CN111148146A

CN111148146A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN111148146A
Application number: CN201811302663.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韩静; 李红; 张萌
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-11-02
Filing date: 2018-11-02
Publication date: 2020-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-02
Also published as: CN111148146B; WO2020088597A1

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and device. The method comprises the following steps: and the terminal determines to use the first SMTC or the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency points are located according to the coverage relation between the first SMTC and the second SMTC and the measurement interval. And the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point according to the coverage relation between the first SMTC and the second SMTC and the measurement interval and the CSSF of the service frequency point. Based on the scheme, the terminal selects a proper SMTC to participate in calculating the CSSF of each carrier according to the coverage relation between a plurality of SMTC receiving windows and the measurement intervals. The scheme balances the measurement performance and the realization complexity under the condition that the service carrier is provided with two SMTCs, and improves the measurement index under the condition of ensuring uniform measurement behavior.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background

A terminal supporting New Radio (NR) communication needs to perform cell measurement on a set of carriers, and specifically, the terminal searches and detects a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) of a neighboring cell on the carriers to obtain information such as a physical cell identifier, timing information, and a measurement result based on the SSB of the cell. Wherein a set of carriers includes one or more serving carriers and one or more inter-frequency carriers. One service carrier corresponds to one service frequency point, and one pilot frequency carrier corresponds to one pilot frequency point. Therefore, the terminal needs to perform cell measurement on a set of carriers, which may also be referred to as the terminal needs to perform cell measurement on a set of frequency points, that is, needs to perform cell measurement on a serving frequency point of a set of frequency points and needs to perform cell measurement on an inter-frequency point of a set of frequency points.

For a carrier in a set of carriers, when a terminal performs cell measurement on the carrier, the terminal needs to perform cell measurement according to SSB Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) information of the carrier. The SMTC comprises a period, an offset of a receiving window and a length of the receiving window, wherein the period of the SMTC is used for indicating the period of the occurrence of the receiving window, the offset of the receiving window of the SMTC is used for indicating the offset of the receiving window relative to the starting position, and the length of the receiving window of the SMTC is used for indicating the size of the receiving window. Therefore, when the terminal performs cell measurement on a carrier, the cell measurement is performed within the reception window indicated by the SMTC of the carrier.

In addition, when the terminal performs cell measurement on a Carrier, it needs to further use a Carrier Specific Scaling Factor (CSSF) according to the Carrier measurement performance of the Carrier, where the CSSF of the Carrier is used to indicate which reception windows of the Carrier the terminal can perform cell measurement in. The reason why the CSSF is required is that when a terminal performs cell measurement on a group of carriers, since the receiving windows of the SMTCs of the respective carriers may overlap with each other, the terminal needs to perform measurement on multiple carriers simultaneously in one receiving window, but at present, the terminal can only perform cell measurement on one or two carriers in one receiving window, so that the receiving windows of the SMTCs of one carrier are not all available for performing cell measurement on one carrier, and when the receiving windows of the carriers overlap with those of other carriers in time, the receiving window may need to be used as cell measurement on other carriers.

Currently, each carrier in a group of carriers corresponds to one CSSF, and the CSSFs of the carriers are obtained by performing comprehensive calculation according to the SMTC of each carrier in the group of carriers. Or, as understood, the CSSF of each carrier is obtained using the SMTCs of all carriers of a group of carriers as input.

In the prior art, one carrier corresponds to one SMTC. However, with the development of communication systems, at least two SMTCs may exist for a serving carrier in a group of carriers.

For this definition, when performing cell measurement of a serving carrier, a terminal selects which SMTC of the serving carrier participates in calculating the CSSF of each carrier, and there is no corresponding solution at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for providing a scheme for selecting an SMTC to participate in calculating CSSF of each carrier.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, including: the terminal determines the coverage relation between a first SMTC and a second SMTC of a service frequency point and a measurement interval respectively, the period of the first SMTC is larger than that of the second SMTC, and the offset and the length of a receiving window of the first SMTC are the same as those of the second SMTC respectively. And the terminal determines to use the first SMTC or the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located according to the coverage relation between the first SMTC and the second SMTC and the measurement interval, wherein an overlapped SMTC receiving window is arranged between each frequency point in the group of frequency points. Based on the scheme, the terminal selects a proper SMTC to participate in calculating the CSSF of each carrier according to the coverage relation between a plurality of SMTC receiving windows and the measurement intervals. The scheme balances the measurement performance and the realization complexity under the condition that the service carrier is provided with two SMTCs, and improves the measurement index under the condition of ensuring uniform measurement behavior.

