CN110474751B

CN110474751B - Method and apparatus for indicating control channel

Info

Publication number: CN110474751B
Application number: CN201810557723.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 施弘哲; 葛士斌; 毕晓艳
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-05-11
Filing date: 2018-06-01
Publication date: 2021-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 2038-06-01
Also published as: CN110474751A

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for indicating a control channel, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a network device sends information used for indicating N control resource sets (CORESET) and M transmission configuration indication states (TCI states) corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs to a terminal device, wherein the M TCI states are in one-to-one association with M search space sets, each search space set comprises one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used for the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, the TCI states are used for the terminal device to determine quasi co-location (QCL) information of the control channel, N is an integer larger than or equal to 1, and M is an integer larger than or equal to 2. By configuring one CORESET corresponding to a plurality of TCI states, the flexibility of resource scheduling can be effectively improved.

Description

Method and apparatus for indicating control channel

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for indicating a control channel.

Background

In a fifth generation communication (new radio, NR) system, downlink control information is carried on a downlink control channel (PDCCH), and a base station allocates a certain time-frequency resource for transmitting the PDCCH. In NR, the PDCCH may be configured to associate one or more control resource sets (core sets) and one or more Search Spaces (SSs). CORESET is used for defining the frequency domain resource position of the PDCCH and the occupied time domain OFDM symbol length; the SS is used to define time domain location information of the PDCCH. Each terminal device can configure at most 3 CORESET and 10 SS on the same bandwidth part (BWP). Through each pair of the CORESET and the SS, the terminal equipment can determine the time-frequency resource of the PDCCH, the base station can send and receive the PDCCH on the time-frequency resource, and the terminal needs to detect the PDCCH on the time-frequency resource.

Before sending a PDCCH to a terminal device, a base station first notifies the terminal device of a core set and Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state (TCI state) information, so that the terminal device knows a time-frequency resource and a TCI state required for receiving the PDCCH.

The scheme of notifying the terminal device of the CORESET and the TCI state specified in the current protocol may cause a great limitation to the flexibility of downlink control resource scheduling in a scenario where a plurality of TCI states need to be issued to the terminal device.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for indicating a control channel, which can effectively improve the flexibility of resource scheduling.

In a first aspect, a method for indicating a control channel is provided, the method comprising: the method comprises the steps that a network device sends information used for indicating N control resource sets (CORESET) and M transmission configuration indication states (TCI state) corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs to a terminal device, wherein the M TCI states are in one-to-one association with M search space groups, each search space group comprises one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used for the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, and the TCI states are used for the terminal device to determine quasi co-location QCL information of the control channel; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

Therefore, according to the scheme provided by the application, one control resource set (CORESET) is configured to correspond to M transmission configuration indication states (TCI states), so that the number of TCI states is no longer limited by the number of CORESET, and the scheme provided by the application is suitable for CoMP or other multi-station communication cooperation scenarios, and further the flexibility of resource scheduling can be improved to a certain extent.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the terminal equipment acquires time-frequency resources and QCL information for receiving a downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to information which is received from the network equipment and used for indicating the N CORESETs and M TCI states corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs. It should be understood that this step may be performed or not depending on the actual requirements.

Optionally, the CORESET in this application is a user-specific CORESET.

Different TCI states have different associated sets of search spaces. The different search space groups or the different search spaces included in the different search space groups referred to herein means that the same search space is not included or associated with any two of the M search space groups at the same time.

In the scheme provided by the application, any two search space groups in the M search space groups associated with the M TCI states do not include or are associated with the same search space at the same time, so that time-frequency resources corresponding to different TCI states are not overlapped in a time domain, and thus interference can be avoided.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the sending, by the network device, information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each core eset of the N core esets to the terminal device includes: the network device sends a first MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, where the first MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N core esets.

Optionally, the first MAC-CE signaling is user-Specific MAC-CE signaling, i.e., UE-Specific MAC-CE signaling.

The scheme provided by the application can realize that the network equipment indicates a plurality of TCI states to the terminal equipment through one MAC-CE signaling.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the sending, by the network device, information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each core eset of the N core esets to the terminal device includes: for the jth core set of the N core sets, where j traverses 1, …, N, the network device sends, to the terminal device, information indicating the jth core set and M TCI states corresponding to the jth core set through M second MAC CE signaling, where each second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the jth core set, an ith second MAC CE signaling of the M second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating an ith TCI state of the M TCI states corresponding to the jth core set, and i is 1, …, M.

It is to be understood that for ease of understanding and description, some embodiments herein describe the processing of each of the N CORESETs with one CORESET as an example. The method described herein for one CORESET is applicable to each of the N CORESETs, and the corresponding solutions fall within the scope of the present application.

The scheme provided by the application can realize that the network equipment indicates a plurality of TCI states to the terminal equipment through a plurality of MAC-CE signaling.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the M second MAC CE signalings belong to different MAC-CE entities.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a network device designs a plurality of different MAC-CE signaling, where the number of TCI states that may be indicated by the different MAC-CE signaling is different, where the network device sends, to a terminal device, information indicating one control resource set, CORESET, and M transmission configuration indication states, the information including: and selecting MAC-CE signaling capable of indicating M TCI states from the plurality of MAC-CE signaling to transmit the information for indicating one control resource set (CORESET) and M transmission configuration indication states (TCI states).

According to the scheme provided by the application, a plurality of MAC-CE signaling capable of indicating different numbers of TCI states are designed, so that the number of TCI states needing to be indicated can be selected flexibly to transmit the corresponding MAC-CE signaling.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the association relationships between the M TCI states and the M search space groups are preconfigured; or the association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is predefined.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the M search space groups are different search space groups in a same PDCCH-configuration IE; or the M search space groups are search space groups in different PDCCH-config IEs.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first MAC CE signaling further includes M bitmaps, an ith bitmap in the M bitmaps is used to indicate a search space included in an ith search space group in the M search space groups, and i is 1, …, M.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, search spaces included in different search space groups of the M search space groups are different.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the network device obtains the capability that the terminal device has to use Y receiving beams to receive simultaneously by measuring the receiving capability of the terminal device or receiving the receiving capability reported by the terminal device, wherein Y is a positive integer.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, Y is an integer greater than or equal to 2, when M is greater than Y, any Z search space groups in the M search space groups include the same search space, and Z is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to Y.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, when M is greater than Y, search spaces with the same time-domain location information are not included in the M search space groups, where the time-domain location information includes at least one of the following: period, slot position and starting symbol position.

