CN110831160B

CN110831160B - Method and apparatus for channel occupancy indication

Info

Publication number: CN110831160B
Application number: CN201810893178.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张莉莉; 王俊伟; 张佳胤; 贾琼
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-08-07
Filing date: 2018-08-07
Publication date: 2022-04-22
Anticipated expiration: 2038-08-07
Also published as: WO2020029872A1; CN110831160A

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for indicating channel occupation, which are beneficial to saving resources. The method comprises the following steps: the network equipment sends indication information containing channel occupation information, the indication information comprises a group identifier corresponding to the terminal equipment group, and the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group corresponding to the group identifier can be indicated to feed back the channel occupation information through the group identifier; and sending feedback information comprising the information occupied by the channel of the terminal equipment to the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group corresponding to the group identification. Based on the method and the device, the terminal devices are grouped, and the group identification is introduced, so that the resource cost required when the terminal devices are informed of the occupation of the feedback channel can be reduced.

Description

Method and apparatus for channel occupancy indication

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for channel occupancy indication.

Background

The spectrum used by a wireless communication system is divided into two categories, licensed spectrum (licensed spectrum) and unlicensed spectrum (unlicensed spectrum). For a commercial mobile communication system, an operator needs to auction authorized spectrum, and after obtaining authorization, the operator can use the corresponding spectrum to conduct mobile communication operation. Unlicensed spectrum does not require auctions and anyone can legally use these bands, such as wireless-fidelity (WiFi) devices in the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) and 5GHz bands.

In the prior art, after contending for a channel, a sending device sends a channel occupancy signal to other peripheral devices, where the first channel occupancy signal indicates, to the other devices, a transmission duration that the sending device needs to occupy on the contended channel, and also indicates, to a receiving end device, to feed back the channel occupancy signal. For example, when the sending end device is a network device and the receiving end device is a terminal device, the sending end device may further notify the terminal device to perform feedback through Channel Use Indication (CUI), or through new Downlink Control Information (DCI) including a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) of the terminal device, or through DCI scrambled by a C-RNTI specific to the terminal device. The method for notifying the terminal device to feed back occupies more resources, so that the cost is too high.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for indicating channel occupation, which can reduce the resource cost required by informing terminal equipment of feeding back channel occupation duration.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, and the method includes: the method comprises the steps that network equipment sends first indication information, wherein the first indication information comprises a group identifier of a terminal equipment group, the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to feed back information occupied by a channel, the terminal equipment is the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group, the network equipment receives the feedback information from the terminal equipment, and the feedback information comprises the information occupied by the channel of the terminal equipment. The aforementioned information of channel occupancy includes, for example: the duration of channel occupation, and/or the information of channel occupation by the transmitting end or the receiving end.

Based on the technical scheme, when the network equipment informs the terminal equipment of feeding back the information occupied by the channel, the terminal equipment can be firstly grouped, the terminal equipment groups correspond to the group identifications one by one, and each terminal equipment group comprises a plurality of terminal equipment. Alternatively, when there is only one terminal device group, the group identifier may be a relative identifier of the terminal device in the entire terminal device group. When the terminal equipment is informed to feed back the channel occupation time, the resource waste caused by the need of identifying each terminal equipment can be avoided based on the grouping identification.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the first indication information further includes a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group, where the terminal device is a terminal device that needs to feed back information occupied by a channel determined by the network device.

Based on the technical scheme, when the network equipment notifies the terminal equipment of the information occupied by the feedback channel, the representative terminal equipment can be selected for feedback. By selecting representative part of terminal equipment to represent the terminal equipment group for feedback, the resource cost required for informing the terminal equipment of feeding back the channel occupation time can be reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, before the network device receives the feedback information from the terminal device, the method includes: the network device sends second indication information, wherein the second indication information comprises a first threshold, and the second indication information is used for indicating the terminal device to determine whether to feed back information occupied by a channel according to the first threshold.

Based on the above technical solution, after receiving the information that needs to be fed back, the terminal device in the designated network device group may determine whether it needs to feed back the information occupied by the channel based on the relative identifier and the first threshold. Through the selection mechanism, part of the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group can be selected to represent the information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal equipment group, and further, the waste of resources can be reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the group identifier and the feedback resource have a correspondence; or, the group identifier has a corresponding relationship between the position information in the first indication information and the feedback resource; wherein the feedback resource includes a resource used by the terminal device for feeding back information occupied by the channel.

Based on the above technical solution, the resource used when the terminal device feeds back the information occupied by the channel may be preconfigured. After receiving the indication information, the terminal device can determine the feedback resource according to the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier to which the terminal device belongs and the feedback sub-resource, thereby avoiding the situation that one feedback resource is seized when a plurality of terminal devices in one terminal device group feed back channel occupation information. Alternatively, when a plurality of terminal devices are grouped into one group, the relative identity may be the relative identity of the terminal device. When part of the terminal devices feed back, the feedback resources may be determined according to the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier of the terminal device and the feedback resources/feedback sub-resources.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information further includes information of channel occupancy of the network device.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the information of channel occupancy of the network device includes duration information of channel occupancy, and/or is information of channel occupancy by a sending end or a receiving end.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the information that the channel of the terminal device occupies includes duration information that the channel occupies, and/or is information that a transmitting end or a receiving end occupies the channel.

Based on the above technical solution, when the feedback information is sent and carries the sender indication, the nodes heard around may not be limited to the channel occupation notification in the feedback information, and may continue communication. When the feedback information is sent and carries the indication of the receiver, the nodes heard around need to be limited by the channel occupation notification in the feedback information, that is, the nodes need to be prohibited from using the channel within the indicated channel occupation duration. And thus the communication performance can be further improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the first indication information is physical layer signaling, and the physical layer signaling is sent through a set-common physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, before the network device sends the first indication information, the method includes: the network device sends third indication information, where the third indication information includes: the group identifier, or the group identifier and the relative identifier, where the relative identifier is a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group.

Based on the above technical solution, after the network device groups the terminal devices, the network device may notify the terminal devices of the group identifier, or the group identifier and the relative identifier, or the relative identifier of the terminal device, so that the terminal devices can know the group to which the network device belongs and the identifier in the group.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, before the network device sends the first indication information, the method includes: and the network equipment groups the terminal equipment to obtain the terminal equipment group, and the terminal equipment group corresponds to the group identification one by one.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, any one of the second indication information and the third indication information is sent through radio resource control, RRC, signaling or medium access control, MAC, layer signaling; or, any one of the second indication information and the third indication information is sent through RRC signaling and activated/deactivated by physical layer signaling or MAC layer signaling.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives first indication information from network equipment, wherein the first indication information comprises a group identifier corresponding to a terminal equipment group, the first indication information is used for indicating information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal equipment, and the terminal equipment is terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group corresponding to the group identifier; and the terminal equipment sends feedback information to the network equipment, wherein the feedback information comprises information occupied by a channel of the terminal equipment.

Based on the above technical scheme, the terminal device may determine whether the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs needs to feed back information of channel occupation according to whether the group identifier has an identifier of the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs. Each terminal device corresponds to a group identifier, or when there is only one terminal device group, the group identifier may be an identifier of the terminal device in the entire terminal device group. Based on the group identifier, the terminal device can quickly determine whether to perform feedback, thereby improving the communication performance. Moreover, for a plurality of terminal devices, only part of representative terminal device feedback is needed, and further resources can be saved.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementation manners of the second aspect, the first indication information further includes a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group, where the terminal device is a terminal device that needs to feed back information occupied by a channel determined by the network device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before the sending, by the terminal device, the feedback information to the network device, the method includes: and the terminal equipment determines whether to feed back information occupied by the channel according to the first threshold and the group identifier.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the terminal equipment determines the resources used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to a first corresponding relation, wherein the first corresponding relation is as follows: the group identifier is associated with a feedback resource, or the group identifier is associated with a feedback resource in the first indication information, where the feedback resource includes a resource used by information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the terminal equipment determines the resources used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to a second corresponding relationship, wherein the second corresponding relationship is as follows: the method includes the steps of obtaining a corresponding relation between a relative identifier and feedback sub-resources, or the corresponding relation between position information of the relative identifier in first indication information and the feedback sub-resources, or the corresponding relation between the relative identifier and the feedback resources, or the corresponding relation between the position information of the relative identifier in the first indication information and the feedback sub-resources, wherein the relative identifier is the relative identifier of the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group, the feedback resources include resources used by information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal equipment, and the feedback sub-resources are resources used by the information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal equipment.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information further includes information of channel occupancy of the network device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the information of channel occupancy of the terminal device includes duration information of channel occupancy, and/or is information of channel occupancy by a sending end or a receiving end.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the first indication information is physical layer signaling, and the physical layer signaling is sent through a PDCCH that is a group common physical downlink control channel.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes various means or units for performing the method of the first aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect and the first aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is a network device. When the communication device is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in the network device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a network device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transmit-receive circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which comprises various modules or units for performing the method of the second aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect and the second aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal device. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in the terminal equipment. When the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

In a seventh aspect, a processor is provided, including: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuitry is configured to receive signals via the input circuitry and to transmit signals via the output circuitry, such that the processor performs the method of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation of the first or second aspect.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be output to and transmitted by a transmitter, for example and without limitation, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit that functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and various circuits.

In an eighth aspect, a processing apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory and to receive signals via the receiver and transmit signals via the transmitter to perform the method of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation of the first or second aspect.

Optionally, the number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integral to the processor or provided separately from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transient memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips.

It will be appreciated that the associated data interaction process, for example, sending the indication information, may be a process of outputting the indication information from the processor, and receiving the capability information may be a process of receiving the input capability information from the processor. In particular, the data output by the processor may be output to a transmitter and the input data received by the processor may be from a receiver. The transmitter and receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver, among others.

