CN111436123A

CN111436123A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN111436123A
Application number: CN201910028031.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 肖洁华; 唐浩; 王婷; 唐臻飞
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-01-11
Filing date: 2019-01-11
Publication date: 2020-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-11
Also published as: CN111436123B; WO2020143802A1

Abstract

A communication method and device, the method includes: when a network device configures a first terminal device to monitor a first downlink control information DCI, the network device aligns the size of a second DCI with the size of a first DCI, wherein the first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data, and the second DCI is used for side link resource allocation; the network device transmits the second DCI. Since the size of the first DCI is the same as that of the second DCI, the terminal device may perform blind detection according to the size of one DCI at each PDCCH candidate location. Compared with the configuration of different DCI sizes for the first DCI and the second DCI, the blind detection times of the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the processing complexity of the terminal equipment is reduced.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

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

Background

In sidelink (S L) communication, when a terminal device is within a coverage of the network device, the network device may allocate sidelink communication resources to the terminal device, and indicate the sidelink communication resources to the terminal device through Downlink Control Information (DCI).

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and device, which can reduce the blind detection times of terminal equipment and reduce the processing complexity of the terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: when a network device configures a first terminal device to monitor a first downlink control information DCI, the network device aligns the size of a second DCI with the size of a first DCI, wherein the first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data, and the second DCI is used for side link resource allocation; the network device transmits the second DCI.

As can be seen from the above, in the embodiment of the present application, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the size of the first DCI, and the first terminal device may perform blind detection once at each PDCCH candidate position. Compared with the case that different DCIs are configured for the first DCI and the second DCI, the blind detection times of the terminal equipment can be reduced and the processing complexity of the terminal equipment is reduced compared with the case that the first terminal equipment needs to perform blind detection at least twice in each PDCCH candidate position.

In one possible design, the method further includes: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, where the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

As can be seen from the above, in this design, if a network device configures a first terminal device to monitor a first DCI, a size of a second DCI is aligned with a size of the first DCI, otherwise, a size of the second DCI is aligned with a size of a third DCI.

In one possible design, the network device aligning a size of a second DCI with a size of the first DCI includes: when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for monitoring by the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, the network device aligns the size of the second DCI with a first size, where the first size is a size of a first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is greater than the first number, the network device aligns the size of the second DCI with a second size, where the second size is a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the first DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell user in which the first terminal device is located.

As can be seen, the size of the same DCI is different for different search spaces. For example, in the first search space, the size of the first DCI is the first size, and in the second search space, the size of the first DCI is the second size. For example, the first size may be larger than the second size. In this design, when the number of the first terminal device monitoring DCIs is small (e.g., smaller than or equal to the first number), the size of the second DCI is aligned with the first size. The size of the second DCI may be aligned with the second size when the first terminal device monitors a larger number of DCIs (e.g., larger than the first number). And flexibly adjusting the size of the second DCI according to the conditions of different search spaces, thereby avoiding causing larger processing burden to the first terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the network device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI includes: when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device to monitor by the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device to be monitored by the first terminal device is greater than the first number, the network device aligns the size of the second DCI with a fourth size, where the fourth size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

In one possible design, the first DCI includes a first DCI of a first format and/or a first DCI of a second format;

the network device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, comprising: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a fifth size, where the fifth size is a size of the first DCI in the first format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the second format, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a sixth size, where the sixth size is the size of the first DCI of the second format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format and the first DCI in the second format, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with the fifth size or the sixth size.

In one possible design, the third DCI includes a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format; the network device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, comprising: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the first format, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI of the first format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of a second format, the network device aligns a size of the first DCI with an eighth size, where the eighth size is the third DCI size of the second format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the first format and the third DCI in the second format, the network device aligns a size of the first DCI with the seventh size or the eighth size.

Therefore, the DCI with the same function has different formats, and the sizes of the DCIs are different, so that in the design, the second DCI is aligned with the DCIs with different formats according to the different formats of the current first terminal equipment monitoring DCI, the processing is flexible, and the complexity of the terminal equipment processing is avoided being increased.