Optionally, the terminal may further perform cell measurement on the service frequency point according to a coverage relationship between the first SMTC or the second SMTC and the measurement interval and the CSSF of the service frequency point.

In one possible implementation, the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval and the second SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval. The terminal determines to use the second SMTC to obtain the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located.

Based on the implementation manner, for the cells in the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point according to the CSSF of the service frequency point used for measurement in the measurement interval on the window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the second SMTC. And aiming at the cells outside the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point on the window with the measurement interval overlapped with the first SMTC according to the CSSF of the service frequency point for measuring in the measurement interval. Wherein the cell list comprises at least one cell capable of measurement at the second SMTC.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the first SMTC completely overlaps with the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps with the measurement interval, and the measurement of the service frequency point does not require the measurement interval. The terminal determines to use the first SMTC to acquire the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located, and determines to use the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF used for measurement outside the measurement interval of each frequency point in a second group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located.

Based on the implementation manner, aiming at the cells in the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point according to the CSSF of the service frequency point for measuring outside the measurement interval on the window where the measurement interval is not overlapped with the second SMTC. And aiming at the cells outside the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point on the window with the measurement interval overlapped with the first SMTC according to the CSSF of the service frequency point for measuring in the measurement interval. Wherein the cell list comprises at least one cell capable of measurement at the second SMTC.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the first SMTC completely overlaps with the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps with the measurement interval, and the measurement of the service frequency point requires the measurement interval. The terminal determines to use the first SMTC to obtain the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located.

Based on the implementation mode, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point on a window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the first SMTC according to the CSSF of the service frequency point, which is used for measurement in the measurement interval.

Based on any of the above embodiments, the terminal may further receive measurement configuration information from the access network device, where the measurement configuration information includes information of a frequency point to be measured, a cell list, and a first SMTC and a second SMTC of a service frequency point, and the frequency point to be measured includes the service frequency point.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, which has a function of implementing a terminal or an access network device in the above method embodiments. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

In one possible design, the communication device includes: a processor, a memory, a bus, and a communication interface; the memory stores computer-executable instructions, the processor is connected with the memory through the bus, and when the communication device runs, the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device executes the communication method in the first aspect or any implementation manner of the first aspect. For example, the communication device may be a terminal or the like.

In another possible design, the communication device may also be a chip, such as a chip of a terminal, the chip including a processing unit and optionally a storage unit, and the chip may be configured to perform the communication method according to the first aspect or any implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a computer storage medium storing computer software instructions for use with the terminal described above, including a program designed to perform any of the above aspects.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. The computer program product comprises computer software instructions which are loadable by a processor to carry out the procedures of the communication method of any of the above-mentioned first aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible application scenario provided in the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a relationship among carriers, frequency points, SMTC, and CSSF provided in the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in the present application;

fig. 4(a) is a schematic diagram of a coverage relationship between the SMTC of the service frequency point 1 and the measurement interval;

fig. 4(b) is another schematic diagram of the coverage relationship between the SMTC of the serving frequency point 1 and the measurement interval;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an apparatus provided herein;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal provided in the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic view of another apparatus provided in the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The particular methods of operation in the method embodiments may also be applied to apparatus embodiments or system embodiments. In the description of the present application, the term "plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

As shown in fig. 1, a schematic diagram of a possible application scenario to which the present application is applied includes at least one terminal 10, and the terminal 10 communicates with an access network device 20 through a wireless interface, and only one access network device and one terminal are shown in the diagram for clarity.

The terminal is a device with a wireless transceiving function, and can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship and the like); and may also be deployed in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, satellites, etc.). The terminal may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal, 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 may further include a User Equipment (UE), and the like.