The processing device in the above eighth aspect may be a chip, the processor may be implemented by hardware or may be implemented by software, and when implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor, located external to the processor, or stand-alone.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product, the computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions), which when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the first or second aspect and aspects described above.

A tenth aspect provides a computer-readable medium storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the above-described first or second aspects and possible implementations of the first or second aspects.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the foregoing network device and terminal device.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for use in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an LBT listening mechanism suitable for use in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another LBT listening mechanism suitable for use in embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device group suitable for the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a DCI format suitable for the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is another schematic diagram of DCI format suitable for communication method according to the embodiment of the present application

Fig. 8 is still another schematic diagram of a DCI format suitable for the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence between group identifiers and feedback resources suitable for use in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of the location of a group identification suitable for use with embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence between locations of group identifications and feedback resources suitable for use in embodiments of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence relationship between a relative identifier of a terminal device and a feedback sub-resource suitable for an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence between the position of the relative identifier of the terminal device and the feedback sub-resource suitable for the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence relationship between the relative identifier of the terminal device in the group and the feedback sub-resource, which is suitable for the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence between positions of relative identifiers of terminal devices in the group and feedback sub-resources, which is suitable for the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method suitable for use with embodiments of the present application;

fig. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a network 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 technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) communication system, global system for mobile communication (GSM) system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), future radio communication system (NR 5 ) or 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, the wireless communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as the network device 111 shown in fig. 1, and the wireless communication system 100 may further include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal devices 121 to 123 shown in fig. 1. The network equipment and the terminal equipment can be both provided with a plurality of antennas, and the network equipment and the terminal equipment can communicate by using a multi-antenna technology.

Alternatively, the wireless communication system 100 may be an LTE communication system capable of operating in an Unlicensed frequency band, such as an LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) system, a new air interface communication system capable of operating in an Unlicensed frequency band, such as a new radio-Unlicensed (NR-U) system, or another communication system capable of operating in an Unlicensed frequency band in the future. In addition, the wireless communication system may also include a WiFi network.

Alternatively, network device 111 may be a network device in a cell, or network device 111 may serve a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 121) in cell # 1. It should be noted that a cell may be understood as a serving cell of a network device, that is, an area within a coverage area of a wireless network of the network device.

It should be understood that the network device in the wireless communication system may be any device having a wireless transceiving function. The network devices include, but are not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB or home Node B, HNB), baseband Unit (BBU), Access Point (AP) in Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) system, Wireless relay Node, Wireless backhaul Node, Transmission Point (TP) or Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), etc., and may also be 5G, such as NR, gbb in the system, or transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of base stations in the 5G system may also include multiple antennas, or panels, and may also be configured as network panels or network panels, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), etc.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include a Radio Unit (RU). The CU implements part of the function of the gNB, and the DU implements part of the function of the gNB, for example, the CU implements Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers, and the DU implements Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY) layers. 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 the RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or the DU + CU 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 a Radio Access Network (RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

It should also be understood that terminal equipment in the wireless communication system may also be referred to as User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), and the like. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios.

It should be understood that fig. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of an example for ease of understanding only, and that other network devices or other terminal devices may also be included in the communication system, which are not shown in fig. 1.

As shown in the wireless communication system 100 of fig. 1, the spectrum used by the wireless communication system includes two types, a licensed spectrum (licensed spectrum) and an unlicensed spectrum (unlicensed spectrum). Generally, carriers on the licensed spectrum are referred to as licensed carriers and carriers on the unlicensed spectrum are referred to as unlicensed carriers. With the development of wireless communication technology, the amount of information transmitted in a wireless communication network is increasing day by day, and the unauthorized spectrum transmission information is preempted, so that the data throughput in the wireless communication network can be improved, and the requirements of users can be better met. In a licensed-assisted access using long term evolution (LAA-LTE) system, a node of the LAA-LTE uses channel resources by a listen-before-talk (LBT) principle, wherein the LBT is a Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) technique. In the LAA system, an LBT scheme is adopted to contend for access to a channel, but the starting time point of channel occupation in the LBT scheme is random, so the starting time point of LAA-LTE carrier signal occurrence is also random.

In current LAA systems, LBT is typically based on Energy Detection (ED) to support coexistence of different nodes and technologies. When the measured interference level exceeds a certain level, the node will simply back off (backoff). The preamble detection based mechanism in WiFi systems has further advantages. A transmission opportunity (TXOP) length is carried in a payload (payload) of the preamble, and backoff depends on preamble detection and demodulation/decoding of the payload.

Generally, after competing for a channel, a sending end device can send a channel occupation signal to other peripheral devices, and the channel occupation signal indicates the time length that the sending end device needs to occupy on the contended channel to the other devices, so that collision of the other devices is avoided, and communication efficiency is improved. Within which time duration transmission or reception may occur.

The sending device may be a network device, for example, the network device 111 in the wireless communication system 100. Alternatively, the sending end device may also be a terminal device, for example, the terminal device 121, the terminal device 122, or the terminal device 123 in the wireless communication system 100. Specifically, if the LBT initiated by the network device is successful, it is determined that the communication with the terminal device can be performed, and if the data is sent in the communication process, the network device is the sending terminal device; if the data is received in the communication process, the network equipment is the receiving end equipment. If the LBT initiated by the terminal equipment is successful, determining that the communication can be carried out with the network equipment, and if the data is sent in the communication process, the terminal equipment is sending end equipment; if the data is received in the communication process, the network equipment is the receiving end equipment.

For clarity, the following describes a general procedure after the transmitting device obtains the channel usage right.

After the LBT is successful, the sending end device sends a channel occupying signal, where the channel occupying signal is used to indicate, to other devices, a duration that the sending end device will use a channel on a contended channel, and the duration is a channel occupying duration to be protected.

If the LBT initiated by the sending end device is successful, the sending end device obtains the channel use right. The sending end device occupies the channel within the channel occupation duration. The channel occupation time may be configured by the network device, or specified by a standard, or pre-stored, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. In other words, the sending device may transmit during the channel occupancy period without being disturbed by other devices. The channel occupancy duration may be less than or equal to a maximum channel occupancy duration (MCOT), or may be a TXOP.

Hereinafter, description will be made with "MCOT" as an example of the channel occupying time period.

The duration of occupation to be protected, indicated by the channel occupation signal sent by the sending end device, may be less than or equal to the MCOT. In the duration occupied by the channel to be protected, except for the sending end device itself or the receiving device indicated by the sending end device, other receiving devices may not transmit to avoid collision. Among them, a device that obtains the MCOT may be referred to as an "owner of the MCOT".

In general, when the sending end device is a network device, the transmission performed in the corresponding MCOT is downlink transmission; when the sending end device is a terminal, the transmission performed in the corresponding MCOT is uplink transmission. Alternatively, the transmitting device may share the obtained channel usage rights in the MCOT to other devices. For example, when the sending end device is a network device, the network device may share the channel usage right to the terminal, that is, allow the terminal to perform transmission in the MCOT. That is, there may be a switch between uplink and downlink transmissions within a certain MCOT. This switching may be one or more times.

When the sending-end device sends a channel occupancy signal, a company also proposes to consider Channel Use Indicator (CUI) in the NR-U system. The CUI is similar to a request to send/clear to send (RTS/CTS) control packet in WiFi systems, but requires redesign in the NR-U. The CUI needs to carry payload, including a Network Allocation Vector (NAV) and/or a flag to distinguish between a sender (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver). Specifically, the CUI is designed as a channel use indicator-physical downlink control channel (CUI-PDCCH).

When the sending end device is a network device, a flag in the CUI that distinguishes between a sending end (transmitter) and a receiving end (receiver) indicates that the network device is using a channel as the sending end or the receiving end.

In practice, when a plurality of terminal devices need to be instructed to perform feedback, one way is to include information of a plurality of scheduled terminal devices in the transmitted channel occupancy signal. Specifically, the channel occupancy signal may be carried on a common control channel, for example, a common-physical downlink control channel (C-PDCCH), or a group common-physical downlink control channel (GC-PDCCH), or carried on a common control channel scheduled data channel (e.g., a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)), or carried partly on the common control channel and partly on the common control channel scheduled data channel. The terminal device may detect whether the channel occupying signal includes information of the terminal device in the common search space or the group common search space, or the terminal device may receive the C-PDCCH/GC-PDCCH in the common search space or the group common search space, receive the PDSCH scheduled by the C-PDCCH/GC-PDCCH, and detect whether the channel occupying signal includes information of the terminal device.

In another embodiment, the information of the plurality of scheduled terminal devices in the channel occupying signal may also be carried through a plurality of user-specific downlink control channels, or carried on a plurality of data channels (e.g., PDSCH) scheduled by the plurality of user-specific downlink control channels, or partly carried on the plurality of user-specific downlink control channels, and another part carried on the plurality of data channels scheduled by the plurality of user-specific downlink control channels. The terminal device may detect whether the channel occupying signal includes the information of the terminal device in the user-specific search space and/or the common search space, or the terminal device may detect the user-specific downlink control channel in the user-specific search space and/or the common search space, receive the PDSCH scheduled by the user-specific downlink control channel, and detect whether the finger channel occupying signal includes the information of the terminal device.

In the above manner, no matter through the CUI-PDCCH, or through the new DCI including the C-RNTI identifier allocated to the terminal device, or through the DCI scrambled by the C-RNTI specific to the terminal device, the terminal device is notified for feedback, and therefore, the occupied resources are more, and the resource cost is too high.