In one possible design, the network device aligning a size of a second DCI with a size of the first DCI includes: the network device aligns a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the first DCI.

In one possible design, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, including: the network device aligns a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the third DCI.

Therefore, due to the fact that the DCIs scrambled by different RNTIs are different in size, in the design, the DCIs scrambled by different RNTIs are all aligned to the size of the first DCI or the size of the third DCI, the problem that the same DCI is different in size after being scrambled by different RNTIs is solved, and the processing complexity of the terminal equipment is reduced.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a first terminal device receives second Downlink Control Information (DCI), wherein the second DCI is used for side link resource allocation; when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a first DCI, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, and the first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data.

In one possible design, the method further includes: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, and the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

In one possible design, the first terminal device aligning a size of the second DCI with a size of the first DCI includes: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a first size when the total number of different sizes of the first DCI configured by the network device is less than or equal to a first number, where the first size is a size of a first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is greater than the first number, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the first DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

In one possible design, the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI includes: when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for monitoring by the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device and monitored by the first terminal device is greater than the first number, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with a fourth size, where the fourth size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, including: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a fifth size, where the fifth size is a size of the first DCI in the first format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the second format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a sixth size, where the sixth size is the size of the first DCI of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the first format and the first DCI of the second format, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with the fifth size or the sixth size.

In one possible design, the third DCI includes a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format; the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of a third DCI, including: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the first format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI of the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the second format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with an eighth size, where the eighth size is the third DCI size of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI of the first format and the third DCI of the second format, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with the seventh size or the eighth size.

In one possible design, the first terminal device aligning a size of the second DCI with a size of the first DCI includes: and the first terminal equipment aligns the size of the second DCI scrambled by the Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI) with the size of the first DCI.

In one possible design, the first terminal device aligning the second DCI with the third DCI in size includes: and the first terminal equipment aligns the size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identifier with the size of the third DCI.

In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the apparatus may be a network device, or an apparatus in a network device, or an apparatus capable of being used in cooperation with a network device, the apparatus may include a processing module and a transceiver module, and the transceiver module and the processing module may perform corresponding functions in any design example of the first aspect, specifically:

the processing module is configured to, when the network device configures a first terminal device to monitor a first downlink control information DCI, align a size of a second DCI with a size of the first DCI, where the first DCI is used to schedule uplink data, and the second DCI is used to allocate sidelink resources;

and the transceiver module is used for transmitting the second DCI.

In one possible design, the processing module is further configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, where the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

In one possible design, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, aligning the size of the second DCI with a first size when the total number of different sizes of the first DCI configured by the network device is less than or equal to a first number, where the first size is the size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; or, when the network device configures the total number of different sizes of the first DCI monitored by the first terminal device is greater than the first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a second size, where the second size is a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell user in which the first terminal device is located.

In one possible design, the processing module, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, is specifically configured to: when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; or, when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is greater than the first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a fourth size, where the fourth size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

In one possible design, the first DCI includes a first DCI of a first format and/or a first DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a fifth size, where the fifth size is a size of the first DCI in the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the second format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a sixth size, where the sixth size is the size of the first DCI of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the first format and the first DCI of the second format, aligning the size of the second DCI with the fifth size or the sixth size.

In one possible design, the third DCI includes a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI in the first format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI in the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of a second format, aligning a size of the first DCI with an eighth size, where the eighth size is the third DCI size of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI of the first format and the third DCI of the second format, aligning the size of the first DCI with the seventh size or the eighth size.

In one possible design, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: aligning a size of a second DCI scrambled by a radio network temporary identity with a size of the first DCI.

In one possible design, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: aligning a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the third DCI.

In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the apparatus may be a terminal device, or an apparatus in a terminal device, or an apparatus capable of being used in cooperation with a terminal device, the apparatus may include a transceiver module and a processing module, and the transceiver module and the processing module may perform corresponding functions in any design example of the second aspect, specifically:

a transceiver module, configured to receive second downlink control information DCI, where the second DCI is used for sidelink resource allocation;

and a processing module, configured to align a size of the second DCI with a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, where the first DCI is used to schedule uplink data.