An access network device, which may also be referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN) device, is a device that provides a terminal with a wireless communication function. Access network equipment includes, for example but not limited to: next generation base station (gnodeB, gNB), 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 node B, or home node B, HNB), Base Band Unit (BBU), transmission point (TRP), Transmission Point (TP), mobile switching center, and the like in 5G.

In a cell, an access network device and a terminal may perform data transmission through air interface resources. The air interface resources may include time domain resources and frequency domain resources, which may also be referred to as time frequency resources. The frequency domain resources may be located in a set frequency range, which may also be referred to as a band (band) or a frequency band, and the width of the frequency domain resources may be referred to as a Bandwidth (BW).

As shown in fig. 2, a schematic diagram of a relationship among a carrier, a frequency point, an SMTC, and a CSSF is provided in the present application. The terminal carries out cell measurement on a group of carriers, wherein the group of carriers comprises m service carriers and n pilot frequency carriers, m is a positive integer, and n is a positive integer. One service carrier corresponds to one service frequency point, one service carrier corresponds to two SMTCs, one pilot frequency carrier corresponds to one SMTC, one service carrier corresponds to one SMTC, and one pilot frequency carrier corresponds to one SMTC. As shown in fig. 2, for example, service carrier 1 corresponds to service frequency point 1, and service carrier 1 corresponds to SMTC11 and SMTC 12. For another example, pilot frequency carrier 1 corresponds to pilot frequency carrier 1, and pilot frequency carrier 1 corresponds to SMTC 1.

Wherein, the periods of two SMTCs of the same service carrier are different, but the offset of the receiving window and the length of the receiving window are the same.

There may be overlap in SMTC receive windows between respective frequency points in a set of frequency points corresponding to a set of carriers. For example, there is overlap of the reception windows of SMTC11 and SMTC 22. As another example, there may be an overlap of SMTC11 with the receive window of SMTC2, and so on.

One serving carrier (or serving frequency point) may correspond to one or more CSSFs, for example, a CSSF corresponding to one serving frequency point may include a CSSF for measurement within a measurement interval and a CSSF for measurement outside the measurement interval. Taking fig. 2 as an example, when calculating the CSSF of each frequency point, the SMTC of each frequency point is comprehensively referred to, and then the CSSF of each frequency point is calculated. Optionally, the SMTC11 or SMTC12 of the serving carrier 1, the SMTC21 or SMTC22 of the serving carrier 2, the SMTCm1 or SMTCm2 of the … … serving carrier m, the SMTC1 of the pilot carrier 1, the SMTC2 or … … of the pilot carrier 2, and the SMTCn of the pilot carrier n may be used as inputs, and a relevant algorithm, such as an algorithm defined in 3GPP R4-1814019, is used to calculate the CSSF of the serving carrier 1, the CSSF of the serving carrier 2, the CSSF of the serving carrier … … serving carrier m, the CSSF of the pilot carrier 1, the CSSF of the pilot carrier 2, … …, and the CSSF of the pilot carrier n.

Based on the application scenario shown in fig. 1 and the carrier, frequency point, SMTC, and CSSF shown in fig. 2, the present application provides a communication method. Fig. 3 shows a communication method provided by the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

step 301, the terminal determines the coverage relationship between the first SMTC and the second SMTC of the service frequency point and the measurement interval, respectively, where the period of the first SMTC is greater than the period of the second SMTC, and the offset and the length of the receiving window of the first SMTC are the same as the offset and the length of the receiving window of the second SMTC, respectively.

As an implementation manner, the terminal may receive measurement configuration information from the access network device, where the measurement configuration information includes information of a frequency point to be measured and a first SMTC and a second SMTC of a service frequency point, where the frequency point to be measured includes the service frequency point, and the frequency point to be measured may also include an alien frequency point. Optionally, the measurement configuration information further includes a cell list, where the cell list includes at least one cell capable of performing measurement at the second SMTC.

For example, taking fig. 2 as an example, the sending, by the access network device, the frequency point to be measured to the UE through the measurement configuration information includes: m service frequency points, a first SMTC and a second SMTC of each service frequency point. Optionally, the measurement configuration information further includes n pilot frequency points and an SMTC of each pilot frequency point.