In view of this, the present application provides a communication method, which groups receiving end devices, so that a sending end device can indicate multiple terminal devices to feed back only through grouped identifiers when the sending end device needs to notify multiple receiving end devices to feed back. Thereby saving resources.

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. Listen before talk LBT

In order to ensure coexistence with other devices operating in unlicensed frequency bands, the 5G system or the next generation system adopts the channel contention access mechanism of LBT. Fig. 2 and 3 show two types of LBT listening mechanisms.

One type of LBT sensing mechanism as shown in fig. 2, an LBT device may perform independent back-off on multiple carriers, e.g., Component Carriers (CCs). As in fig. 2, for example, when the contention node Wi-Fi is occupied, that is, when there is a Wi-Fi protocol data unit on carrier 2, the LBT device independently backs off (i.e., self-backs off) on carriers 1, 3, and 4, and performs a busy extended clear channel assessment (e.g., a busy extended clear channel assessment slot (slot) in fig. 2) on carrier 2. The busy-extended clear channel assessment may be understood as estimating the channel duration occupied by the LBT device on carrier 2. As another example in fig. 2, the LBT device independently backs off on carrier 2 and carrier 3 and makes a busy-extension clear channel assessment on carrier 4. In fig. 2, the busy initial clear channel assessment may be understood as a clear channel assessment performed prior to WiFi node occupation. Idle initial channel estimation may be understood as idle channel estimation performed prior to base station occupation. The busy-extended clear channel assessment may be understood as a channel assessment made during WiFi node occupancy. Idle extended clear channel assessment may be understood as a channel assessment made prior to data transmission. In the LBT sensing mechanism shown in fig. 2, after backoff is completed on a certain carrier, transmission is delayed to wait for other component carriers that are still backoff. As in carrier 1 through carrier 4 of fig. 2, and in particular, as in fig. 2, LBT does not transmit data on carrier 4 while it is self-backoff on carrier 1 and carrier 3. When all carriers performing LBT complete backoff, the device needs to make an additional one-shot channel assessment (one-shot CCA) for a time length to ensure that all carriers are idle. Such as the idle initial idle channel assessment duration in fig. 2. If all carriers are idle, the base station transmits simultaneously on the idle carriers. For example, one duration may be 25 microseconds (us).

Yet another type of LBT sensing mechanism is shown in fig. 3, where the LBT device performs back-off only on a selected component carrier, e.g. on a selected carrier in fig. 3. At the end of backoff, initial clear channel assessment (e.g., busy initial clear channel assessment time slots in fig. 3) is performed on carrier 1, carrier 2, and carrier 3 before data transmission begins. That is, when the backoff is finished, performing one-shot CCA on other member carriers, and if the member carriers are idle, performing data transmission; if the component carrier is not idle, the component carrier cannot be transmitted with data at this time. In fig. 3, the busy initial clear channel assessment may be understood as a clear channel assessment performed prior to WiFi node occupation. Idle initial channel estimation may be understood as idle channel estimation performed prior to base station occupation. The busy-extended clear channel assessment may be understood as a channel assessment made during WiFi node occupancy. Idle extended clear channel assessment may be understood as a channel assessment made prior to data transmission.

As shown in fig. 2 or fig. 3, the LBT device may be a communication device in a 5G system or a next generation system, such as LAA LTE, WiFi, NR-U or other communication devices operating in an unlicensed (unlicensed) frequency band. In an actual scenario, the interference received by the device performing LBT in fig. 2 or fig. 3 is from a WiFi system, and the interference received by the device performing LBT may also be from a 5G system or a next generation system, such as LAA LTE, NR-U or other communication systems operating in an unlicensed frequency band, which is not limited in this application.

It should be noted that the LBT listening mechanism adopted in the embodiment of the present application is not limited to the listening mechanism shown in fig. 2 or fig. 3.

2. Channel occupancy signals

The sending end equipment can send a channel occupation signal to other peripheral equipment after competing for the channel, and the channel occupation signal can be used for indicating the transmission duration which the sending end equipment needs to occupy on the channel which competes for to other equipment, so that collision of other equipment is avoided. In addition, the channel occupancy signal may also instruct other devices to feed back information of the channel occupancy.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the channel occupancy signal may also be channel occupancy indication information or channel indication information, and the specific name thereof does not limit the scope to be protected by the present application.

3. Feedback information

In the embodiment of the present application, the feedback information may be used to represent feedback for the channel occupancy signal. Specifically, it is described in the following text application examples.

4. Symbol (symbol)

Minimum 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 multiple access (OFDM) symbols, for example and without limitation; the downlink symbols may be referred to as OFDM symbols, for example. In the embodiment of the present application, the symbol may be another example of the resource unit.

It should be noted that in the implementation of the present application, the "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and a related protocol applied in a future communication system, which is not limited in the present 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, including 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. "at least one" means one or more than one; "at least one of a and B", similar to "a and/or B", describes an association relationship of associated objects, meaning that three relationships may exist, for example, at least one of a and B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The technical solution provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the communication methods provided herein may be applicable to a wireless communication system, such as the wireless communication system 100 shown in fig. 1. The terminal device in this embodiment of the present application may communicate with one or more network devices at the same time, for example, the network device in this embodiment of the present application may correspond to any one or more of the network device # a 111, the network device # 2112, and the network device # 3113 in fig. 1, and the terminal device in this embodiment of the present application may correspond to the terminal device 121 in fig. 1.

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. It is assumed that the sending end device is a network device, the receiving end device is a terminal device, and the terminal device may be any terminal device having a wireless connection relationship with one or more network devices in a wireless communication system. It is understood that any terminal device or network device in the wireless communication system can implement wireless communication based on the same technical solution. This is not limited in this application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 200 provided by an embodiment of the present application, shown from the perspective of device interaction. As shown, the method 200 shown in fig. 4 may include steps 210, 220. The method 200 is described in detail below in conjunction with fig. 4.

210, a network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information includes a group identifier corresponding to a terminal device group, and the first indication information is used to indicate information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal device, where the terminal device is a terminal device in the terminal device group corresponding to the group identifier;

220, the terminal device sends feedback information to the network device, where the feedback information includes information of channel occupancy of the terminal device.

The first indication may be sent through a group common signaling, and specifically, the group common signaling may be carried in a common physical downlink control channel, or a group common physical downlink control channel, or in a data channel scheduled by a common control channel (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel), or in part in the common control channel, and in other part in a PDCCH scheduled by the common control channel, or in a common DCI.

The group identifier corresponding to the terminal device group included in the first indication information may be a direct explicit indication; or may be an invisible indication, such as scrambling the first indication by a group identity corresponding to the group of terminal devices.

Hereinafter, without loss of generality, the present embodiment will be described in detail by taking the network device as the network device # a and the first instruction information as the instruction information #1 as examples.

Alternatively, the indication information #1 (i.e., an example of the first indication information) includes information of the channel occupation of the network device # a. After the network device # A competes for the channel, the information occupied by the channel of the network device # A is sent to other peripheral devices, and the information occupied by the channel of the network device # A can indicate the transmission duration occupied by the network device # A on the competed channel to other devices, so that collision of other devices is avoided, and the communication efficiency is improved. The information of the channel occupation of the network device # a may also be used to indicate which terminal devices are required to respond to or feed back the information of the channel occupation of the network device # a.

It should be understood that one or more grouped identifiers may be included in the indication information # 1. The grouped identifiers may be identified in various ways. For example, in the manner a, the grouped identifiers may be group identifiers. For another example, in the method B, the grouped identifiers may also be the relative identifiers after the terminal devices are grouped. As another example, in the method C, the grouped identifiers may also be group identifiers and relative identifiers of the terminal devices in the group.

It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, "relative identification of terminal devices" is used to indicate that, when a plurality of terminal devices are grouped into a group, the terminal devices may be identified by the relative identification of the terminal devices in the group. Or, it may be that, instead of grouping, only the relative identities are divided for a plurality of terminal devices, for example, the relative identities of the terminal devices are determined by globally dividing all the involved terminal devices. The "group identifier" refers to that after the terminal devices are grouped, different group identifiers may be divided for different groups to distinguish different groups. The "relative identifier of the terminal device in the group" refers to that after the terminal devices are grouped, different group identifiers can be divided for different groups to distinguish different groups, and the identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs can be divided, that is, the relative identifier of the terminal device in the group.

It should be understood that "relative identification of terminal device", "group identification", and "relative identification of terminal device in a group" are only used for distinguishing different objects, and the specific names do not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

When the indication information #1 includes a plurality of grouped identifiers, it may be used to indicate the terminal devices in a plurality of terminal device groups corresponding to the plurality of group identifiers one-to-one for feedback. When the indication information #1 is used to indicate the terminal device in the terminal device group corresponding to the group identifier to perform feedback, some terminal devices in the terminal device group may be indicated to perform feedback, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Wherein the part of the terminal devices comprises one or more terminal devices. When the indication information #1 includes the relative identifications grouped by the terminal devices, the terminal devices involved may be relatively identified, and then the terminal devices needing feedback are specified, wherein the relative identifications of the terminal devices may be obtained by globally dividing all the terminal devices involved. When the indication information #1 includes the group identifier and the relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group, the terminal device to be fed back may be specified by the group identifier and the relative identifiers of one or more terminal devices in the group, where the relative identifiers of the terminal devices in the group are obtained by dividing all the terminal devices involved in the group. Thus, the number of bits used to represent the relative identity of the terminal device within the group may be less than the number of bits used to represent the relative identity of the terminal device.

Based on the embodiment of the application, the information occupied by the feedback channels of part of the terminal devices in the terminal device group can be indicated through the grouped identifiers. Through the grouped identifiers, not only can the resource waste caused by the fact that each terminal device uses the C-RNTI identifiers be avoided, but also all terminal devices in the terminal device group are fed back through the partial terminal devices in the group, and the resources can be further saved. This will be explained in detail below.