In a second aspect, a method for indicating a control channel is provided, the method comprising: the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives information used for indicating N control resource sets (CORESET) and M transmission configuration indication states (TCI state) corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs from a network device, wherein the M TCI states are in one-to-one association with M search space groups, each search space group comprises one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used for the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, and the TCI states are used for the terminal device to determine quasi co-location QCL information of the control channel; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the receiving, by the terminal device, information indicating the N core sets and M TCI states corresponding to each core set in the N core sets from the network device includes: the terminal device receives a first MAC CE signaling from the network device, where the first MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N core esets.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the receiving, by the terminal device, information indicating the N core sets and M TCI states corresponding to each core set in the N core sets from the network device includes: for the jth core set of the N core sets, where j traverses 1, …, N, the terminal device receives M second MAC CE signaling from the network device, where each of the second MAC CE signaling carries information for indicating the jth core set, and an ith second MAC CE signaling of the M second MAC CE signaling carries information for indicating an ith TCI state of the M TCI states corresponding to the jth core set, where i is 1, …, M.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the M second MAC CE signalings belong to different MAC-CE entities.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the association relationship between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is preconfigured; or the association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is predefined.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the M search space groups are different search space groups in the same physical downlink control channel configuration information element (PDCCH-config IE); or

The M search space groups are search space groups in different PDCCH-config IEs.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first MAC CE signaling further includes M bitmaps, an ith bitmap in the M bitmaps is used to indicate a search space included in an ith search space group in the M search space groups, and i is 1, …, M.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the search spaces included in different search space groups of the M search space groups are different.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the terminal device has a capability of receiving using Y receive beams simultaneously, where Y is a positive integer.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, Y is an integer greater than or equal to 2, when M is greater than Y, any Z search space groups in the M search space groups include the same search space, and Z is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to Y.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, when M is greater than Y, search spaces with the same time-domain location information are not included in the M search space groups. Optionally, the time domain location information includes at least one of: period, slot position and starting symbol position.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, when M is greater than Y, the M search space groups include search spaces having the same time-domain location information. Optionally, the time domain location information includes at least one of: period, slot position and starting symbol position; the method further comprises the following steps: and the terminal equipment selects TCI state associated with no more than Y search space groups from the M search space groups to monitor the PDCCH.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the terminal device sends the receiving capability of the terminal device to the network device, so that the network device obtains the capability that the terminal device has to receive using the Y receiving beams simultaneously.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device is configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. Optionally, the communication device may comprise means for performing the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which is configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. Optionally, the communication device may comprise means for performing the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which comprises a memory for storing instructions and a processor for executing the instructions stored by the memory, and the execution of the instructions stored in the memory causes the processor to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a memory for storing instructions and a processor for executing the instructions stored by the memory, and execution of the instructions stored in the memory causes the processor to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect

In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, where the chip includes a processing module and a communication interface, where the processing module is configured to control the communication interface to communicate with the outside, and the processing module is further configured to implement the first aspect or the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a chip is provided, where the chip includes a processing module and a communication interface, where the processing module is configured to control the communication interface to communicate with the outside, and the processing module is further configured to implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to carry out the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

A tenth aspect provides a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to carry out the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the relationship between a control resource set (CORESET), a Search Space (Search Space), and time-frequency resources.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a coordinated multipoint (CoMP) scenario.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic flow chart of a method of indicating a control channel according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a signaling format of MAC-CE signaling according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of another signaling format of MAC-CE signaling according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a configuration control resource set (CORESET), a transmission configuration indication state (TCI state), and a Search Space (Search Space) in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of yet another signaling format of MAC-CE signaling according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic block diagram of a terminal device provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of a network device provided according to an embodiment of the application.

Detailed Description

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

To facilitate an understanding of the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, several concepts are first introduced below.

(1) Control Resource Set (CORESET) and Search Space (SS).

CORESET may indicate the frequency domain resource location of the control channel and the symbol length occupied in the time domain. The symbol may be an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

The search space may indicate time domain location information of the control channel.

Exemplarily, as shown in fig. 1, CORESET defines a frequency domain resource location of a resource block and a symbol length occupied by the resource block in a time domain. The search space defines the location of the resource block in the time domain, i.e., the search space defines the period, slot position and starting symbol position of the resource block in the time domain. As can be seen from the above, the core defines the time-frequency size of a resource block; the CORESER and the search space together define the time-frequency information of the occurrence of the resource block.

It should be noted that the time domain information and the frequency domain information of the resource block defined by the CORESET and the search space together are the time domain information and the frequency domain information of the resource occupied by the control channel.

The Control Channel referred to herein refers to a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

(2) The configuration indication status (TCI state) is transmitted.

TCI is used to indicate a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between two reference signals (a target reference signal and a referenced reference signal). The target reference signal is typically a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and the reference signal may be a Channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) and an SSB (SS/PBCH block) formed by a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) together.

A TCI state (TCI state) may contain one or two referenced reference signals, and an associated QCL type (QCL type). QCL types can be classified into four categories, Type-a QCL, Type-B QCL, Type-C QCL, Type-D QCL, which are different combinations or selections of Doppler shift (Doppler shift), Doppler spread (Doppler spread), average delay time (average delay), delay spread (delay spread), and Spatial Rx beam parameters (Spatial Rx parameter), respectively. Wherein, Type-D QCL represents Spatial Rx beam parameter (Spatial Rx parameter). In terms of beam management, the most directly relevant is that the QCL class is Type-D QCL, i.e. spatial Rx parameter. That is, the pairing relationship between the transmit beam of the base station and the receive beam of the terminal device is indicated by configuring a Type-D QCL of the QCL Type in the TCI state.

(3) A transmit beam and a receive beam.