In one possible design, the processing module is further to: when the network device configures a first terminal device to monitor a third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, aligning a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, where the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

In one possible design, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, aligning the size of the second DCI with a first size when the total number of different sizes of the first DCI configured by the network device is less than or equal to a first number, where the first size is the size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; or, when the total number of different sizes of the first terminal device configured by the network device to monitor DCI is greater than the first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

In one possible design, the processing module, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, is specifically configured to:

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; or, when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is greater than the first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a fourth size, where the fourth size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

In one possible design, the first DCI includes a first DCI of a first format and/or a first DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a fifth size, where the fifth size is a size of the first DCI in the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the second format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a sixth size, where the sixth size is the size of the first DCI of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the first format and the first DCI of the second format, aligning the size of the second DCI with the fifth size or the sixth size.

In one possible design, the third DCI includes a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI in the first format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI in the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the second format, aligning a size of the second DCI with an eighth size, where the eighth size is the third DCI size of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI of the first format and the third DCI of the second format, aligning the size of the second DCI with the seventh size or the eighth size.

In one possible design, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processing module is specifically configured to: and aligning the size of the second DCI scrambled by the Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI) with the size of the first DCI.

In one possible design, the processing module, when aligning the sizes of the second DCI and the third DCI, is specifically configured to: aligning a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the third DCI.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a communications apparatus, the apparatus comprising a processor configured to implement the method described in the first aspect above. The apparatus may also include a memory to store instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor, when executing the program instructions stored in the memory, may implement the method described in the first aspect above. The apparatus may also include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices, such as a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, such as the first terminal device, etc. In one possible design, the apparatus includes:

a memory for storing program instructions;

a processor, configured to align a size of a second downlink control information DCI with a size of a first DCI when a network device configures a first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, where the first DCI is used to schedule uplink data, and the second DCI is used to allocate sidelink resources;

a communication interface for transmitting the second DCI.

In one possible design, the processor is further configured to, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, align a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, where the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

In one possible design, the processor, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, aligning the size of the second DCI with a first size when the total number of different sizes of the first DCI configured by the network device is less than or equal to a first number, where the first size is the size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; or, when the network device configures the total number of different sizes of the first DCI monitored by the first terminal device is greater than the first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a second size, where the second size is a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell user in which the first terminal device is located.

In one possible design, the processor, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, is specifically configured to: when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; or, when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for the first terminal device is greater than the first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a fourth size, where the fourth size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

In one possible design, the first DCI includes a first DCI of a first format and/or a first DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processor is specifically configured to:

In one possible design, the third DCI includes a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, the processor is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI in the first format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI in the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of a second format, aligning a size of the first DCI with an eighth size, where the eighth size is the third DCI size of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI of the first format and the third DCI of the second format, aligning the size of the first DCI with the seventh size or the eighth size.

In one possible design, the processor, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, is specifically configured to: aligning a size of a second DCI scrambled by a radio network temporary identity with a size of the first DCI.

In one possible design, the processor, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, is specifically configured to: aligning a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the third DCI.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, the device comprising a processor for implementing the method described in the second aspect above. The apparatus may also include a memory to store instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor, when executing the program instructions stored in the memory, may implement the method described in the second aspect above. The apparatus may also include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices, such as a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, which may be a network device, etc. In one possible design, the apparatus includes:

a memory for storing program instructions;

and the processor is configured to align the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, where the first DCI is used to schedule uplink data.

A communication interface, configured to receive second downlink control information DCI, where the second DCI is used for sidelink resource allocation;

in one possible design, the processor is further to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, aligning a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, where the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

In one possible design, the processor, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, aligning the size of the second DCI with a first size when the total number of different sizes of the first DCI configured by the network device is less than or equal to a first number, where the first size is the size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; or, when the total number of different sizes of the first terminal device configured by the network device to monitor DCI is greater than the first number, aligning the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a second search space, and the second search space is a search space serving a cell of the first terminal device.

In one possible design, the first DCI includes a first DCI of a first format and/or a first DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, the processor is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a fifth size, where the fifth size is a size of the first DCI in the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the second format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a sixth size, where the sixth size is the size of the first DCI of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the first format and the first DCI of the second format, aligning the size of the second DCI with the fifth size or the sixth size.