Optionally, before notifying the plurality of terminal devices to perform the feedback of the channel occupation duration, the network device # a may first group the plurality of terminal devices to obtain a plurality of terminal device groups. The terminal device groups correspond to the group identifiers one to one, and each terminal device group may include one or more terminal devices. Each terminal device may have an identity (i.e., an instance of a relative identity) in the group of terminal devices to which it belongs.

The network device # a may group all terminal devices, and may identify the terminal devices after grouping in a manner of, for example, a manner C; the terminal devices that need to be fed back may also be grouped, and after grouping, the identification may be performed in a manner such as a manner B or a manner C, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, after all the terminal devices are grouped, if the identifier is identified in the manner of the manner C, the obtained grouped identifier may be a group identifier and a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group. For another example, after grouping the terminal devices that need to be fed back, if the method B or the method C is used for identifying, the obtained identifier after grouping may be a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal devices that need to be fed back. The network device # a can group a plurality of terminal devices by at least any one of the following two ways.

Mode 1: grouping is performed according to interference situations.

Specifically, assuming that the terminal device is in a connected state, the network device # a may know an approximate location situation based on measurement and feedback of a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), and/or a Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), and/or a Reference Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) in a licensed spectrum. The network device # a allocates groups to these terminal devices according to the measurement report in the licensed spectrum. For example, terminal devices located close together may be grouped together. As shown in fig. 5. The network device # a divides a plurality of terminal devices into 4 groups, which are respectively denoted as: the terminal device group comprises a terminal device group 1, a terminal device group 2, a terminal device group 3 and a terminal device group 4, wherein the positions of the terminal devices contained in the terminal device groups are all close.

It should be understood that the above network device # a may know the approximate location based on at least one of RSRP, RSRQ, and RSSI, which is only an exemplary illustration and not a limitation of the present application, and any method that may enable the network device # a to know the approximate location belongs to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, the network device # a may transmit indication information #3 (i.e., an example of the third indication information) to the terminal device, where the indication information #3 includes a group identifier, or the indication information #3 includes a relative identifier of the terminal device, or the indication information #3 includes a group identifier and a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs. The group to which the terminal devices belong and the identities of the terminal devices in the terminal device group to which the terminal devices belong can be indicated by the indication information #3, so that the terminal devices can know the corresponding group identities and the identities in the terminal device group (i.e., an example of the relative identities). The relative identity of the terminal device may also be indicated directly by the indication information # 3.

Specifically, assuming that the terminal device group 1 includes 5 terminal devices, the relative identities of the 5 terminal devices in the terminal device group 1 may be recorded as: terminal device 1.1 in terminal device group 1, terminal device 1.2 in terminal device group 1, terminal device 1.3 in terminal device group 1, terminal device 1.4 in terminal device group 1, and terminal device 1.5 in terminal device group 1. For another example, the terminal device group 2 includes 3 terminal devices, and the relative identifications of the 3 terminal devices in the terminal device group 2 may be recorded as: terminal device 2.1 in terminal device group 2, terminal device 2.2 in terminal device group 2, terminal device 2.3 in terminal device group 3. Alternatively, the indication information #3 may also directly indicate the relative identity of the terminal device. For example, assuming that 5 terminal devices are included in the terminal device group, the relative identities of the terminal devices may be: terminal equipment 1 in the whole terminal equipment group, terminal equipment 2 in the whole terminal equipment group, terminal equipment 3 in the whole terminal equipment group, terminal equipment 4 in the whole terminal equipment group and terminal equipment 5 in the whole terminal equipment group; alternatively, the relative identity of the terminal device may be: the terminal device a in the whole terminal device group, the terminal device b in the whole terminal device group, the terminal device c in the whole terminal device group, the terminal device d in the whole terminal device group, and the terminal device e in the whole terminal device group.

It should be understood that the above specific identification manners are only exemplary, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. Any identification mode that can distinguish different terminal device groups, or any identification mode that can distinguish terminal devices, or any identification mode that can distinguish different terminal devices in a terminal device group, belongs to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Alternatively, the indication information #3 may be notified through related signaling or data information on the licensed spectrum, and may be, for example, semi-static Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) layer signaling, or may be sent through RRC signaling and activated/deactivated by physical layer signaling or MAC layer signaling. The RRC signaling may be UE-specific (dedicated) signaling, or signaling transmitted through broadcast information or multicast information.

Mode 2: and grouping according to whether feedback exists.

Specifically, the terminal devices that need to be fed back may be grouped into one group. For example, assuming that there are 20 terminal devices that need to perform feedback, the 20 terminal devices may be divided into one or more groups. Therefore, each group can select one or more representative terminal devices for feedback, and therefore resource cost required when the terminal devices feed back information occupied by the channel can be saved.

Optionally, when selecting a representative terminal device, the selection may be performed with reference to a channel duration that the terminal device needs to use. For example, there are three terminal devices to be scheduled, the three terminal devices are located close to each other, and the interference situation is approximately the same. The channel use duration obtained by the first terminal device according to the buffer amount is shorter, the channel use duration obtained by the second terminal device according to the buffer amount is longer, and the channel use duration obtained by the third terminal device according to the buffer amount is between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, so that the third terminal device can be selected as a representative terminal device. The feedback information may use the channel usage duration of the terminal device for feedback.

Optionally, when selecting a representative terminal device, one representative terminal device may be selected according to the interference situation. The indication information #1 may additionally include channel occupation duration information included when the feedback of the terminal device is required, so that the representative terminal device uses the channel occupation duration information included in the indication information #1 as the channel occupation duration fed back by the terminal device when feeding back. For example, three terminal devices need to be scheduled, the three terminal devices are close in position, and the interference situations are approximately the same, although the buffer requirements are different, the network device # a may select according to the interference situations, and may additionally issue a channel occupancy duration reference value that suggests feedback. When the representative terminal device feeds back, the channel occupying duration reference value contained in the above indication information #1 may be used as the channel occupying duration fed back by the terminal device. The representative terminal devices may be one or more. When there are a plurality of representative terminal devices, the channel occupancy duration reference value for the proposed feedback issued by the network device # a may be a common one, or may also be the channel occupancy duration reference value for the proposed feedback corresponding to different representative terminal devices in sequence. Therefore, when feeding back, the representative terminal devices can perform corresponding feedback by referring to the channel occupation duration reference value suggested to be fed back.

The above two ways are only exemplary, the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto, and other methods and processes capable of grouping the terminal devices fall within the scope of the present application, for example, the above way 1 and way 2 may also be used jointly, that is, the network device # a may group the terminal devices in combination with whether to feedback and whether to have similar interference situations. Or, for example, the terminal devices are divided into a group of terminal devices, and the relative identification of the terminal devices may be included in the indication information # 1. The group of terminal devices may be a part of all terminal devices served by the network device, that is, the part of terminal devices is selected from all terminal devices according to a certain criterion as a group of terminal devices. For example, the part of terminal devices are terminal devices selected to communicate on the unlicensed spectrum according to communication capabilities, where the communication capabilities are whether to support data transmission capability on the unlicensed spectrum or whether to have LBT capability. The communication capability can be reported to the network device by the terminal device, so that the network device carries out relative identification on the terminal devices based on the reported information.

After the network device # a groups the terminal devices, it may instruct some terminal devices in the terminal device group to feed back the information of channel occupation. In this embodiment of the present application, the network device # a instructs the terminal device to perform feedback, which may or may not be based on dynamic triggering. Specifically, at least the following three cases are included.

Case 1: and indicating the specific terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group to feed back.

Optionally, the indication information #1 includes a group identifier and a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group. The relative identification is the identification of the terminal device in the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs. Specifically, based on dynamic triggering, through dynamic triggering, a DCI format (format) X includes an information indication of a terminal device to be activated for reporting, that is, a group identifier and a relative identifier of the terminal device in a terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs, and only the specified terminal devices will feed back the information indication. As shown in fig. 6, the DCI format delivered by the network device # a includes group identifiers, such as terminal device group 1, terminal device group 2, and terminal device group 3 in fig. 6. That is, the terminal devices in the terminal device group 1, the terminal device group 2, and the terminal device group 3 need to feedback the channel occupancy information sent by the network device # a. In addition, the issued DCI format may further indicate a specific terminal device. As shown in fig. 6, the identifiers of the terminal devices in the terminal device group 1 that need to be fed back are: the terminal device 1.x located in the terminal device group 1, the identifier of the terminal device needing to be fed back in the terminal device group 2 is: the terminal device 2.x located in the terminal device group 2, and the identifier of the terminal device needing to be fed back in the terminal device group 3 is: terminal devices 3.x located in the terminal device group 3. Furthermore, the group identity and the relative identity of the terminal device in the group of terminal devices may be a direct explicit indication; or may be an invisible indication, such as scrambling the indication #1 by the group identity and the relative identity of the terminal device in the group of terminal devices.

Optionally, the message 2 sent by the network device # a may be a random access response, and the indication information #1 may be carried in the random access response message. Alternatively, the network device # a issues a DCI similar to a paging message (paging message).

Alternatively, the relative identification of the terminal device may be included in the indication information # 1. And the relative identification is the identification of the terminal equipment in the divided terminal equipment. The above-mentioned only including the relative identifier of the terminal device may be understood that the divided terminal devices are all divided in one group, and therefore the relative identifier of the terminal device in the group is the relative identifier of the terminal device. Specifically, when a specific terminal device is instructed to perform feedback, based on dynamic triggering, the DCI format may include an information indication of the terminal device to be activated for reporting, that is, a relative identifier of the terminal device, through the dynamic triggering, and only the specified terminal device will perform feedback. As shown in fig. 7, the group identifier included in the DCI format issued by the network device # a may be omitted (i.e., does not need to include), and the identifier of the terminal device that needs to be fed back is the relative identifier of the terminal device: i.e. terminal x, terminal y, terminal z, etc. located in the whole terminal group. Furthermore, the relative identity of the terminal device may be a direct explicit indication or an implicit indication, for example, by scrambling the indication #1 with the relative identity of the terminal device.