In NR, to combat path loss in high frequency scenarios, the base station uses a larger transmit antenna array, using analog beamforming to obtain the array gain. Data channels, control channels, and even synchronization and broadcast signals may be transmitted on a beam basis. Before the base station and the terminal device perform data transmission based on beams, matching between a transmission beam of the base station and a possible reception beam of the terminal device (BPL) is already completed through beam training. When actually performing data transmission, the base station needs to instruct the terminal device to receive data using the corresponding receiving beam.

The pairing relationship between the transmit beam of the base station and the receive beam of the terminal device is indicated by configuring a Type-D QCL of the QCL Type in the TCI state. Namely, the terminal device can learn the receiving beam for receiving data through the received Type-D QCL in the TCI state.

(4) Coordinated Multiple Point (CoMP) transmission techniques.

CoMP transmission techniques are a method for solving inter-cell interference problems and improving cell edge user throughput. The CoMP transmission technology refers to that a plurality of Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) separated in a geographical location cooperatively participate in data transmission for one terminal device or jointly receive data sent by one terminal device.

Illustratively, fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a typical scenario for CoMP. Two TRPs cooperate with one terminal device for data transmission. The two TRPs may transmit Downlink Control Information (DCI) to the terminal apparatus through respective PDCCHs. Since the two TRPs are located in different directions of the terminal device, the beam pairing relationship between the two TRPs and the terminal device is obviously different, and therefore, the two TRPs should correspond to the TCI states of two different Type-D QCLs.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a base station, and the base station may be configured to communicate with one or more terminal devices, and may also be configured to communicate with one or more base stations having partial terminal functions (for example, communication between a macro base station and a micro base station, such as an access point). The base station may be a base station in a 5G system, an NR system. In addition, a base station may also be an Access Point (AP), a transport point (TRP), a Central Unit (CU), or other network entity, and may include some or all of the functions of the above network entities.

The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be stationary or mobile. The terminal equipment may be a mobile device, a mobile station (mobile station), a mobile unit (mobile unit), an M2M terminal, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a user agent, a mobile client, User Equipment (UE), etc.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method 300 for indicating a control channel according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 300 includes the following steps.

310, a network device sends information indicating N control resource sets (CORESET) and M transmission configuration indication statuses (TCI states) corresponding to each of the N CORESET to a terminal device, wherein the M TCI states are associated with M search space groups in a one-to-one manner, each search space group includes one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used for the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, and the TCI states are used for the terminal device to determine quasi-co-location (QCL) information of the control channel. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives information from the network device, wherein the information is used for indicating the N core sets and M TCI states corresponding to each core set in the N core sets, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

It has been described above that a maximum of 3 CORESET can be configured per end device on the same BWP. Take the example of 3 CORESET (denoted as CORESET #1, CORESET #2, and CORESET #3) as N CORESET in this example. Optionally, as an implementation manner, the network device may issue, to the terminal device, information for indicating the core set #1 and the M TCI states corresponding thereto through the first downlink signaling; and issuing information for indicating CORESET #2 and M TCI states corresponding to the CORESET #2 to the terminal equipment through a second downlink signaling, and issuing information for indicating CORESET #3 and M TCI states corresponding to the CORESET #3 to the terminal equipment through a third downlink signaling. Optionally, as another implementation manner, the network device may issue, to the terminal device through the same downlink signaling, information for indicating the core set #1 and the M TCI states corresponding thereto, the core set #2 and the M TCI states corresponding thereto, and the core set #3 and the M TCI states corresponding thereto. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

For ease of understanding and description, certain embodiments are described below with N CORESETs as an example of a CORESET, e.g., some embodiments herein describe the processing of each of the N CORESETs with one CORESET as an example. The method described herein for one CORESET is applicable to each of the N CORESETs, and the corresponding solutions fall within the scope of the present application.

The information for indicating a CORESET and M TCI states corresponding to the CORESET comprises information for indicating the CORESET and information for indicating the M TCI states respectively.

Optionally, the information indicating a core set may be an identifier of the core set (core set ID) or other information capable of indicating the core set; the information indicating a certain TCI state may be an identification of the TCI state (TCI state ID) or may be other information capable of indicating the TCI state.

CORESET may define the frequency domain resource location of the control channel and the symbol length occupied in the time domain. The search space may define time domain location information for the control channel. The CORESET and the search space together define time-frequency resource information of the control channel. The relationship between the CORESET, the search space and the time-frequency resource is described above with reference to fig. 1, and is not described here again.

The control channel referred to herein refers to PDCCH.

A search space group as referred to in this application refers to a search space set consisting of one or more search spaces. For example, a search space group may be presented in the form of a list of search space identifications formed from identifications of multiple search spaces.

The M TCI states are associated with M search space groups one-to-one, which means that each TCI state of the M TCI states is associated with one search space group.

Optionally, the search space groups associated with different TCI states are different.

The different search space groups or the different search spaces included in the different search space groups referred to herein means that the same search space is not included or associated with any two of the M search space groups at the same time.

It should be understood that, taking the example that the terminal device receives the information indicating one core set and M TCI states from the network device, after the terminal device determines the time-frequency resources and QCL information for receiving a downlink control channel (PDCCH), the terminal device may obtain the QCL information for receiving the control channel based on the M TCI states, for example, obtain M receive beams for receiving the control channel; based on M search space groups and the one associated with the M TCI states

And CORESET, acquiring time-frequency resources for receiving the control channel.

As shown in fig. 3, the method further comprises: and 320, the terminal device obtains the transmission resource and the QCL information for receiving the downlink control channel according to the information received from the network device and used for indicating the N CORESET and the M TCI states corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESET.

It should be appreciated that step 320 may be performed or not depending on actual requirements.

Therefore, according to the scheme of the embodiment of the application, one control resource set (CORESET) is configured to correspond to a plurality of transmission configuration indication states (TCI states), so that the number of the TCI states is no longer limited by the number of the CORESET, and thus the scheme provided by the application is applicable to CoMP or other multi-station communication cooperation scenarios, and the flexibility of resource scheduling can be improved to a certain extent.

In the embodiment of the present application, any two search space groups in the M search space groups associated with the M TCI states do not include or are associated with the same search space at the same time, so that time-frequency resources corresponding to different TCI states do not overlap in a time domain, and thus interference can be avoided.