In one possible design, the third DCI includes a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format; when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, the processor is specifically configured to: when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI in the first format, aligning a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI in the first format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the second format, aligning a size of the second DCI with an eighth size, where the eighth size is the third DCI size of the second format; or, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI of the first format and the third DCI of the second format, aligning the size of the second DCI with the seventh size or the eighth size.

In one possible design, the processor, when aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, is specifically configured to: and aligning the size of the second DCI scrambled by the Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI) with the size of the first DCI.

In one possible design, the processor, when aligning the second DCI with the third DCI, is specifically configured to: aligning a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the third DCI.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor and may further include a memory, and is configured to implement the method of the first aspect or the second aspect. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

In a ninth aspect, this application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first or second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, the present embodiments provide a system, where the system includes the apparatus of the third aspect and the apparatus of the fourth aspect, or the system includes the apparatus of the fifth aspect and the apparatus of the sixth aspect.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a diagram of an example of a DCI configuration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 1 shows one of communication systems 100 to which the embodiment of the present application is applied, where the communication system 100 may include at least one network device 110, where the network device 110 may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, such as a base station or a base station controller, each network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area, and may communicate with a terminal device located in the coverage area (cell), the network device 110 may be a base station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system or a code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), may also be a base station (nodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, may also be an evolved base station (eNB, or eNodeB) in an L TE system, may also be a cloud access network (c) in a WCDMA system, may also be a base station (nodeB, or eNodeB), and may also be a network device for controlling a network (MN, MN) in a future MN, or MN, a network node b, and the like.

The communication system 100 also includes one or more terminal devices 120 located within the coverage area of the network device 110. the terminal devices 120 may be mobile or fixed. the terminal devices 120 may refer to, without limitation, access terminals, User Equipment (UE), subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, wireless communication devices, user agents, or user equipment the access terminals may be cellular phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (W LL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle mounted devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in future 5G networks, or terminal devices in future-evolution public land mobile networks (MN L).

The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may perform data transmission via an air interface resource, where the air interface resource may include at least one of a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, and a code domain resource. Specifically, when network device 110 and terminal device 120 perform data transmission, network device 110 may transmit control information to terminal device 120 through a control channel, such as a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), so as to allocate a resource of a data channel, such as a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), to terminal device 120. For example, the control information may indicate symbols and/or Resource Blocks (RBs) to which the data channels are mapped, and the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 perform data transmission on the data channels at the allocated time-frequency resources. The data transmission may include downlink data transmission and/or uplink data transmission, where the downlink data (e.g., data carried by PDSCH) transmission may refer to the network device 110 sending data to the terminal device 120, and the uplink data (e.g., data carried by PUSCH) transmission may refer to the terminal device 120 sending data to the network device 110. The data may be generalized data, such as user data, system information, broadcast information, or other information.

In the communication system shown in fig. 1, terminal devices 120 may also perform data transmission through sidelink resources, and similar to the air interface resources, the sidelink resources may also include at least one of time domain resources, frequency domain resources, and code domain resources. Specifically, the physical channel for data transmission by the terminal device 120 may include at least one of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), and the like. The PSCCH is used for transmitting data, the PSCCH is used for transmitting control information, such as Scheduling Assignment (SA) information, and the PSFCH is used for transmitting feedback information, such as Channel State Information (CSI), positive Acknowledgement (ACK), Negative Acknowledgement (NACK), or the like, which may be included in the feedback information.

Fig. 1 exemplarily shows one network device and two terminal devices, and optionally, the communication system 100 may include a plurality of network devices and may include other numbers of terminal devices within the coverage of one network device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. In addition, it is understood that the bypass communication in the embodiment of the present application may refer to communication between one terminal device and another terminal device (for example, unicast, etc.), or the bypass communication may refer to communication between one terminal device and multiple terminal devices (for example, multicast, broadcast, etc.), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. For convenience of description, in the embodiments of the present application, "sidelink communication refers to communication between one terminal device and another terminal device" is taken as an example for explanation.