The specified terminal devices, for example, terminal device 1.x located in terminal device group 1, terminal device 2.x located in terminal device group 2, and terminal device 3.x located in terminal device group 3, or terminal device x, terminal device y, and terminal device z located in the whole terminal device group, may be representative terminal devices in each terminal device group determined by the network device. For example, the network device # a may roughly know the interference situation of each terminal device based on at least one of measurement and feedback of RSRP, RSRQ, and RSSI in the licensed spectrum, and then the network device # a may select a part of terminal devices capable of representing the terminal device group to feed back the information of the channel occupation of the network device # a. Alternatively, these designated terminal apparatuses may be randomly designated by the network apparatus # a. Alternatively, these specified terminal devices may be the modes mentioned in the above mode 2. Alternatively, these designated terminal devices may be determined by the network device # a based on the state of the terminal device, or the like.

It should be noted that the terminal device selected by the network device # a may be a terminal device capable of performing corresponding NAV transmission on behalf of a terminal device group, and the terminal device may perform channel occupation indication as a terminal device representing a surrounding interference situation and a feedback channel occupation NAV situation. It is not certain whether the terminal device is scheduled at the next MCOT. In other words, the terminal device may simply select the situation that is used to inform the surrounding device of the channel occupancy, but not necessarily the terminal device that is to be scheduled.

It should be noted that, the above description is only an exemplary description of which terminal devices are specified by the network device # a for feedback, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto, and any scheme that enables the network device # a to determine that some terminal devices in the terminal device group perform feedback falls within the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application, for example, the network device # a may also determine the terminal devices that need feedback or the number of the terminal devices that need feedback according to the situation of the feedback resources. Conversely, the network device # a may also configure the feedback resource according to the number of terminal devices that need to be fed back.

It should be noted that, as shown in fig. 6, the indication information # a sent by the network device # a may further include at least one of Tx/Rx and NAV. Wherein Tx indicates channel occupancy notification initiated by the transmitting end, Rx indicates channel occupancy notification initiated by the receiving end, and NAV indicates duration information of channel occupancy. Whether the transmitting end or the receiving end initiates the channel occupation notification can be determined by Tx/Rx. In addition, in addition to the NAV used to represent the duration information of channel occupation, the network device may further include channel occupation duration information suggested for feedback, where the channel occupation duration information suggested for feedback may be a reference value, that is, the channel occupation duration included when instructing the terminal device to perform feedback may be set with reference to the channel occupation duration information suggested for feedback. The setting may be performed by referring to the channel occupancy duration information fed back by the suggestion, and the channel occupancy duration reference value fed back by the suggestion may be directly set as the channel occupancy included in the feedback of the terminal deviceAnd time length, or, according to the channel occupation time length reference value fed back by the suggestion, the channel occupation time length contained in the feedback of the terminal equipment is deduced as the input of a function. Where the function may be expressed as y ═ f (x), the function may be a linear function, such as: f (x) ═ k × x, where k is a positive integer, that is, the channel occupancy duration y included in the feedback of the terminal device is proportional to the channel occupancy duration reference value x of the suggested feedback. Alternatively, the function may be a non-linear function, such as: f (x) k x²That is, the channel occupancy duration y included in the feedback of the terminal device is a value derived from a nonlinear function affected by the channel occupancy duration reference value of the suggested feedback.

Case 2: some specific groups of terminal devices are instructed to feed back.

Optionally, one or more group identifications are included in the indication information # 1. Specifically, when the DCI format X is dynamically triggered, the DCI format X includes an information indication of a group to be activated for reporting, that is, a group identifier is indicated, and only the specified terminal device group will feed back the information indication. For example, assume 4 terminal device groups, terminal device group 1, terminal device group 2, terminal device group 3, and terminal device group 4, as shown in fig. 5. As shown in fig. 8, the DCI format delivered by the network device # a includes a group identifier: a terminal device group 1, a terminal device group 2 and a terminal device group 3. That is, in the 4 terminal device groups, only the terminal devices in the terminal device group 1, the terminal device group 2, and the terminal device group 3 need to feed back the channel occupancy information sent by the network device # a.

Then, the determination of which terminal devices in the specified group of terminal devices require feedback may be based on automatic contention.

Optionally, the terminal device determines whether to feed back the information of the channel occupation according to the group identifier and the first threshold. Specifically, the terminal device may randomly generate a value between a preset minimum value and a preset maximum value, and compare the value with the first threshold to determine whether the terminal device needs to feed back the information of the channel occupancy. For example, when the value randomly generated by the terminal device is smaller than the first threshold value, it is determined that the terminal device needs to feed back the information of the channel occupancy. The first threshold may also be understood as a reference comparison value, which is used for the terminal device to determine whether to feed back the information occupied by the channel.

The preset minimum value, and/or the preset maximum value, and/or the first threshold value may be sent by the network device # a to the terminal device, for example, through RRC signaling, or through MAC layer signaling, or through RRC signaling and activated/deactivated by physical layer signaling or MAC layer signaling. Alternatively, the preset minimum value, and/or the preset maximum value, and/or the first threshold value may also be specified in the protocol or prestored, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The preset minimum value, the preset maximum value, and the first threshold value may be understood as parameters of terminal device groups, and the minimum values corresponding to different terminal device groups may be the same or different, the maximum values of different terminal device groups may be the same or different, and the first threshold values of different terminal device groups may be the same or different. The preset minimum value, the preset maximum value, and the first threshold may be configured by the network device for the terminal device group, or may also be configured by the network device according to the interference condition of each terminal device group, or may also be determined randomly, or may also be specified in a protocol, or may also be determined based on historical data, and so on.

It should be understood that the above specification of a specific terminal device is set forth in connection with various parameters, but it should be understood that this is only an example given for ease of understanding and should not constitute any limitation of the present application. The parameters or specific values of the parameters listed above are also determined based on existing parameters only, and the application does not exclude the possibility of assigning new definitions in future protocols.

Case 3: by default each group is fed back.

Specifically, when there is no dynamic trigger, resources related to all terminal device groups are pre-configured by RRC signaling (signaling), and assuming that all groups require default feedback, also which terminal device in the terminal device group performs feedback will be determined based on the automatic contention described in case 2 above.

The three cases are merely exemplary, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, for example, case 1 and case 2 may occur simultaneously.

The terminal devices in the terminal device group that need to feedback the channel occupancy information are exemplarily described above through three cases. The following describes in detail feedback resources used by the terminal device to feed back information occupied by the channel. The resource used by the terminal device to feed back the information occupied by the channel can be determined by at least the following two methods.

The method comprises the following steps: the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship (for simplicity, recorded as the first corresponding relationship) between the group identifier and the feedback resource.

Wherein the first corresponding relationship may be: a correspondence between the group identification and the feedback resource, or a correspondence between the position information of the group identification in the indication information # a and the feedback resource. The feedback resource comprises a resource used by the terminal equipment for feeding back the information occupied by the channel. In other words, the terminal device may use some or all of the corresponding feedback resources. Each is described in detail below.

According to a possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel directly according to the corresponding relationship between the group identifier and the feedback resource.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 9, assuming that the indication information # a includes group identifiers corresponding to the terminal device group 1, the terminal device group 2, the terminal device group 3, and the terminal device group 4, it can be understood that the network device # a indicates information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal devices in the terminal device group 1, the terminal device group 2, the terminal device group 3, and the terminal device group 4. Specifically, which terminal devices feed back the channel occupancy information may be based on any one of the three situations, and details are not repeated here. The terminal devices may determine the resources used when the terminal devices feed back the information occupied by the channel based on the correspondence in fig. 9. In fig. 9, the left column indicates a feedback resource, and the right column indicates a group identifier where a corresponding terminal device is located, and there is a correspondence between the two. For example, when the terminal devices in the terminal device group 1 feed back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resources preconfigured for the terminal device group 1 may be used. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group 2 feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group 2 may be used. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group 3 feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group 3 may be used. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group 4 feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group 4 may be used.

The network device may configure a control resource set (CORSET) resource for the feedback resource through RRC signaling. The feedback resources may be some common search spaces configured by the base station through RRC signaling, and the common search spaces may be allocated specifically to the uplink feedback channel occupancy information.

Wherein, the corresponding relationship between the group identifier and the feedback resource may be semi-static configuration. For example, the network device # a may be notified to the terminal device after being configured in advance, for example, through RRC signaling, or through MAC layer signaling, or sent through RRC signaling and activated/deactivated by physical layer signaling or MAC layer signaling. Alternatively, the corresponding relationship between the group identifier and the feedback resource may also be a pre-stored corresponding relationship.

In another possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship between the position information of the group identifier in the indication information # a and the feedback resource.

First, fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of the position of one group identifier in the indication information # a. As shown in fig. 10, it is assumed that the indication information indicates information of the feedback channel occupancy of the terminal device group 1, the terminal device group 2, the terminal device group 3, and the terminal device group 4. Then the terminal device group at the first position in the indication information # a is terminal device group 4, or the position of terminal device group 4 in the indication information # a is first. Similarly, the terminal device group at the second position in the indication information # a is the terminal device group 1, or the position of the terminal device group 1 in the indication information # a is the second. The terminal device group at the third position in the indication information # a is the terminal device group 2, or the position of the terminal device group 2 in the indication information # a is the third. The terminal device group at the fourth position in the indication information # a is the terminal device group 3, or the position of the terminal device group 3 in the indication information # a is the fourth.

