection path to transmit control and/or data signals, the memory 730 is used for storing a computer program, and the processor 710 is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory 730 to control the transceiver 720 to transmit and receive signals.

The processor 710 and the memory 730 may be combined into a single processing device, and the processor 710 may be configured to execute the program codes stored in the memory 730 to implement the functions described above. In particular implementations, the memory 730 may be integrated with the processor 710 or may be separate from the processor 710.

The terminal device may further include an antenna 740, configured to send the downlink data or the downlink control signaling output by the transceiver 720 through a wireless signal.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the terminal apparatus 800 includes: a processor 801 and a transceiver 802, and optionally the terminal device 800 further comprises a memory 803. Wherein, the processor 801, the transceiver 802 and the memory 803 are communicated with each other via the internal connection path to transmit control and/or data signals, the memory 803 is used for storing a computer program, and the processor 801 is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory 803 to control the transceiver 802 to transmit and receive signals.

The processor 801 and the memory 803 may be combined into a processing device 804, and the processor 801 may be configured to execute the program code stored in the memory 803 to implement the functions described above. In particular implementations, the memory 803 may also be integrated with the processor 801 or may be separate from the processor 801. The terminal device 800 may further include an antenna 810 for transmitting the uplink data or the uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 802 through a wireless signal.

Specifically, the terminal device 800 may correspond to the terminal device in the communication method 200 and the communication method 500 according to the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device 800 may include modules for executing the method executed by the terminal device in the communication method 200 in fig. 2, and each module and the other operations and/or functions described above in the terminal device 800 are respectively for implementing corresponding flows of the communication method 200 and the communication method 500 in fig. 2. For brevity, no further description is provided herein.

The processor 801 described above may be used to perform the actions described in the previous method embodiments that are implemented internally by the terminal device, while the transceiver 802 may be used to perform the actions described in the previous method embodiments that the terminal device receives or transmits. Please refer to the description of the previous embodiment of the method, which is not repeated herein.

The processor 801 and the memory 803 may be integrated into one processing device, and the processor 801 is configured to execute the program codes stored in the memory 803 to realize the functions. In particular implementations, the memory 803 may also be integrated with the processor 801.

The terminal apparatus 800 may further include a power supply 805 for supplying power to various devices or circuits in the terminal apparatus.

In addition, in order to further improve the functions of the terminal device, the terminal device 800 may further include one or more of an input unit 814, a display unit 816, an audio circuit 818, a camera 820, a sensor 822, and the like, which may further include a speaker 882, a microphone 884, and the like.

It should be understood that the terminal devices in the above-mentioned respective apparatus embodiments and the terminal devices in the method embodiments completely correspond, and the corresponding steps are executed by corresponding modules or units, for example, the transmitting module (transmitter) executes the steps transmitted in the method embodiments, the receiving module (receiver) executes the steps received in the method embodiments, and other steps except for transmitting and receiving may be executed by a processing module (processor). The functionality of the specific modules may be referred to in the respective method embodiments. The transmitting module and the receiving module can form a transceiving module, and the transmitter and the receiver can form a transceiver to realize transceiving function together; the processor may be one or more.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

determining the effective time of the timing advance TA of each carrier in L uplink carriers of the terminal equipment according to the first time interval; l is a positive integer, and the first time interval is the time interval between the receiving time of the downlink signal and the effective time of the timing advance TA;

the first time interval is determined by a third time length, and the third time length is the maximum time length allowed to be indicated by a 12-bit or 6-bit timing advance command TAC under the corresponding second subcarrier interval;

the second subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing of the third subcarrier spacing and the fourth subcarrier spacing;

the third subcarrier spacing comprises subcarrier spacing corresponding to the L uplink carriers;

the fourth subcarrier interval is a subcarrier interval at which the terminal device transmits a message 3.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first time interval is further determined by one or more of a first duration and a second duration, and wherein the first duration and the second duration are both determined by a first subcarrier spacing, and wherein:

the first time length is the time length required for processing downlink signals;

the second time period is a time period required for preparing an uplink signal.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

and determining the first time interval corresponding to the first subcarrier interval according to a first mapping relation, wherein the first mapping relation comprises the mapping relation between various subcarrier intervals and various time lengths.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first subcarrier spacing is a smallest subcarrier spacing of the M subcarrier spacings; or

The first subcarrier spacing is a largest subcarrier spacing among the M subcarrier spacings.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first subcarrier spacing is one of subcarrier spacings corresponding to the L uplink carriers, or one of subcarrier spacings corresponding to downlink carriers of the terminal device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:

and sending uplink information according to the TA.

7. A method according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the TA validation time is applicable to the same timing advance group TAG.

8. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the TA validation time is TA validation timeslot.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the L uplink carriers is a subcarrier spacing of a plurality of bandwidth parts BWP configured by the terminal device on the L uplink carriers.

10. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a determining unit, configured to determine, according to the first time interval, an effective time of a timing advance TA of each carrier in L uplink carriers of the terminal device; l is a positive integer, and the first time interval is the time interval between the receiving time of the downlink signal and the effective time of the timing advance TA;

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the determining unit is further configured to:

determining the first time interval according to one or more of a first time duration and a second time duration, and both the first time duration and the second time duration are determined by a first subcarrier spacing, wherein:

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the determining unit is further configured to:

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first subcarrier spacing is a smallest subcarrier spacing of M subcarrier spacings; or

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the first subcarrier spacing is one of subcarrier spacings corresponding to the L uplink carriers, or one of subcarrier spacings corresponding to a downlink carrier of the terminal device.

15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10-13, further comprising:

and the sending unit is used for sending the uplink information according to the TA.

16. The apparatus according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the TA validation time is applicable to the same timing advance group TAG.

17. The apparatus according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the TA validation time is TA validation slot.

18. The apparatus according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the L uplink carriers is a subcarrier spacing of a plurality of bandwidth parts BWP configured by the terminal device on the L uplink carriers.

19. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a processor, coupled to the memory, for executing the computer program or instructions in the memory to implement the method of any of claims 1 to 9.

20. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 9 when the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer.

21. A communications apparatus, comprising: a processor and a memory;

the memory is for storing a computer program or instructions;

the processor is for executing a computer program or instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.