As one implementation, the terminal may receive signaling or other measurement configuration information from the access network device, the signaling or other measurement configuration information including a measurement interval. The measurement interval is used to indicate a measurement period when the terminal performs cell measurement.

Therefore, the terminal may determine the coverage relationship between the first SMTC of the serving frequency point and the measurement interval, and determine the coverage relationship between the second SMTC of the serving frequency point and the measurement interval, based on the information received from the access network device.

For convenience of description, the service frequency point 1 in fig. 2 is taken as an example for description in the following. For the specific description of other service frequency points that the terminal needs to measure, reference may be made to the description related to the service frequency point 1.

As shown in fig. 4(a), it is a schematic diagram of the coverage relationship between the SMTC of the serving frequency point 1 and the measurement interval. The period of the SMTC11 of the service frequency point 1 is 40ms (millisecond), the period of the SMTC12 is 20ms, and the period of the measurement interval is 20 ms. Thus, the coverage relationship of SMTC11 and the measurement interval is a complete overlap, i.e. the position of the cell measurement capable reception window indicated by the measurement interval covers the entire reception window of SMTC 11. The coverage relationship of SMTC12 with the measurement interval is a complete overlap, i.e. the position of the cell measurement capable reception window indicated by the measurement interval covers the full reception window of SMTC 12.

As shown in fig. 4(b), another schematic diagram of the coverage relationship between the SMTC serving the frequency point 1 and the measurement interval is shown. The period of the SMTC11 of the service frequency point 1 is 40ms (millisecond), the period of the SMTC12 is 20ms, and the period of the measurement interval is 40 ms. Thus, the coverage relationship of SMTC11 and the measurement interval is a complete overlap, i.e. the position of the cell measurement capable reception window indicated by the measurement interval covers the entire reception window of SMTC 11. The SMTC12 is partially overlapped with the measurement interval in a coverage relationship, i.e. the position of the cell measurement capable reception window indicated by the measurement interval covers a part of the reception window of the SMTC 12.

Step 302, the terminal determines to use the first SMTC or the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located according to the coverage relationship between the first SMTC and the second SMTC and the measurement interval, where there is an overlapped SMTC receiving window between each frequency point in the group of frequency points.

Based on the step, the terminal may determine, according to the coverage relationship between the first SMTC and the measurement interval and the coverage relationship between the second SMTC and the measurement interval, whether to use the first SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located, or to use the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located.

The following provides a specific implementation method in combination with different situations.

In case 1, the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval and the second SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval.

In this case, the terminal may determine that the second SMTC is used to acquire the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval for each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located. The CSSF is obtained by using the second SMTC, so that the terminal can obtain a sufficient number of SMTC receiving windows on the service frequency point to measure according to the second SMTC, thereby reducing the measurement delay and improving the measurement performance.

Taking the service frequency point 1 in fig. 2 as an example, if the coverage relationship between the SMTC11 and the SMTC12 of the service frequency point 1 and the measurement interval is as shown in fig. 4(a), the terminal determines to use the SMTC12 for obtaining the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located.

In case 2, the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval and the second SMTC partially overlaps the measurement interval.

For this situation, the description can be further divided into two cases according to whether the terminal needs to measure the interval. Whether the terminal needs to measure the interval may be determined according to the following method: when the measurement of the service frequency point by the terminal can only be carried out in a measurement interval, namely the SSB of the service frequency point is beyond the current working bandwidth of the terminal, the measurement of the service frequency point by the terminal is considered to be required to be carried out in the measurement interval; when the measurement of the service frequency point by the terminal can be performed within the measurement interval or outside the measurement interval, that is, when the SSB of the service frequency point is within the current working bandwidth of the terminal, the measurement of the service frequency point by the terminal is considered to be measurement interval-free.

In case 2.1, the first SMTC completely overlaps with the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps with the measurement interval, and the measurement of the serving frequency point does not require the measurement interval.

In this case, the terminal may determine to use the first SMTC to acquire the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located, and determine to use the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF used for measurement outside the measurement interval of each frequency point in a second group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located. The CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval is obtained by using the first SMTC, so that the measurement opportunity of other frequency points is not influenced when the terminal carries out measurement in the measurement interval on the service frequency point according to the first SMTC, and the measurement delay of other frequency points is reduced and the measurement performance is improved. The second SMTC is used for obtaining the CSSF used for measurement outside the measurement interval, so that the terminal can be ensured to measure outside the measurement interval at the service frequency point according to the second SMTC, and the measurement delay is reduced, and the measurement performance is improved.