It should be noted that fig. 10 only introduces the location information of the group identifier of the terminal device group in the indication information # a, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit that the indication information # a only includes the group identifier. For example, the indication information # a may be included in the DCI format shown in fig. 6, or fig. 7, or fig. 8. Taking the DCI format shown in fig. 6 as an example, as can be seen from fig. 6, the terminal device group at the first position in the indication information # a is terminal device group 1, or the position of terminal device group 1 in the indication information # a is the first. The terminal device group located at the second position in the indication information # a is the terminal device group 2, or the position of the terminal device group 2 in the indication information # a is the second. The terminal device group at the third position in the indication information # a is the terminal device group 3, or the position of the terminal device group 3 in the indication information # a is the third. Here, for brevity, no further description is given.

It should be further noted that, in the following embodiments, the related location information of the relative identifier is also similar to that in fig. 10, and only the group identifier is replaced by the relative identifier, which is for brevity and will not be described again.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 11, assuming that the indication information # a includes group identifiers corresponding to the terminal device group 1, the terminal device group 2, the terminal device group 3, and the terminal device group 4, it can be understood that the network device # a indicates information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal devices in the terminal device group 1, the terminal device group 2, the terminal device group 3, and the terminal device group 4. Specifically, which terminal devices feed back the channel occupancy information may be based on any one of the three situations, and details are not repeated here. The terminal devices may determine the resources used when the terminal devices feed back the information occupied by the channel based on the correspondence in fig. 11. In fig. 11, the left column indicates a feedback resource, and the right column indicates a relative position of the group identifier where the corresponding terminal device is located in the indication information # a, and there is a correspondence relationship between the two. For example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group located at the first position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, a feedback resource (denoted as a first feedback resource) preconfigured for the terminal device group located at the first position may be used. In connection with fig. 10, it can be seen that the terminal device group 4 uses the first feedback resource. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group 1 located at the second position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, a feedback resource (denoted as a second feedback resource) preconfigured for the terminal device group 1 located at the second position may be used. That is, in conjunction with fig. 10, the terminal device group 1 uses the second feedback resource. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group 2 located at the third position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, a feedback resource (denoted as a third feedback resource) preconfigured for the terminal device group 2 located at the third position may be used. That is, in conjunction with fig. 10, the terminal device group 2 uses the third feedback resource. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group 3 located at the fourth position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, a feedback resource (denoted as a fourth feedback resource) preconfigured for the terminal device group 3 located at the fourth position may be used. In connection with fig. 10, it can be seen that the terminal device group 3 uses the fourth feedback resource. Wherein the preconfigured feedback resource is the feedback resource configured by the network device through RRC signaling.

Wherein, the correspondence between the relative position of the group identifier and the feedback resource may be a semi-static configuration. For example, the network device # a may be notified to the terminal device after being configured in advance, for example, through RRC signaling, or through MAC layer signaling, or sent through RRC signaling and activated/deactivated by physical layer signaling or MAC layer signaling. Alternatively, the corresponding relationship between the relative position of the group identifier and the feedback resource may also be a pre-stored corresponding relationship. The pre-storing is preset or written in the device in advance.

In addition, the corresponding relationship between the relative position of the group identifier and the feedback resource can also be exchanged according to the actual situation. For example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group located at the first position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resource pre-configured for the terminal device group located at the third position may be used. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group located at the second position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group located at the second position may be used. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group located at the third position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group located at the fourth position may be used. For another example, when the terminal device in the terminal device group located at the fourth position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group located at the first position may be used. The correspondence may be a one-to-one correspondence based on sequence design, a one-to-one correspondence in sequence (where the sequence may be in an ascending order or a descending order), or a one-to-one correspondence directly specified by the network device.

Optionally, the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel may also be determined according to the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier of the terminal device and the feedback resource. Specifically, the group identifier in method 1 may also be directly replaced with the relative identifier of the terminal device. For example, the group identifier in fig. 9 and fig. 11 may be replaced with the relative identifier of the terminal device, and then the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel may be determined according to the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier of the terminal device and the feedback resource.

According to a possible implementation manner, the terminal device directly determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relation between the relative identifier of the terminal device and the feedback resource. For example, as shown in fig. 12, the terminal device may determine the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier of the terminal device and the feedback resource. Specifically, similar to the embodiment of fig. 9, the description is omitted here for brevity.

In another possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship between the position information of the relative identifier of the terminal device in the indication information # a and the feedback resource. For example, as shown in fig. 13, the correspondence between the relative identity of the terminal device in the indication information # a and the feedback resource determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel. Specifically, similar to the embodiment of fig. 11, the description is omitted here for brevity.

It should be understood that the above description is only exemplary, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. Any scheme that can determine the terminal device in the terminal device group corresponding to the group identifier or the terminal device corresponding to the terminal device relative identifier according to the relative position of the identifier of the group or the relative position of the identifier of the terminal device, or the resource used when the information occupied by the channel is fed back by the terminal device corresponding to the relative identifier of the terminal device, belongs to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

The method 2 comprises the following steps: the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship (for simplicity, recorded as the second corresponding relationship) between the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource.

Wherein, the second corresponding relationship may be any one of the following: the corresponding relation between the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource, the corresponding relation between the position information of the relative identifier in the indication information # A and the feedback sub-resource, the corresponding relation between the relative identifier and the feedback resource, and the corresponding relation between the position information of the relative identifier in the indication information # A and the feedback resource. Each is described in detail below.

Specifically, further, when the relative identification of the terminal device in the belonging terminal device group is included in the indication information # a, and if there are a plurality of sub-resources (i.e., an example of the feedback sub-resource) related to the corresponding above-mentioned feedback resource, the terminal device may further select the feedback sub-resource based on the second correspondence relationship. Or, when a plurality of terminal devices in one terminal device group want to feed back information occupied by the channel, the feedback sub-resource may be further selected based on the second correspondence.

According to a possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel directly according to the corresponding relation between the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource.

Specifically, assuming that the network device # a indicates that a plurality of terminal devices in the terminal device group feed back information occupied by the channel, the resource used by each terminal device to feed back the information occupied by the channel may be determined based on the correspondence between the relative identity and the feedback sub-resource. As shown in fig. 14, the left column represents the feedback resource, and the right column represents the relative identity of the corresponding terminal device in the belonging group, and there is a corresponding relationship between the two. For example, assuming that the network device # a indicates the terminal device 1.1, the terminal device 1.2, and the terminal device 1.3 in the terminal device group 1 to feed back the information occupied by the channel, and the feedback resources preconfigured for the terminal device group 1 include sub-resource 1, sub-resource 2, and sub-resource 3, the resources may be determined according to the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier corresponding to the terminal device and the sub-resource. For example, when the terminal device 1.1 in the terminal device group 1 feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the sub-resource 1 in the feedback resource pre-configured for the terminal device group 1 may be used. For another example, when the terminal device 1.2 in the terminal device group 1 feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the sub-resource 2 in the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group 1 may be used. For another example, when the terminal device 1.3 in the terminal device group 1 feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the sub-resource 3 in the feedback resource preconfigured for the terminal device group 1 may be used. Similarly, the correspondence may be a one-to-one correspondence based on sequence design, a one-to-one correspondence in sequence (where the sequence may be in an ascending order or a descending order), or a one-to-one correspondence directly specified by the network device.

Wherein, the corresponding relation between the relative identification and the feedback sub-resource can be semi-static configuration. For example, the network device # a may be notified to the terminal device after being configured in advance, for example, through RRC signaling, or through MAC layer signaling, or sent through RRC signaling and activated/deactivated by physical layer signaling or MAC layer signaling. Or, the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource may also be a pre-stored corresponding relationship.

In addition, when the number of terminal devices in the terminal device group that need to be fed back is smaller than the number of feedback sub-resources in the feedback resources, one or more feedback sub-resources may be randomly selected for feedback. The present embodiment is not limited to this.

In another possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship between the position information of the relative identifier in the indication information # a and the feedback sub-resource.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 15, assuming that the indication information # a indicates that three terminal devices in the terminal device group 1 feed back information occupied by channels, the three terminal devices may determine resources used when the terminal devices feed back the information occupied by channels based on the correspondence relationship in fig. 15. In fig. 15, the left column indicates the feedback resource, and the right column indicates the relative position of the terminal device in the terminal device group 1, which is indicated by the indication information # a, and there is a correspondence relationship therebetween. For example, when the terminal device located at the first position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback sub-resource preconfigured for the terminal device located at the first position may be used. For another example, when the terminal device located at the second position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback sub-resource preconfigured for the terminal device located at the second position may be used. For another example, when the terminal device located at the third position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback sub-resource preconfigured for the terminal device located at the third position may be used.

Wherein, the correspondence between the position of the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource may be semi-static configuration. For example, the network device # a may be notified to the terminal device after being configured in advance, for example, through RRC signaling, or through MAC layer signaling, or sent through RRC signaling and activated/deactivated by physical layer signaling or MAC layer signaling. Or, the corresponding relationship between the position of the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource may also be a pre-stored corresponding relationship.

In addition, the corresponding relation between the position of the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource can also be exchanged according to the actual situation. For example, when the terminal device located at the first position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback sub-resource pre-configured for the terminal device located at the third position may be used. For another example, when the terminal device located at the second position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback sub-resource preconfigured for the terminal device located at the first position may be used. For another example, when the terminal device located at the third position in the indication information feeds back the information occupied by the channel, the feedback sub-resource preconfigured for the terminal device located at the second position may be used.