Based on the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1, as shown in fig. 2, a process of sidelink communication is provided, where a network device in the process may be specifically the network device 110 in fig. 1, and a terminal device may be specifically the terminal device 120 in fig. 1, and the process includes:

s201, the network device allocates S L sending resources for the first terminal device.

S202, the network equipment sends downlink control information DCI to the first terminal equipment, wherein the DCI is used for indicating the network equipment to send the relevant information of the resource distributed by the first terminal equipment in S L.

And S203, the first terminal equipment determines S L sending resources according to the DCI.

And S204, the first terminal equipment transmits an S L signal to the second terminal equipment on the S L transmission resource.

For example, the first terminal device may send S L data (data) information on the physical sidelink shared channel PSCCH, or the first terminal device may send Scheduling Assignment (SA) information on the physical sidelink control channel PSCCH, etc. accordingly, the second terminal device may send Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) information on the physical sidelink feedback channel PSFCH after receiving the S L data information.

For example, the process shown in fig. 2 may be applied to a process in which a network device actively allocates S L transmission resources to a terminal device, and may also be applied to a process in which the network device passively allocates S L transmission resources to the terminal device, where the process in which the network device passively allocates S L transmission resources to the terminal device may be that the terminal device sends an S L resource request to the network device, and the network device receives the S L resource request and then allocates S L transmission resources to the terminal device.

In this embodiment, for the flow shown in fig. 2, a process of receiving DCI by the first terminal device may include: since the DCI is carried in a physical downlink control channel PDCCH for transmission. The first terminal device may obtain a search space SS, where the SS includes a PDCCH candidate set (PDCCH candidate) that refers to a series of time-frequency resource locations where PDCCHs may occur in a control resource set (CORESET). The first terminal device may perform blind detection at each PDCCH candidate location according to the DCI size.

In an example, in order to make uplink and downlink air interface communication compatible with S L communication, the network device may configure the first terminal device to monitor three types of DCI, which are a first DCI, a second DCI, and a third DCI, respectively, where the first DCI is used to schedule uplink data transmission, the second DCI is used to schedule sidelink resource allocation in fig. 2, and the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data transmission, for example, the size of the first DCI is size 0, the size of the second DCI is size 1, the size of the third DCI is size 2, size 0, size 1, and size 2, which are different from each other, the first terminal device needs to perform PDCCH detection or monitoring at each PDCCH candidate location according to size 0, size 1, and size 2, which is also referred to as blind detection of a PDCCH, the sizes of the three types of DCI need to be blind detected 3 times, and the complexity of terminal device processing is high.

For example, following the above example, the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor three types of DCIs, namely, a first DCI, a second DCI, and a third DCI, where the first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data transmission, the second DCI is used for scheduling side link resource allocation in fig. 2, the third DCI is used for scheduling downlink data transmission, and the first DCI is of size 0 and the third DCI is of size 2, and if the second DCI is set to be aligned with the first DCI, the second DCI is of size 0, and the terminal device performs blind detection on the DCI of size 0 and size 2, the blind detection of the DCI for the S L resource allocation in fig. 2 is performed on the DCI of size 2, which is the same as the size of the DCI for uplink scheduling data transmission.

However, in some scenarios (e.g., the scenario of the secondary cell with index 2 shown in fig. 5), the network device may not configure the terminal device to monitor the DCI for uplink data scheduling in the cell, and only configure the terminal device to monitor the DCI for downlink data scheduling in the cell, for the above scenario, before the DCI for resource scheduling is not added in S L, the terminal device may perform blind detection once according to the size of the downlink scheduling DCI at each PDCCH candidate location.

For convenience of description, in the following embodiments, DCI for scheduling downlink data may be referred to as DCI for scheduling downlink data, DCI for scheduling uplink data may be referred to as DCI for scheduling uplink data, and DCI for side link resource allocation may be referred to as DCI for side link resource allocation.

Based on the above, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including aligning a size of DCI allocated for a side link resource with a size of DCI scheduling uplink data if a network device configures a terminal device to monitor DCI scheduling uplink data, otherwise aligning the size of DCI allocated for the side link resource with the size of DCI scheduling downlink data.