Alternatively, the CORESET referred to in this application refers to a user-specific CORESET.

It should be understood that in the context of future evolution, the solution provided herein may also be applicable to Common (Common) CORESET.

For example, in step 310, the network device may send, to the terminal device, information indicating the N core sets and M TCI states corresponding to each core et of the N core sets through different downlink signaling formats.

Optionally, in some embodiments, in step 310, the sending, by the network device, information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each core eset of the N core esets to the terminal device includes: the network device sends a first MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, where the first MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N core esets.

Taking N core bits as an example, the first MAC-CE signaling includes a core bit field and M TCI State fields. The CORESET field carries information indicating the CORESET. The M TCI State fields carry information for indicating the M TCI states, respectively, one to one.

Exemplarily, fig. 4 shows a signaling format diagram of the first MAC-CE signaling. In fig. 4, M TCI states are taken as two TCI states as an example. As shown in fig. 4, the first MAC-CE signaling includes one core set field and two TCI state fields. The CORESET field carries an identification of CORESET, such as the CORESET ID shown in FIG. 4. One of the two TCI state fields carries an identification for indicating one TCI state, such as TCI state ID #1 shown in fig. 4, and the other TCI state field carries an identification for indicating the other TCI state, such as TCI state ID #2 shown in fig. 4. As shown in fig. 4, the CORESET field is 2 bits and the TCI state field is 6 bits.

It should be understood that fig. 4 is exemplary only and not limiting. For example, TCI state ID #1 and TCI state ID #2 shown in fig. 4 represent two different TCI state IDs, which are only for distinction and are not limited, for example, when the IDs of two TCI states corresponding to one CORESET are #35 and #42, respectively, then the two TCI state fields shown in fig. 4 carry TCI state ID #35 and TCI state ID #42, respectively.

As shown in fig. 4, the first MAC-CE signaling may further include a field carrying reserved bits, a field carrying serving cell ID, and a field carrying BWP ID. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

It should be understood that in future evolved technologies, this first MAC-CE signaling may also be Common MAC-CE signaling, i.e., Common MAC-CE signaling. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

It should also be understood that FIG. 4 is exemplary only and not limiting. For example, when M TCI states are 3 TCI states, 3 fields for indicating the TCI states are included in the first MAC-CE signaling, accordingly. In addition, the signaling format shown in fig. 5 is also an example, and in practical applications, each field may be adaptively designed according to specific needs.

It should be noted that the first MAC-CE signaling provided according to this embodiment may be applicable to indicate multiple TCI states (e.g., the scenario of cooperative multi-station communication shown in fig. 2), and may also be applicable to indicate one TCI state.

When multiple TCI states need to be indicated, different values are configured for the information carried by the M TCI state fields in the first MAC-CE, as shown in fig. 4. This way can be considered as an implicit way to inform the terminal device that there is more than one DCI to be detected.

When one TCI state needs to be indicated, the same value is configured for the information carried by the M TCI state fields in the first MAC-CE. It can be considered that the terminal device is informed of only one TCI state in an implicit manner. This way can be considered as informing the terminal device that there is only one DCI to be detected in an implicit way.

Optionally, in some embodiments, in step 310, for a jth core set of the N core sets, where j traverses 1, …, N, the network device sends, to the terminal device, information indicating the N core sets and M TCI states corresponding to each core set of the N core sets, including: the network device sends, to the terminal device, information indicating the jth core set and M TCI states corresponding to the jth core set through M second MAC CE signaling, where each of the second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the jth core set, and an ith one of the M second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating an ith TCI state in the M TCI states corresponding to the jth core set, where i is 1, …, and M.

Illustratively, this second MAC-CE signaling is shown in fig. 5. As shown in fig. 5, the second MAC-CE signaling includes a core set field (2 bits) for carrying a core set ID and a TCI state field (6 bits) for carrying a TCI state ID.

As shown in fig. 5, the second MAC-CE signaling further includes a reserved bit (R) field (1 bit), a field (5 bits) for carrying a serving cell ID, and a field (2 bits) for carrying a BWP ID. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the M second MAC CE signaling belongs to different MAC-CE entities.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the M second MAC CE signaling belongs to the same MAC-CE entity.

It should be appreciated that in a single station communication scenario, the network device sends a second MAC-CE signaling to the terminal device as shown in fig. 5. In a multi-station communication scenario, assuming a two-station cooperation scenario as shown in fig. 2, a network device sends two second MAC-CE signalings as shown in fig. 5 to a terminal, where information carried in a TCI state field in the two second MAC-CE signalings is different.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the network device designs a plurality of different MAC-CE signaling, and the number of TCI states that can be indicated by the different MAC-CE signaling is different, wherein step 310 includes: the information for indicating one CORESET and M TCI states is transmitted by selecting MAC-CE signaling which can indicate M TCI states from the plurality of MAC-CE signaling.

For example, the network device designs MAC-CE signaling as shown in fig. 4 and MAC-CE signaling as shown in fig. 5. When a TCI state needs to be sent (e.g., in a single-station communication scenario), the network device sends a CORESET and a TCI state to the terminal device using MAC-CE signaling as shown in fig. 5. When two TCI states need to be sent (for example, in the scenario of two-station cooperative communication shown in fig. 2), the network device sends one CORESET and two TCI states to the terminal device using MAC-CE signaling as shown in fig. 4.

According to the scheme of the embodiment, by designing a plurality of MAC-CE signalings which can indicate different numbers of TCI states, the corresponding MAC-CE signalings can be flexibly selected to be transmitted according to the number of the TCI states which need to be indicated.

It should be understood that fig. 4 and 5 are exemplary only and not limiting. In practical application, the network device may also issue a CORESET and M TCI states corresponding to the CORESET to the terminal device by using other feasible signaling formats.

Some of the above embodiments describe that the network device sends, to the terminal device through MAC-CE signaling, information indicating the N core esets and the M TCI states corresponding to each core eset in the N core esets, and optionally, the network device may also send, to the terminal device through other downlink signaling, information indicating the N core esets and the M TCI states corresponding to each core eset in the N core esets, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this application, the terminal device may be made to know M search space groups associated with M TCI states in multiple ways.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is pre-configured.