Optionally, in the method 2, the terminal device may also determine the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel directly through the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier and the feedback resource.

According to a possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel directly according to the corresponding relation between the relative identifier and the feedback resource.

In another possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship between the position information of the relative identifier in the indication information # a and the feedback resource.

It should be understood that the above description is only exemplary, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. Any scheme that can determine the resource used when the terminal device corresponding to the relative identifier feeds back the information occupied by the channel according to the relative identifier or the relative position of the relative identifier in the indication information, and the like, belongs to the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the above two methods and possible implementations of the two methods are only exemplary, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. Any method that enables the terminal device to determine the resource occupied by the feedback channel according to the first corresponding relationship and/or the second corresponding relationship belongs to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

It should be further noted that the first corresponding relationship and the second corresponding relationship may be configured and issued independently, or the second corresponding relationship may also be configured and issued as the auxiliary information of the first corresponding relationship, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

How the terminal device determines the resources used by the information occupied by the feedback channel is described above in connection with fig. 9 to 15. After the terminal device determines the feedback information, the information occupied by the channel may be fed back based on the preconfigured feedback resource.

Optionally, the information about channel occupation of the terminal device (i.e., an example of the feedback information) includes duration information about channel occupation, and/or is information about channel occupation by the transmitting end or the receiving end. In other words, the NAV, and/or Tx/Rx may be included in the feedback information of the terminal device.

The information indicating that the transmitting end or the receiving end occupies the channel indicates whether the terminal device is using the channel as the transmitting end device or using the channel as the receiving end device.

Based on the feedback of the terminal device, the network device # a may enter the data scheduling phase of the MCOT, and the scheduled terminal device is not necessarily the terminal device selected by the network device # a for feedback. The nodes around the feedback terminal device, including the surrounding network devices and the surrounding terminal devices (whether the terminal device in the network device # a or the terminal device in the adjacent network device) can perform corresponding actions according to the NAV fed back by the terminal device. When the NAV is transmitted and carries the sender indication, the nodes heard around may not be limited by the NAV and may continue to communicate, or the threshold judgment value affected by the NAV is large, and only when the detected interference is larger than the second threshold value (a large threshold value), the channel is prohibited from being used within the indicated NAV time; when the NAV is transmitted and carries the receiver indication, the nodes heard around need to be restricted to the NAV, i.e. when the detected interference is greater than a first threshold (a smaller threshold), the use of the channel needs to be prohibited for the indicated NAV time.

The first threshold and the second threshold may be set by a protocol, or may be set by a network device and sent to a terminal device. This is not limitative.

The following describes embodiments of the present application with reference to specific examples. Fig. 16 illustrates a specific embodiment of a communication method suitable for use in accordance with an embodiment of the present application. The method 400 includes:

the network device sends 410 the packet information to the plurality of terminal devices.

Specifically, the network device groups a plurality of terminal devices and obtains one or more terminal device groups. Each terminal device group corresponds to a group identifier, each terminal device group comprises one or more terminal devices, and each terminal device can have a relative identifier in the terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs. The grouping information sent by the network device to the plurality of terminal devices may include a group identifier to which the terminal device belongs, or a relative identifier of the terminal device, or a group identifier to which the terminal device belongs and a relative identifier of the group identifier in the terminal device group.

The network device configures 420 the feedback resources, and/or the feedback sub-resources.

430, the network device notifies the first corresponding relationship and/or notifies the second corresponding relationship.

The network device may configure the feedback resource, and the terminal device may determine the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the correspondence between the group identifier and the feedback resource. Or, the network device may further configure the feedback sub-resource, and issue a corresponding relationship between the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource, and the terminal device may further determine the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource. The first corresponding relationship and the second corresponding relationship are described in detail in the above embodiments, and are not described again for brevity.

Specifically, reference may be made to method 1 and method 2 in the above, which are for brevity and will not be described again.

The network device includes, 440, a group identifier in the DCI, or a relative identifier of the terminal device, or the group identifier and a relative identifier of the terminal device in the group to which the terminal device belongs.

Specifically, the format of the DCI issued by the network device may be as shown in fig. 6, fig. 7, or fig. 8. For example, when the network device includes a group identifier in the DCI, the terminal device receives the group identifier, and may determine whether the group identifier is an identifier of a terminal device group to which the terminal device belongs. If the DCI contains the identifier of the terminal equipment group to which the DCI belongs, the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group to which the DCI belongs is determined to need to feed back the information occupied by the channel, and whether the DCI needs to feed back the information is further determined according to the relative identifier or automatic competition.

Specifically, reference may be made to cases 1 to 3 in the above, which are for brevity and will not be described again.

450, whether the relative identification of the terminal device is contained or not, or the identification of the terminal device in the group to which the terminal device belongs.

And 460, the appointed terminal equipment feeds back the channel occupation notification on the corresponding feedback resource.

And when the DCI contains the relative identification of the terminal equipment or the relative identification of the terminal equipment in the group to which the terminal equipment belongs, the appointed terminal equipment feeds back the channel occupation on the corresponding feedback resource. Specifically, reference may be made to case 1 above, which is for brevity and will not be described again.

470, according to the automatic contention mechanism, determine whether it can represent the terminal device group to perform the feedback of the channel occupation notification.

When the DCI does not include the relative identifier of the terminal device in the group to which the terminal device belongs, the terminal device in the designated terminal device group may determine whether the terminal device itself can perform feedback of the channel occupation notification on behalf of the terminal device group according to an automatic contention mechanism. Specifically, reference may be made to case 2 above, which is for brevity and will not be described again.

Based on the technical scheme, when the network equipment informs the terminal equipment of feeding back the information occupied by the channel, the terminal equipment can be firstly grouped, the terminal equipment groups correspond to the group identifications one by one, and each terminal equipment group comprises a plurality of terminal equipment. Alternatively, when there is only one terminal device group, the group identifier may be a relative identifier of the terminal device in the entire terminal device group. In other words, the first indication information may directly include the relative identity of the terminal device. For example, a group of terminal devices may be a part of all terminal devices served by the network device, that is, the part of terminal devices is selected from all terminal devices as a group of terminal devices according to a certain criterion. For example, the part of terminal devices are terminal devices selected to communicate on the unlicensed spectrum according to communication capabilities, where the communication capabilities are whether to support data transmission capability on the unlicensed spectrum or whether to have LBT capability. The communication capability can be reported to the network device by the terminal device, so that the network device carries out relative identification on the terminal devices based on the reported information. When the terminal equipment is informed to feed back the channel occupation time, the resource waste caused by the need of identifying each terminal equipment can be avoided based on the grouping identification. In addition, in the terminal device group, part of the terminal devices can be selected to represent the terminal device group for feedback, so that not only can the network device perform correct scheduling processing based on the feedback information, but also the resource cost required for notifying the terminal device of feeding back the channel occupation time can be reduced. .

It should be understood that, for convenience of understanding only, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail by taking the interaction of the network device and the terminal device as an example, but this should not limit the present application in any way. For example, the network device that sends the information of the feedback resource to the terminal device and the network device that receives the feedback information may be the same network device or different network devices, which is not limited in this application.

It should also be understood that fig. 16 schematically shows the steps performed by the terminal device and the network device for ease of understanding only, but this does not mean that the terminal device and the network device will perform each step shown in the figure, for example, the terminal device may alternatively perform between step 460 and step 470 depending on whether the terminal device has an identifier of the group to which the terminal device belongs.

The communication method according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 4 to 16. Hereinafter, the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 17 to 19.

Fig. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 17, the communication device 500 may include: a receiving unit 510 and a transmitting unit 520.

In one possible design, the communication apparatus 500 may be a network device or a chip configured in the network device.

In one possible implementation, the sending unit 520 may be configured to: sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information comprises a group identifier corresponding to a terminal equipment group, and the first indication information is used for indicating information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal equipment, and the terminal equipment is the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group corresponding to the group identifier; the receiving unit 510 may be configured to: and receiving feedback information from the terminal equipment, wherein the feedback information comprises information occupied by a channel of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the first indication information further includes a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group, where the terminal device is a terminal device that needs to feed back information occupied by a channel determined by the network device.

Optionally, the sending unit 520 may further be configured to: and sending second indication information, wherein the second indication information comprises a first threshold, and the second indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to determine whether to feed back information occupied by a channel according to the first threshold.

Optionally, there is a correspondence between the group identifier and the feedback resource; or, the group identifier has a corresponding relationship between the position information in the first indication information and the feedback resource; wherein the feedback resource includes a resource used by the terminal device for feeding back information occupied by the channel.

Optionally, the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource have a corresponding relationship; or, the relative identification and the feedback resource have a corresponding relation; or, the relative identifier has a corresponding relationship between the position information in the first indication information and the feedback sub-resource; or, the relative identifier has a corresponding relation between the position information in the first indication information and the feedback resource; the relative identification is the relative identification of the terminal device in the terminal device group, the feedback resource includes the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal device, and the feedback sub-resource is the resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal device.

Optionally, the first indication information further includes information of channel occupancy of the network device.

Optionally, the information of channel occupancy of the network device includes duration information of channel occupancy, and/or is used as information of channel occupancy of a sending end or a receiving end.

Optionally, the information of channel occupancy of the terminal device includes duration information of channel occupancy, and/or is used as information of channel occupancy of a sending end or a receiving end.