Still following the above example, the entire communication system supports at least three types of DCI, i.e., a first DCI, a second DCI, and a third DCI. The first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data and has a size of 0, the second DCI is used for sidelink resource allocation, the third DCI is used for scheduling downlink data and has a size of 2. And if the network equipment configures the terminal equipment to monitor the first DCI, aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, namely adjusting the size of the second DCI to be 0, otherwise, aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, namely adjusting the size of the second DCI to be 2. For the above scenario in which the network device only configures the terminal device to monitor the second DCI and the third DCI (for example, the scenario of the secondary cell with index 2 shown in fig. 5), the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the size of the third DCI, that is, the sizes of the third DCI and the second DCI are both adjusted to size 2. Then, in each PDCCH candidate position, the terminal device only needs to perform blind detection according to size 2, and only performs blind detection once. Compared with the design of blind detection twice, the method can reduce the number of blind detection times and reduce the processing complexity of the terminal equipment.

It should be noted that the flow shown in fig. 2 is only one scenario applied in the present application, and is not limited to this application, and the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to other application scenarios involving DCI.

Some communication nouns or terms used in the present application are explained below, and are also part of the inventive content of the embodiments of the present application.

One, side link (sidelink, S L)

The sidelink may also be referred to as a side link or a sidelink, etc. The side link is used for communication between the terminal equipment and the terminal equipment, and comprises one-to-one side link communication and one-to-many side link communication. The one-to-one sidelink communication may include unicast, and the one-to-many sidelink communication may include broadcast, multicast, and the like. For example, broadcast may refer to communication with all terminal devices in a cell, and multicast may refer to communication with terminals in a communication group including one or more terminal devices. The sidelink communication may comprise a direct communication between two terminal devices, or may comprise a sidelink communication forwarded by a relay node.

Wherein, the physical channel of the sidelink communication may comprise at least one of the following:

a physical sidelink shared channel (psch) for carrying sidelink data (S L data).

A Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) for carrying sidelink scheduling assignment (S L SA), where the S L SA may also be referred to as Sidelink Control Information (SCI).

A Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) for carrying sidelink feedback control information. For example, the sidelink feedback information may include at least one of Channel State Information (CSI), hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information, and the like. The HARQ information may include a positive Acknowledgement (ACK) or a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK), and the like.

A Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH) for carrying system and synchronization related information;

a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH) for carrying sidelink discovery messages.

Second, Downlink Control Information (DCI)

The DCI is information sent by the network device to the terminal device, for example, the network device may send the DCI through a physical downlink control channel PDCCH. The DCI may be used to schedule uplink data transmission, or to schedule downlink data transmission, or to sidelink resource allocation. For example, the communication interface between the network device and the terminal device is a Uu interface, and uplink/downlink data transmission may be performed on the Uu interface, where the uplink data transmission refers to data transmission from the terminal device to the network device, and the downlink data transmission refers to data transmission from the network device to the terminal device. The communication interface between the terminal equipment and the terminal equipment is a PC5 interface, the terminal equipment can carry out the sidelink transmission through a PC5 interface, and the sidelink resource allocation can be used for allocating sidelink sending resources and/or sidelink receiving resources. For example, in an example, the network device may transmit DCI to the transmitting terminal device, where the DCI is used to allocate sidelink transmission resources for the transmitting terminal device.

Third, Search Space (SS)

In a control resource set (CORESET), a series of locations where PDCCHs may occur are defined, and the PDCCHs that may occur are referred to as PDCCH candidates (PDCCH candidates), while the PDCCH candidates that the terminal device needs to monitor are referred to as search spaces (search spaces), the search spaces are divided into Common Search Spaces (CSSs) and UE-specific search spaces (UE-specific search spaces, USSs) for transmitting control information related to paging (paging), random access Response (RA) and broadcast control channels (broadcast control channels, BCCHs), the control information is primary cell-level common information, which is the same for all UEs in a cell, the USS is used for transmitting control information related to downlink shared channels (DL), uplink control channel (SCH-85U), and the like, and the control information is primary cell-level common information, which is shared by UE-SCH (SCH-85U 84).