Optionally, before step 310, the method 300 further comprises: the network device pre-configures the association relationship between M TCI states and M search space groups corresponding to each CORESET to the terminal device.

For example, the network device notifies the terminal device of the association relationship between M TCI states corresponding to one CORESET and the M search space groups through RRC signaling.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of configuring CORESET, TCI state and search space according to an embodiment of the present application. As an example, the configuration process is as follows:

(1) and configuring a plurality of CORESETs.

For example, the configured plurality of CORESETs are respectively located in a plurality of CORESET ID lists, such as controlresourcesetttoaddmodlist #1, #2, and # 3.

As another example, multiple configured CORESETs are located in the same CORESET ID List, such as the control resource set identification List (CORESET ID List) shown in fig. 6.

(2) A plurality of TCI states are associated for each CORESET of the plurality of CORESETs.

Such as the transmission configuration indication state identification List (TCI state List) shown in fig. 6.

(3) And configuring a plurality of search space groups, wherein each search space group comprises one or more search spaces.

For example, the plurality of search space groups configured are searchSpacesToAddModlist #1- # N.

By way of example and not limitation, search space group #1 and search space group #2 are shown in fig. 6.

(4) And configuring the association relation between CORESET and the search space.

The relationship of the M search spaces associated with any one of the plurality of CORESET to the M search space groups is as follows:

when the number of the associated search spaces is equal to the number of the search space groups, the plurality of search spaces are respectively located in each search space group;

when the number of the associated search spaces is larger than the number of the search space groups, each search space group at least comprises one search space.

For example, 3 CORESET are configured. The 3 CORESET include CORESET #1, CORESET #2, and CORESET # 3. Wherein, CORESET #1 is associated with the search spaces #1, #5, #6, CORESET #2 is associated with the search spaces #2, #3, #7, and CORESET #3 is associated with the search spaces #4, #8, #9, # 10. And, configuring 3 search space groups includes: search space group #1, search space group #2, and search space group 3.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps:

the search space associated with CORESET #1 includes: search space #1 (located in search space group #1), search space #5 (located in search space group #2), and search space #6 (located in search space group # 3).

The search space associated with CORESET #2 includes: search space #2 (located in search space group #1), search space #3 (located in search space group #2), and search space #7 (located in search space group # 3).

The search space associated with CORESET #3 includes: search space #4 (located in search space group #1), search space #8 (located in search space group #2), search space #9 (located in search space group #2), and search space #10 (located in search space group # 3).

As can be seen from the above, the search spaces associated with each of the CORESET #1, CORESET #2, and CORESET #3 are dispersed in the search space group #1, the search space group #2, and the search space group #3, rather than being concentrated in one search space group.

The network device generates a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling according to the configuration content and issues the RRC signaling to the terminal device. It should be understood that the RRC signaling is semi-static.

It should be understood that there is no restriction on the execution order between (1) and (3) above.

Optionally, in (3), a plurality of PDCCH-configuration Information elements (PDCCH-configuration IEs) are configured, and a search space group is configured in each PDCCH-configuration IE of the plurality of PDCCH-configuration IEs, so as to obtain the plurality of search space groups.

Optionally, in (3), one PDCCH-configuration Information Element (PDCCH-configuration IE) is configured, and the plurality of search space groups, for example, search sapcestoaddmodlist #1- # N, are configured in the PDCCH-configuration IE.

Optionally, the configuration may be considered to be that the terminal device is implicitly informed that more than one DCI is to be detected.

The above steps (1) to (4) may be collectively referred to as physical downlink control channel configuration (PDCCH-config).

(5) Activating M TCI states from a plurality of TCI states associated with one CORESET, and associating the M TCI states with M search space groups in the plurality of search space groups configured in the step (3) one-to-one (assuming that the number of the plurality of search space groups configured in the step (3) is greater than or equal to the number of the activated TCI states).

For example, the network device sends one core set and its corresponding M TCI states to the terminal device through user-specific PDCCH MAC-CE (UE-specific PDCCH MAC-CE) signaling. For example, the format of the UE-specific PDCCH MAC-CE is shown in FIG. 4.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the TCI states associated with one CORESET are divided into a plurality of TCI state groups, e.g. TCI-statepdcch groups #1- # N, in step (2) above, and then in step (4), the plurality of TCI state groups are associated one-to-one with the plurality of search space groups configured in step (3). It should be understood that, in the present embodiment, the association operation between the TCI state and the search space need not be performed in step (5).

Optionally, in some embodiments, the association relationship between M TCI states and M search space groups corresponding to one CORESET is predefined.

For example, the association relationship between M TCI states and M search space groups corresponding to one CORESET is agreed. As an example, the TCI state ID # i corresponds to PDCCH-config ID # i or searchSpaceToAddModList ID # i as specified by the protocol.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the M search space groups are different search space groups in the same PDCCH-configuration IE; or the M search space groups are search space groups in different PDCCH-config IEs.

It should be understood that fig. 6 is exemplary only and not limiting. In practical applications, the CORESET, the TCI state, and the search space may be configured in other feasible manners.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the network device notifies the terminal device of the association relationship between the M TCI states and the M search space groups corresponding to one CORESET through MAC-CE signaling.

Assume that M TCI states corresponding to one of the N CORESET are M TCI states, which are associated with M search spaces one-to-one, and M is an integer greater than 1. Step 310, the network device sends, to the terminal device, information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each core eset of the N core esets, including: the network device sends a first MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, where the first MAC CE signaling carries information used to indicate N CORESET and M TCI states corresponding to the N CORESET, the first MAC-CE further includes M bit maps, an ith bit map in the M bit maps is used to indicate a search space included in an ith search space group in the M search space groups, and i is 1.

For example, the first MAC-CE signaling includes a CORESET field, M TCI State fields, and M bitmaps, where the CORESET field carries indication information of the CORESET, an ith field of the M TCI State fields carries indication information of an ith TCI State of the M TCI states, and an ith bitmap of the M bitmaps is used to indicate search spaces included in an ith search space group of the M search space groups, where i is 1,..., M. For example, the ith TCI state is associated with the ith search space group.