Taking the service frequency point 1 in fig. 2 as an example, if the coverage relationship between the SMTC11 and the SMTC12 of the service frequency point 1 and the measurement interval is as shown in fig. 4(b), and the measurement of the service frequency point 1 does not require the measurement interval, the terminal determines to use the SMTC11 to acquire the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located, and determines to use the SMTC12 to acquire the CSSF used for measurement outside the measurement interval of each frequency point in a second group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located.

In case 2.2, the first SMTC completely overlaps with the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps with the measurement interval, and the measurement of the serving frequency point requires the measurement interval.

In this case, the terminal determines to acquire, by using the first SMTC, the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval for each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located. The CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval is obtained by using the first SMTC, so that the measurement opportunity of other frequency points is not influenced when the terminal carries out measurement in the measurement interval on the service frequency point according to the first SMTC, and the measurement delay of other frequency points is reduced and the measurement performance is improved.

Taking the service frequency point 1 in fig. 2 as an example, if the coverage relationship between the SMTC11 and the SMTC12 of the service frequency point 1 and the measurement interval is as shown in fig. 4(b), and the measurement of the service frequency point 1 requires the measurement interval, the terminal determines to use the SMTC11 to obtain the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located.

Based on the scheme, the terminal selects a proper SMTC to participate in calculating the CSSF of each carrier according to the coverage relation between a plurality of SMTC receiving windows and the measurement intervals. The scheme balances the measurement performance and the realization complexity under the condition that the service carrier is provided with two SMTCs, and improves the measurement index under the condition of ensuring uniform measurement behavior.

Optionally, after the step 302, the following step 303 may be further included.

And step 303, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point according to the coverage relation between the first SMTC or the second SMTC and the measurement interval and the CSSF of the service frequency point.

The following description will take the service frequency point 1 as an example.

For the above situation 1, the method for the terminal to perform cell measurement on the serving frequency point 1 may include:

(1) for the cells in the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the serving frequency point 1 according to the CSSF of the serving frequency point 1 used for measurement in the measurement interval on the window where the measurement interval overlaps with the SMTC 12.

Note that the window in which the measurement interval overlaps SMTC12, specifically, the window in which the measurement interval overlaps SMTC12 in time. The "window in which the measurement interval overlaps the SMTC" described elsewhere later has the same meaning.

(2) For the cells outside the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the serving frequency point 1 according to the CSSF of the serving frequency point 1 used for measurement in the measurement interval on the window where the measurement interval overlaps with the SMTC 11.

For the above situation 2.1, the method for the terminal to perform cell measurement on the serving frequency point 1 may include:

(1) for the cells in the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the serving frequency point 1 according to the CSSF of the serving frequency point 1 for measuring outside the measurement interval on the window where the measurement interval does not overlap with the SMTC 12.

For the above situation 2.2, the method for the terminal to perform cell measurement on the serving frequency point 1 may include:

for a cell in the cell list or a cell outside the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the serving frequency point 1 on a window where the measurement interval overlaps with the SMTC11 according to the CSSF of the serving frequency point 1, which is used for measurement in the measurement interval.

Based on the scheme, when the terminal performs cell measurement of the serving carrier, based on a given method, one SMTC is selected for the cell measurement of the serving carrier, and one SMTC is selected to participate in calculating the CSSF of each carrier. The scheme balances the measurement performance and the realization complexity under the condition that the service carrier is provided with two SMTCs, and improves the measurement index under the condition of ensuring uniform measurement behavior.

It is to be understood that, in the foregoing method embodiments, the method implemented by the terminal may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) that can be used for the terminal, and this is not limited in this application embodiment.