Optionally, the first indication information is a physical layer signaling, and the physical layer signaling is sent through a set common physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

Specifically, the communication apparatus 500 may correspond to the network device in the communication method 200 or the method 400 according to the embodiment of the present application, and the communication apparatus 500 may include modules for performing the methods performed by the network device in the communication method 200 or the method 400 in fig. 4 or 16. Moreover, each module and the other operations and/or functions in the communication apparatus 500 are respectively for implementing corresponding flows of the communication method 200 in fig. 4 and the method 400 in fig. 16, specifically, the receiving unit 510 is used for the step 220 in the method 200 and the

steps

460 and 470 in the method 400, the sending unit 520 is used for executing the step 210 in the method 200 and the

steps

410, 430 and 440 in the method 400, and specific processes for each unit to execute the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the method 200 and the method 400, and are not repeated here for brevity.

In another possible design, the communication device 500 may be a terminal device or a chip configured in the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 510 may be configured to receive first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information includes a group identifier corresponding to a terminal device group, and the first indication information is used to indicate information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal device, where the terminal device is a terminal device in the terminal device group corresponding to the group identifier; the sending unit 520 may be configured to: and sending feedback information to the network equipment, wherein the feedback information comprises information occupied by the channel of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the apparatus 500 further comprises a determining unit 530, the determining unit 530 is configured to: and determining whether to feed back the information occupied by the channel according to the first threshold and the group identifier.

Optionally, the determining unit 530 may be further configured to: determining resources used by information occupied by a feedback channel according to a first corresponding relationship, wherein the first corresponding relationship is as follows: the group identifier is associated with a feedback resource, or the group identifier is associated with a feedback resource in the first indication information, where the feedback resource includes a resource used by information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal device.

Optionally, the determining unit 530 may be further configured to: determining resources used by information occupied by a feedback channel according to a second corresponding relationship, wherein the second corresponding relationship is as follows: the method includes the steps of obtaining a corresponding relation between a relative identifier and feedback sub-resources, or the corresponding relation between position information of the relative identifier in first indication information and the feedback sub-resources, or the corresponding relation between the relative identifier and the feedback resources, or the corresponding relation between the position information of the relative identifier in the first indication information and the feedback sub-resources, wherein the relative identifier is the relative identifier of the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group, the feedback resources include resources used by information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal equipment, and the feedback sub-resources are resources used by the information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal equipment.

Specifically, the communication apparatus 500 may correspond to the terminal device in the communication method 200 or the method 400 according to the embodiment of the present application, and the communication apparatus 500 may include modules for performing the methods performed by the terminal device in the communication method 200 or the method 400 in fig. 4 or fig. 16. Moreover, each module and the other operations and/or functions in the communication apparatus 500 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the communication method 200 in fig. 4 and the method 400 in fig. 16, specifically, the receiving unit 510 is used in step 210 in the method 200, the sending unit 520 is used in step 220 in the method 200, the determining unit 530 is used in

steps

450, 460, and 470 in the method 400, and the specific processes of each unit for executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the methods 200 and 400, and are not repeated herein for brevity.

Fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 600 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 18, the terminal device 600 includes: a processor 601 and a transceiver 602, and optionally the terminal device 600 further comprises a memory 603. Wherein, the processor 602, the transceiver 602 and the memory 603 communicate with each other via the internal connection path to transmit control and/or data signals, the memory 603 is used for storing a computer program, and the processor 601 is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory 603 to control the transceiver 602 to transmit and receive signals.

The processor 601 and the memory 603 may be combined into a processing device 604, and the processor 601 may be configured to execute the program code stored in the memory 603 to implement the functions described above. In particular implementations, the memory 603 may be integrated into the processor 601 or may be separate from the processor 601. The terminal device 600 may further include an antenna 610, configured to send out uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 602 through a wireless signal.

Specifically, the terminal device 600 may correspond to the terminal device in the communication method 200 and the method 400 according to the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device 600 may include modules for executing the methods executed by the terminal devices in the communication method 200 and the method 400 in fig. 4 and fig. 16, and each module and the other operations and/or functions described above in the terminal device 600 are respectively for implementing corresponding flows of the communication method 200 in fig. 4 and the method 400 in fig. 16. Specifically, the memory 603 is used for storing a program code, so that when the processor 601 executes the program code, step 450 in the method 400 is executed, and the transceiver 602 is controlled to execute step 210 or step 220 in the method 200, and specific processes of the modules executing the corresponding steps are already described in detail in the methods 200 and 400, and are not repeated herein for brevity.

The processor 601 may be configured to perform the actions implemented in the terminal described in the foregoing method embodiment, and the transceiver 602 may be configured to perform the actions of the terminal transmitting or sending to the network device described in the foregoing method embodiment. Please refer to the description of the previous embodiment of the method, which is not repeated herein.

The processor 601 and the memory 603 may be integrated into a processing device, and the processor 601 is configured to execute the program codes stored in the memory 603 to implement the functions. In particular implementations, the memory 603 may also be integrated into the processor 601.

The terminal apparatus 600 may further include a power supply 605 for supplying power to various devices or circuits in the terminal.

In addition, to further improve the functionality of the terminal device, the terminal device 600 may further comprise one or more of an input unit 614, a display unit 616, an audio circuit 618, a camera 620, a sensor 622, etc., which may further comprise a speaker 6182, a microphone 6184, etc.

Fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 19, the network device 700 includes a processor 710 and a transceiver 720. Optionally, the network 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 network 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.

Specifically, the network device 700 may correspond to the network device in the communication method 200 or the method 400 according to the embodiment of the present application, and the network device 700 may include modules for performing the methods performed by the network device in the communication method 200 or the method 400 in fig. 4 or 16. Also, the modules and other operations and/or functions described above in the network device 700 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows of the communication method 200 in fig. 4 and the method 400 in fig. 16. Specifically, the memory 730 is used for storing a program code, so that when the processor 710 executes the program code, the processor 420 in the method 400 is executed, and the transceiver 720 is controlled to execute the step 210 or the step 220 in the method 200 and the

steps

410, 430, and 440 in the method 400 through the antenna 740, and specific processes of the respective modules for executing the above corresponding steps are already described in detail in the method 200 and the method 400, and are not repeated herein for brevity.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) 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 in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can 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 EPROM (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 Random Access Memory (RAM) are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct bus RAM (DR RAM).

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the embodiment shown in figures 4 to 16.

There is also provided a computer readable medium having program code stored thereon, the program code when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the method of the embodiments shown in fig. 4-16.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a system, which includes the foregoing network device and one or more terminal devices. The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part when the computer program instructions are loaded or executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains one or more collections of available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, tapes), optical media (e.g., DVDs), or semiconductor media. The semiconductor medium may be a solid state disk.

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:

the method comprises the steps that network equipment sends first indication information, wherein the first indication information comprises a group identifier corresponding to a terminal equipment group, the first indication information is used for indicating information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal equipment, and the terminal equipment is the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group corresponding to the group identifier;

the network equipment receives feedback information from the terminal equipment, wherein the feedback information comprises information of channel occupation of the terminal equipment;

wherein, the first indication information further comprises that the terminal equipment is arranged at the terminal equipment

The terminal equipment is the terminal equipment which is determined by the network equipment and needs to feed back the information occupied by the channel;

the group identification and/or the relative identification has a corresponding relation with the feedback resource; or the like, or, alternatively,

the group identification and/or the relative identification has a corresponding relation between position information in the first indication information and feedback resources;

wherein the feedback resource includes a resource used by the terminal device for feeding back information occupied by the channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before the network device receives the feedback information from the terminal device, the method comprises:

the network device sends second indication information, wherein the second indication information comprises a first threshold, and the second indication information is used for indicating the terminal device to determine whether to feed back information occupied by a channel according to the first threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,

the relative identification and the feedback sub-resource have a corresponding relation; or the like, or, alternatively,

the relative mark has a corresponding relation between the position information in the first indication information and the feedback sub-resource;

the relative identification is the relative identification of the terminal device in the terminal device group, and the feedback sub-resource is the resource used by the terminal device for feeding back the information occupied by the channel.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first indication information further comprises information of channel occupancy of the network device.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information of channel occupation of the terminal device includes duration information of channel occupation and/or is information of channel occupation of a transmitting end or a receiving end.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first indication information is physical layer signaling, and the physical layer signaling is sent through a group common physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

7. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives first indication information from network equipment, wherein the first indication information comprises a group identifier corresponding to a terminal equipment group, the first indication information is used for indicating information occupied by a feedback channel of the terminal equipment, and the terminal equipment is terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group corresponding to the group identifier;

the terminal equipment sends feedback information to the network equipment, wherein the feedback information comprises information occupied by a channel of the terminal equipment;

the first indication information further includes a relative identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group, where the terminal device is a terminal device that needs to feed back information occupied by a channel and is determined by the network device;

the terminal equipment determines the resources used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to a first corresponding relation, wherein the first corresponding relation is as follows: the group identifier and/or the corresponding relationship between the relative identifier and the feedback resource, or the corresponding relationship between the position information of the group identifier and/or the relative identifier in the first indication information and the feedback resource, wherein the feedback resource includes a resource used by the information occupied by the feedback channel of the terminal device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein before the terminal device sends the feedback information to the network device, the method comprises:

and the terminal equipment determines whether to feed back information occupied by the channel according to the first threshold and the group identifier.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the terminal equipment determines the resources used by the information occupied by the feedback channel according to a second corresponding relationship, wherein the second corresponding relationship is as follows: the corresponding relation between the relative identifier and the feedback sub-resource, or the corresponding relation between the position information of the relative identifier in the first indication information and the feedback sub-resource,

10. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the first indication information further comprises information of channel occupancy of the network device.

11. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the information about channel occupation of the terminal device includes duration information about channel occupation and/or information about channel occupation by a transmitting end or a receiving end.

12. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the first indication information is physical layer signaling, and the physical layer signaling is sent through a group common physical downlink control channel PDCCH.

13. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a processor, coupled to the memory, to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of any of claims 1 to 12.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

the memory.

15. A computer-readable medium, comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.