Illustratively, the format of this first MAC-CE signaling is shown in fig. 7. In fig. 7, M TCI states are taken as two TCI states as an example. As shown in fig. 7, the first MAC-CE signaling includes a CORESET field (2 bits), 2 TCI state fields (6 bits each) and 2 bitmaps fields (10 bits each). Wherein the CORESET field carries an identification of CORESET, such as the CORESET ID shown in fig. 7. One of the 2 TCI state fields carries TCI state ID #1, and the other carries TCI state ID # 2. One of the 2 Bitmap fields carries Bitmap #1, Bitmap #1 represents the search space in search space group #1, the other Bitmap field carries Bitmap #2, and Bitmap #2 represents the search space in search space group # 2. The search space group #1 indicated by the TCI state associated bitmap #1 indicated by the TCI state ID #1 and the search space group #2 indicated by the TCI state associated bitmap #2 indicated by the TCI state ID #2 are described in detail below. A bit set to 1 among 10 bits in bitmap #1 represents a search space belonging to the search space group #1 among the 10 search spaces, and a bit set to 1 among 10 bits in bitmap #2 represents a search space belonging to the search space group #2 among the 10 search spaces.

It should be understood that the present application does not limit the configuration of the Bitmap with 1 or 0 representing the search space included or excluded in the associated search space, nor does the present application limit the specific numeric correspondence between the identification number of the Bitmap (e.g., Bitmap #1 shown in fig. 7) and the identification of the search space group.

It should also be understood that FIG. 7 is exemplary only and not limiting. For example, TCI state ID #1 and TCI state ID #2 shown in fig. 7 represent two different TCI state IDs, which are only for distinction and are not limited, for example, when the IDs of two TCI states corresponding to one CORESET are #35 and #42, respectively, then the two TCI state fields shown in fig. 7 carry TCI state ID #35 and TCI state ID #42, respectively. For another example, for example, Bitmap #1 and Bitmap #2 shown in fig. 7 represent two different bitmaps, which are only for distinction and are not limited, that is, it means that two Bitmap fields shown in fig. 7 carry different bitmaps respectively.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the network device configures the multiple sets of search spaces (e.g., earch toaddmodlist ID #1 and earch toaddmodlist ID #2) only if:

the terminal device may need to receive more than one downlink signaling. For example, the downlink signaling is Downlink Control Information (DCI). It should be understood that the signaling format of the downlink signaling is not limited in this application.

Optionally, taking DCI as an example, the network device may notify the terminal device of the number of DCIs that may need to be received through RRC signaling. For example, the RRC signaling carries information indicating a Maximum DCI number (Maximum DCI number), and when the Maximum DCI number is greater than 1, the terminal device learns that it needs to receive more than one DCI; when the value of Maximum DCI number is 1, the terminal device knows that it only needs to receive one DCI.

Optionally, in other embodiments, any two of the M search space groups may include the same search space.

Optionally, the terminal device has a capability of simultaneously using Y receive beams for reception, where Y is a positive integer.

For example, Y is equal to 1, or Y is equal to 2 or a value greater than 2.

It should be understood that the terminal device may also have different receiving capabilities for different conditions. The receiving capabilities of the terminal device may be different in different scenarios. For example, in some cases, the terminal device has the capability of receiving using 1 receive beam. For another example, in another scenario, the terminal device has the capability of receiving using 2 receive beams simultaneously. For another example, in yet another scenario, the terminal device has the capability to receive using 3 (or more than 3) receive beams simultaneously.

Optionally, the network device obtains the capability that the terminal device has to use Y receiving beams to receive simultaneously by measuring the receiving capability of the terminal device.

Optionally, the network device obtains, by receiving the reception capability reported by the terminal device, a capability that the terminal device has to use Y reception beams to receive simultaneously. Accordingly, the terminal device sends the receiving capability of the terminal device to the network device, so that the network device obtains the capability that the terminal device has to receive by using the Y receiving beams simultaneously.

Optionally, when M is less than or equal to Y, the M search space groups may include the same search space or may include different search spaces, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, Y is an integer greater than or equal to 2, when M is greater than Y, any Z search space groups in the M search space groups include the same search space, and Z is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to Y.

When M is greater than Y, the search space in which the terminal device does not expect to receive the same time domain location information comes from more than Y search space groups, and the time domain location information may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: period, slot position and starting symbol position.

Optionally, when M is greater than Y, the M search space groups do not include a search space having the same time domain position information, where the time domain position information includes at least one of: period, slot position and starting symbol position.

It should be understood that the time domain location information includes, but is not limited to, the period, slot position, and starting symbol position described above.

Optionally, when M is greater than Y, the M search space groups include search spaces having the same time domain location information, where the time domain location information includes at least one of: period, slot position and starting symbol position; the method further comprises the following steps: and the terminal equipment selects TCI state associated with no more than Y search space groups from the M search space groups to monitor the PDCCH.

Specifically, when M is greater than Y and the UE receives the search spaces with the same time domain location information from more than Y search space groups, the UE selects, according to a predetermined rule, the TCI state associated with no more than Y search space groups to monitor the PDCCH, where the time domain location information may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: period, slot position and starting symbol position; the TCI state contains a Type-D QCL Type, namely, spatial Rx parameter; the established rule may have various forms as long as it has a feature of "selecting TCI state associated with no more than Y search space groups to monitor PDCCH" all fall within the scope of the present application, for example, selecting TCI state associated with no more than Y search space groups to monitor PDCCH according to the group number of the search space groups from small to large or from large to small, for example, selecting TCI state associated with no more than Y search space groups to monitor PDCCH according to the sequence number of PDCCH configuration information element (PDCCH-config IE) from small to large or from large to small.

Optionally, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to a scenario in which the terminal device has an omnidirectional receiving beam capability.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned configuration signaling may still include other configuration information, and for the sake of brevity, fig. 2 only lists the configuration information related to the present application.

It should also be noted that the CORESET ID list and the SS ID list mentioned herein are only a specific technical presentation form, and are only examples and not limitations.

The method embodiments provided by the embodiments of the present application are described above, and the device embodiments provided by the embodiments of the present application are described below. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, details are not repeated here, since the details that are not described in detail may be referred to the above method embodiments.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is to be understood that each network element, for example, a transmitting end device or a receiving end device. To implement the above functions, it includes hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. 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.