Fig. 5 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the apparatus involved in the embodiments of the present invention, and the apparatus 500 may exist in the form of software or hardware. The apparatus 500 may comprise: a first determination unit 501 and a second determination unit 502. Optionally, the apparatus 500 may further include a measurement unit 503 and a communication unit 504. As an implementation, the communication unit 504 may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. As an implementation manner, the first determining unit 501, the second determining unit 502 and the measuring unit 503 may be integrated into a processing unit, and the processing unit is used for controlling and managing the actions of the apparatus 500. The communication unit 504 is used to support communication of the apparatus 500 with other network entities.

When the first determining unit 501, the second determining unit 502, and the measuring unit 503 can be integrated into a processing unit, the processing unit can be a processor or a controller, such as a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processing (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure. The processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, DSPs, and microprocessors, among others. The communication unit 504 may be a communication interface, a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, or the like, wherein the communication interface is referred to as a generic term, and in a specific implementation, the communication interface may include a plurality of interfaces.

The apparatus 500 may be a terminal in any of the above embodiments, and may also be a chip that can be used for a terminal. For example, when the apparatus 500 is a terminal, when the first determining unit 501, the second determining unit 502 and the measuring unit 503 can be integrated into one processing unit, the processing unit can be, for example, a processor, and the communication unit 504 can be, for example, a transceiver including a radio frequency circuit. For example, when the apparatus 500 is a chip that can be used in a terminal, when the first determining unit 501, the second determining unit 502, and the measuring unit 503 can be integrated into a processing unit, the processing unit can be a processor, for example, and the communication unit 504 can be an input/output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like, for example.

In a possible manner, the first determining unit 501 is configured to determine coverage relations between the measurement timing configuration information SMTC of the first synchronization signal block of the serving frequency point and the measurement interval, where a cycle of the first SMTC is greater than a cycle of the second SMTC, and an offset of a receiving window of the first SMTC and a length of the receiving window are the same as an offset of a receiving window of the second SMTC and a length of the receiving window, respectively.

A second determining unit 502, configured to determine, according to the coverage relationships between the first SMTC and the second SMTC and the measurement interval, that the first SMTC or the second SMTC is used to obtain the carrier measurement performance scaling factor CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located, where there is an overlapped SMTC receiving window between each frequency point in the group of frequency points.

In a possible implementation manner, the measurement unit 503 is configured to perform cell measurement on the serving frequency point according to a coverage relationship between the first SMTC or the second SMTC and the measurement interval and a CSSF of the serving frequency point.

In one possible implementation, the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval and the second SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval. A second determining unit 502, configured to determine the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval for each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is obtained by using the second SMTC.

Based on this implementation, the measurement unit 503 is configured to: aiming at the cells in the cell list, on a window with a measurement interval overlapped with the second SMTC, cell measurement is carried out on the service frequency points according to the CSSF of the service frequency points for measurement in the measurement interval; and aiming at the cells outside the cell list, on the window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the first SMTC, cell measurement is carried out on the service frequency points according to the CSSF of the service frequency points for measurement in the measurement interval. Wherein the cell list comprises at least one cell capable of measurement at the second SMTC.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the first SMTC completely overlaps with the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps with the measurement interval, and the measurement of the service frequency point does not require the measurement interval. A second determining unit 502, configured to determine that the first SMTC is used to obtain the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located, and determine that the second SMTC is used to obtain the CSSF used for measurement outside the measurement interval of each frequency point in a second group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located.

Based on this implementation, the measurement unit 503 is configured to: for the cells in the cell list, on a window where the measurement interval does not overlap with the second SMTC, cell measurement is carried out on the service frequency points according to the CSSF of the service frequency points for measurement outside the measurement interval; and aiming at the cells outside the cell list, on the window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the first SMTC, cell measurement is carried out on the service frequency points according to the CSSF of the service frequency points for measurement in the measurement interval. Wherein the cell list comprises at least one cell capable of measurement at the second SMTC.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the first SMTC completely overlaps with the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps with the measurement interval, and the measurement of the service frequency point requires the measurement interval. A second determining unit 502, configured to determine the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval for each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is obtained by using the first SMTC.

Based on this implementation, the measurement unit 503 is configured to perform cell measurement on the serving frequency point according to the CSSF of the serving frequency point, which is used for measurement in the measurement interval, in a window where the measurement interval overlaps with the first SMTC.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the communication unit 504 is configured to receive measurement configuration information from the access network device, where the measurement configuration information includes information of frequency points to be measured, a cell list, and a first SMTC and a second SMTC of a serving frequency point, and the frequency points to be measured include the serving frequency point.