In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules may be divided according to the above method example for the transmitting end device or the receiving end device, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation. The following description will be given taking the example of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function.

The embodiment of the application also provides a first communication device, and the first communication device can be a terminal device or a chip. The first communication means may be configured to perform the actions performed by the terminal device in the above-described method embodiments.

When the first communication device is a terminal device, fig. 8 shows a simplified structural diagram of the terminal device. For easy understanding and illustration, in fig. 8, the terminal device is exemplified by a mobile phone. As shown in fig. 8, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, a radio frequency circuit, an antenna, and an input-output device. The processor is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the terminal equipment, executing software programs, processing data of the software programs and the like. The memory is used primarily for storing software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are used primarily for receiving data input by a user and for outputting data to the user. It should be noted that some kinds of terminal devices may not have input/output devices.

When data needs to be sent, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs baseband signals to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signals and sends the radio frequency signals to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal equipment, the radio frequency circuit receives radio frequency signals through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signals into baseband signals and outputs the baseband signals to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signals into the data and processes the data. For ease of illustration, only one memory and processor are shown in FIG. 8. In an actual end device product, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory may be provided independently of the processor, or may be integrated with the processor, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In the embodiment of the present application, the antenna and the radio frequency circuit having the transceiving function may be regarded as a transceiving unit of the terminal device, and the processor having the processing function may be regarded as a processing unit of the terminal device. As shown in fig. 8, the terminal device includes a transceiving unit 801 and a processing unit 802. A transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. A processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, or the like. Alternatively, a device for implementing a receiving function in the transceiver unit 801 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing a transmitting function in the transceiver unit 801 may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the transceiver unit 801 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A transceiver unit may also sometimes be referred to as a transceiver, transceiving circuitry, or the like. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, or the like. A transmitting unit may also sometimes be referred to as a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

For example, in one implementation, the transceiver unit 801 is configured to perform the receiving operation on the terminal device side in step 310 in fig. 5, and/or the transceiver unit 801 is further configured to perform other transceiving steps on the terminal device side in the embodiment of the present application. Processing unit 802 is configured to perform step 320 in fig. 5, and/or processing unit 802 is further configured to perform other processing steps on the terminal device side in the embodiment of the present application.

When the first communication device is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit can be an input/output circuit and a communication interface; the processing unit is a processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a second communication device, where the second communication device may be a network device or a chip. The second communication device may be configured to perform the actions performed by the network device in the above-described method embodiments.

When the second communication device is a network device, for example, a base station. Fig. 9 shows a simplified base station structure. The base station includes a 901 portion and a 902 portion. The 901 part is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting the radio frequency signals and baseband signals; the 902 section is mainly used for baseband processing, control of a base station, and the like. Portion 901 may be generally referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiving circuitry, or transceiver, etc. Part 902 is typically a control center of the base station, which may be generally referred to as a processing unit, for controlling the base station to perform the actions of generating the first message by the network device in the above-described method embodiments. Reference is made in particular to the description of the relevant part above.

The transceiver unit of the portion 901, which may also be referred to as a transceiver, or a transceiver, includes an antenna and a radio frequency unit, where the radio frequency unit is mainly used for performing radio frequency processing. Optionally, a device for implementing the receiving function in the 901 portion may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing the sending function may be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the 901 portion includes the receiving unit and the sending unit. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, or the like, and a transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting circuit, or the like.

Section 902 may comprise one or more boards, each board may comprise one or more processors and one or more memories, the processors being configured to read and execute programs in the memories to implement baseband processing functions and control of the base station. If a plurality of single boards exist, the single boards can be interconnected to increase the processing capacity. As an alternative implementation, multiple boards may share one or more processors, multiple boards may share one or more memories, or multiple boards may share one or more processors at the same time.

For example, in one implementation manner, the transceiver unit is configured to perform the sending operation on the network device side in step 310 in fig. 5, and/or the transceiver unit is further configured to perform other transceiving steps on the network device side in the embodiment of the present application. The processing unit is configured to execute processing steps on the network device side in this embodiment, for example, to configure a core, a TCI state, and a search space group, to configure an association relationship between the core and the TCI state, and to configure an association relationship between the TCI state and the search space group, respectively.

When the second communication device is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit can be an input/output circuit and a communication interface; the processing unit is a processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip.

For the explanation and beneficial effects of the related content in any of the communication apparatuses provided above, reference may be made to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and details are not repeated here.

It should be understood that the Processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present Application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and may also be other general purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSP), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) or other Programmable logic devices, discrete Gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It will also be appreciated that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. Volatile Memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache Memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous link SDRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, the memory (memory module) is integrated in the processor.

It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

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 for indicating a control channel, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a network device sends information used for indicating N control resource sets (CORESET) and M transmission configuration indication states (TCI state) corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs to a terminal device, wherein the M TCI states are in one-to-one association with M search space groups, each search space group comprises one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used for the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, and the TCI states are used for the terminal device to determine quasi co-location QCL information of the control channel;

wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2,

the M search space groups are search space groups in different physical downlink control channel configuration information elements (PDCCH-config IE).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device sends, to the terminal device, information indicating the N CORESETs and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N CORESETs, and wherein the information comprises:

the network device sends a first MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, wherein the first MAC CE signaling carries information used for indicating the N CORESETs and M TCI states corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device sends, to the terminal device, information indicating the N CORESETs and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N CORESETs, and wherein the information comprises:

for the jth CORESET of the N CORESETs, wherein j traverses 1, …, N, the network device sends information for indicating the jth CORESET and M TCI states corresponding to the jth CORESET to the terminal device through M second MAC CE signaling, wherein each second MAC CE signaling carries information for indicating the jth CORESET, an ith second MAC CE signaling of the M second MAC CE signaling carries information for indicating the ith TCI state of the M TCI states corresponding to the jth CORESET, and i is 1, …, M.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the M second MAC CE signaling belongs to different MAC-CE entities.

5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is pre-configured; or

The association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is predefined.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein search spaces included between different ones of the M search space groups are different.

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

the network equipment acquires the capability that the terminal equipment has the receiving capability of simultaneously using Y receiving beams, wherein Y is a positive integer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and when M is greater than Y, any Z search space groups of the M search space groups comprise the same search space, and Z is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to Y.

9. A method for indicating a control channel, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives information used for indicating N control resource sets (CORESET) and M transmission configuration indication states (TCI state) corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs from a network device, wherein the M TCI states are in one-to-one association with M search space groups, each search space group comprises one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used for the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, and the TCI states are used for the terminal device to determine quasi co-location QCL information of the control channel;

the M search space groups are search space groups in different physical downlink control channel configuration information elements PDCCH-configIE.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the terminal device receives, from the network device, information indicating the N CORESET and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N CORESET, and wherein the information comprises:

the terminal device receives a first MAC CE signaling from the network device, wherein the first MAC CE signaling carries information used for indicating the N CORESETs and M TCI states corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the terminal device receives, from the network device, information indicating the N CORESET and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N CORESET, and wherein the information comprises:

for the jth CORESET of the N CORESETs, wherein j traverses 1, …, N, the terminal device receives M second MAC CE signaling from the network device, wherein each second MAC CE signaling carries information used for indicating the jth CORESET, an ith second MAC CE signaling of the M second MAC CE signaling carries information used for indicating an ith TCI state of the M TCI states corresponding to the jth CORESET, and i is 1, …, M.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the M second MAC CE signaling belongs to different MAC-CE entities.

13. The method according to any of claims 9 to 12, wherein the association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is pre-configured; or

14. The method according to any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the search spaces comprised between different ones of the M search space groups are different.

15. The method according to any of claims 9 to 14, wherein the terminal device is capable of receiving using Y receive beams simultaneously, Y being a positive integer.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and when M is greater than Y, any Z search space groups of the M search space groups comprise the same search space, and Z is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to Y.

17. A network device, comprising:

a transceiving unit, configured to send, to a terminal device, information indicating N control resource sets, CORESET, and M transmission configuration indication states, TCI states, corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs, where the M TCI states are associated with M search space groups in a one-to-one manner, each search space group includes one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used by the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, and the TCI states are used by the terminal device to determine quasi-co-location QCL information of the control channel;

18. The network device according to claim 17, wherein the transceiver unit is configured to send a first MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, where the first MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the N core esets and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N core esets.

19. The network device according to claim 17, wherein the transceiver unit is configured to, for a jth core set of the N core sets, where j traverses 1, …, N, send, to the terminal device through M second MAC CE signaling, information indicating the jth core set and M TCI states corresponding to the jth core set, where each of the second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the jth core set, an ith one of the M second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating an ith TCI state of the M TCI states corresponding to the jth core set, and i is 1, …, M.

20. The network device of claim 19, wherein the M second MAC CE signaling belong to different MAC-CE entities.

21. The network device of any of claims 17 to 20, wherein the association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is pre-configured; or

22. The network device of any of claims 17-21, wherein search spaces included between different ones of the M search space groups are different.

23. The network device of any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein the network device further comprises:

and the processing unit is used for acquiring the capability that the terminal equipment has the receiving capability of simultaneously using Y receiving beams, wherein Y is a positive integer.

24. The network device of claim 23, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and wherein when M is greater than Y, any Z search space groups of the M search space groups comprise the same search space, and wherein Z is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to Y.

25. The network device of claim 23 or 24, wherein when M is greater than Y, no search spaces with the same time domain location information are included in the M search space groups.

26. A terminal device, comprising:

a transceiving unit, configured to receive, from a network device, information indicating N control resource sets, CORESET, and M transmission configuration indication states, TCI states, corresponding to each CORESET in the N CORESETs, where the M TCI states are associated with M search space groups in a one-to-one manner, each search space group includes one or more search spaces, the CORESET and the search spaces are used by the terminal device to determine transmission resources of a control channel, and the TCI states are used by the terminal device to determine quasi-co-location QCL information of the control channel;

27. The terminal device of claim 26, wherein the transceiver unit is configured to receive a first MAC CE signaling from the network device, and the first MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the N core sets and M TCI states corresponding to each of the N core sets.

28. The terminal device of claim 26, wherein the transceiving unit is configured to receive, for a jth CORESET in the N CORESETs, where j traverses 1, …, N, M second MAC CE signaling from the network device, where each second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating the jth CORESET, and an ith second MAC CE signaling in the M second MAC CE signaling carries information indicating an ith TCI state in the M TCI states corresponding to the jth CORESET, where i is 1, …, M.

29. The terminal device of claim 28, wherein the M second MAC CE signaling belong to different MAC-CE entities.

30. The terminal device of any one of claims 26 to 29, wherein the association between the M TCI states and the M search space groups is pre-configured; or

31. The terminal device of any of claims 26 to 30, wherein search spaces included between different ones of the M search space groups are different.

32. The terminal device according to any of claims 26-31, wherein the terminal device is capable of receiving using Y receive beams simultaneously, Y being a positive integer.

33. The terminal device of claim 31, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and wherein when M is greater than Y, any Z search space groups in the M search space groups comprise the same search space, and wherein Z is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to Y.

34. The terminal device of claim 32 or 33, wherein when M is greater than Y, no search spaces with the same time domain location information are included in the M search space groups.

35. The terminal device according to claim 32 or 33, wherein when M is larger than Y, the M search space groups include search spaces having the same time domain position information;

and the transceiver unit is configured to select, from the M search space groups, TCI states associated with no more than Y search space groups to monitor the PDCCH.

36. A method for indicating a control channel, comprising:

the M search space groups are different search space groups in the same physical downlink control channel configuration information element PDCCH-config IE.

37. A method for indicating a control channel, comprising:

38. A communications apparatus comprising a memory to store instructions and a processor to execute the instructions stored by the memory, and execution of the instructions stored in the memory causes the processor to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 8, 36.

39. A communications apparatus comprising a memory to store instructions and a processor to execute the instructions stored by the memory, and execution of the instructions stored in the memory causes the processor to perform the method of any of claims 9 to 16, 37.

40. A computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, 36.

41. A computer storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 16, 37.