When the apparatus shown in fig. 5 is a terminal, specific beneficial effects of the communication method used for execution may refer to the related description in the foregoing method embodiment, and are not described herein again. It is to be understood that the units in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as modules. The units or modules may be independent or integrated together.

Fig. 6 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a possible design structure of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal 600 comprises a transmitter 601, a receiver 602 and a processor 603. The processor 603 may also be a controller, and is shown as "controller/processor 603" in fig. 6. Optionally, the terminal 600 may further include a modem processor 605, where the modem processor 605 may include an encoder 606, a modulator 607, a decoder 606, and a demodulator 604.

In one example, the transmitter 601 conditions (e.g., converts to analog, filters, amplifies, and frequency upconverts, etc.) the output samples and generates an uplink signal, which is transmitted via an antenna to the access network equipment described in the embodiments above. On the downlink, the antenna receives the downlink signal transmitted by the access network device in the above embodiment. Receiver 602 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, downconverts, and digitizes, etc.) the received signal from the antenna and provides input samples. Within modem processor 605, an encoder 606 receives traffic data and signaling messages to be sent on the uplink and processes (e.g., formats, encodes, and interleaves) the traffic data and signaling messages. A modulator 607 further processes (e.g., symbol maps and modulates) the coded traffic data and signaling messages and provides output samples. A demodulator 609 processes (e.g., demodulates) the input samples and provides symbol estimates. A decoder 606 processes (e.g., deinterleaves and decodes) the symbol estimates and provides decoded data and signaling messages for transmission to terminal 600. The encoder 606, modulator 607, demodulator 609 and decoder 606 may be implemented by a combined modem processor 605. These elements are processed according to the radio access technology employed by the radio access network. It is to be noted that when terminal 600 does not include modem processor 605, the above-mentioned functions of modem processor 605 can also be performed by processor 603.

The processor 603 controls and manages the operation of the terminal 600, and is configured to execute the processing procedure performed by the terminal 600 in the embodiment of the present invention. For example, the processor 603 is configured to perform a processing procedure related to a terminal in the communication method according to any embodiment of the present application and/or other procedures of the technical solutions described in the present application.

Further, the terminal 600 may also include a memory 604, the memory 604 for storing program codes and data for the terminal 600.

Referring to fig. 7, a schematic diagram of an apparatus provided in the present application, which may be a terminal in the embodiment of the present application, or a component that can be used in the terminal, is shown. The apparatus 700 comprises: a processor 702, a communication interface 703, and a memory 701. Optionally, the apparatus 700 may also include a bus 704. The communication interface 703, the processor 702, and the memory 701 may be connected to each other by a communication line 704; the communication line 704 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The communication lines 704 may be divided into address buses, data buses, control buses, and the like. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 7, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

The processor 702 may be a CPU, microprocessor, ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits configured to control the execution of programs in accordance with the teachings of the present application.

The communication interface 703 may be any device using any transceiver or the like for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wired access network, and the like.

The memory 701 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact-disc-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disk, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via communication line 704. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 701 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present application, and is controlled by the processor 702 to execute the instructions. The processor 702 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 701, so as to implement the communication method provided by the above-described embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, 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. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. 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 in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (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 including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The various illustrative logical units and circuits described in this application may be implemented or operated upon by design of a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in the embodiments herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software element executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software cells may be stored in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. For example, a storage medium may be coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC, which may be disposed in a terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in different components within the terminal.

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

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

a terminal determines the coverage relation between measurement timing configuration information (SMTC) of a first synchronous signal block of a service frequency point and a measurement interval of a second SMTC, wherein the period of the first SMTC is larger than that of the second SMTC, and the offset and the length of a receiving window of the first SMTC are respectively the same as those of the second SMTC;

and the terminal determines to use the first SMTC or the second SMTC to acquire a carrier measurement performance scaling factor CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency points are located according to the coverage relation between the first SMTC and the second SMTC and the measurement interval respectively, wherein an overlapped SMTC receiving window is arranged between each frequency point in the group of frequency points.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval and the second SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval;

the terminal determines to use the first SMTC or the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency points are located, and the method comprises the following steps:

and the terminal determines to use the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency points are located.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

for the cells in the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point on a window where the measurement interval and the second SMTC are overlapped according to the CSSF of the service frequency point used for measurement in the measurement interval; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

for the cells outside the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point on a window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the first SMTC according to the CSSF of the service frequency point used for measurement in the measurement interval;

wherein the cell list includes at least one cell capable of measurement at the second SMTC.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps the measurement interval, and the measurement of the serving frequency point does not require the measurement interval;

the terminal determines to use the first SMTC or the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF of the service frequency point, including:

and the terminal determines to use the first SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency points are located, wherein the CSSF is used for measurement in a measurement interval, and determines to use the second SMTC to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a second group of frequency points where the service frequency points are located, wherein the CSSF is used for measurement outside the measurement interval.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

for the cells in the cell list, the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point on a window where the measurement interval does not overlap with the second SMTC according to the CSSF of the service frequency point used for measurement outside the measurement interval;

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps the measurement interval, and the measurement of the serving frequency point requires the measurement interval;

and the terminal determines to acquire the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located by using the first SMTC.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

and the terminal performs cell measurement on the service frequency point on a window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the first SMTC according to the CSSF of the service frequency point, which is used for measurement in the measurement interval.

8. The method of claim 3 or 5, further comprising:

the terminal receives measurement configuration information from access network equipment, wherein the measurement configuration information comprises information of frequency points to be measured, the cell list and a first SMTC and a second SMTC of the service frequency points, and the frequency points to be measured comprise the service frequency points.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a first determining unit, configured to determine a coverage relationship between a first synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration information SMTC and a second SMTC of a service frequency point and a measurement interval, where a cycle of the first SMTC is greater than a cycle of the second SMTC, and an offset and a length of a receiving window of the first SMTC are the same as an offset and a length of a receiving window of the second SMTC;

and a second determining unit, configured to determine, according to the coverage relationships between the first SMTC and the second SMTC and the measurement interval, that the carrier measurement performance scaling factor CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the service frequency point is located is obtained by using the first SMTC or the second SMTC, where there are overlapping SMTC receiving windows between the frequency points in the group of frequency points.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval and the second SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval;

and the second determining unit is configured to determine that the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located is obtained by using the second SMTC.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a measurement unit to:

for a cell in a cell list, performing cell measurement on the service frequency point according to the CSSF of the service frequency point used for measurement in the measurement interval on a window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the second SMTC;

for a cell outside the cell list, performing cell measurement on the service frequency point on a window where the measurement interval is overlapped with the first SMTC according to the CSSF of the service frequency point, which is used for measurement in the measurement interval;

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps the measurement interval, and the measurement of the serving frequency point does not require the measurement interval;

the second determining unit is configured to determine that the first SMTC is used to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located for measurement in a measurement interval, and determine that the second SMTC is used to acquire the CSSF of each frequency point in a second group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located for measurement outside the measurement interval.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a measurement unit to:

for a cell in a cell list, performing cell measurement on the service frequency point according to the CSSF of the service frequency point for measuring outside the measurement interval on a window where the measurement interval is not overlapped with the second SMTC;

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first SMTC completely overlaps the measurement interval, the second SMTC partially overlaps the measurement interval, and the measurement of the serving frequency point requires the measurement interval;

and the second determining unit is configured to determine that the first SMTC is used to obtain the CSSF used for measurement in the measurement interval for each frequency point in a group of frequency points where the serving frequency point is located.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a measurement unit configured to perform cell measurement on the serving frequency point according to the CSSF of the serving frequency point for measurement in a measurement interval over a window where the measurement interval overlaps with the first SMTC.

16. The apparatus according to claim 11 or 13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication unit configured to receive measurement configuration information from an access network device, the measurement configuration information includes information of frequency points to be measured, the cell list, and the first SMTC and the second SMTC of the serving frequency points, and the frequency points to be measured include the serving frequency points.

17. A storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or instructions, which, when executed, implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.