Fourth, bandwidth part (BWP)

BWP, a set of contiguous RB resources on a carrier. In release15 (release15) of the new radio access technology (NR), it is specified that a maximum of 4 BWPs can be configured on one serving cell for one terminal device. In Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), the uplink and downlink may be configured with 4 BWPs, and in Time Division Duplexing (TDD), the uplink and downlink may be configured with 4 BWPs. At any time, only one BWP can be activated, and the terminal device and the network device perform data transceiving on the activated BWP. The BWP may be divided into an initial active BWP (initial active BWP) and an active BWP (active BWP).

Wherein, initially activating BWP may refer to BWP that the terminal device uses for data reception or transmission before receiving the dedicated BWP configuration information, and generally performs configuration through a system message. Alternatively, the initial activation BWP may refer to BWP for receiving system messages. Alternatively, the initial activation BWP may refer to BWP or the like that transmits an initial access signal. The initial activation BWP may include an initial downlink BWP (initial downlink BWP), an initial uplink BWP (initial uplink BWP), and the like.

The active BWP refers to BWP used by the terminal device for data reception or transmission after receiving the dedicated BWP configuration information, for example, the dedicated BWP configuration information may be RRC or the like. For a terminal, at most 4 BWPs can be configured on a serving cell (the 4 BWPs do not include the initial active BWP), and only one BWP can be activated at any one time, and the activated BWP can be referred to as active BWP. Illustratively, the bandwidth of the initial active BWP is less than the bandwidth of the active BWP.

Fifth, DCI size

The DCI size may also be referred to as DCI size, etc. The size of DCI refers to the number of bits included in DCI. The size of DCI may be related to several factors:

(1) DCI for different functions, and sizes of DCIs for different functions may be different, for example, the DCI for downlink data scheduling and the DCI for uplink data scheduling may be different.

(2) And the formats of the DCIs, the information fields contained in the DCIs with different formats are different, so that the DCIs with different formats can have different DCI sizes. For example, the DCI for downlink data scheduling may include DCI format1_ 0(format1_0) and/or DCI format1_ 1(format1_1), and the DCI of format1_0 is different from the DCI of format1_1 in size.

(3) And searching space SS, and when the network equipment configures the terminal equipment to monitor DCI in different SSs, the DCI sizes are different. For example, when the terminal device is configured to monitor DCI in a Common Search Space (CSS), the DCI may have a first size, and when the terminal device is configured to monitor DCI in a UE-specific search space (USS), the DCI may have a second size, where the first size is different from the second size. Optionally, the USS may also be referred to as UESS.

(4) Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI), and the DCI may have different sizes when the DCI uses different RNTIs for Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) scrambling. For example, when the first DCI is scrambled with the first RNTI, the size of the first DCI may be a third size, and when the first DCI is scrambled with the second RNTI, the size of the first DCI may be a fourth size, the third size being different from the fourth size. For example, for a DCI format of a general function, due to different subdivided scheduling types, different RNTIs for CRC scrambling result in different DCI sizes. For example, the DCI for downlink data scheduling may be divided into DCI for downlink system message scheduling, DCI for downlink paging message scheduling, DCI for downlink dynamic data scheduling, and DCI for semi-static scheduling according to different scheduling types. The System message RNTI (System information RNTI) can be used for scrambling DCI used for downlink System message scheduling, and the Paging RNTI (Paging RNTI) can be used for scrambling DCI used for downlink Paging message scheduling. The DCI used for downlink dynamic data Scheduling can be scrambled by using Cell RNTI (Cell RNTI, C-RNTI), the DCI used for semi-static data Scheduling can be scrambled by using configuration Scheduling RNTI (Configured Scheduling RNTI, CS-RNTI), and the like, and the sizes of the DCI scrambled by different RNTIs are different.

(5) The frequency resource bandwidth, such as the frequency bandwidth of different BWPs, also causes the DCI size to be different.

The above factors are merely examples of the present application and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiments of the present application, there are other factors that may affect the DCI size, and they are not listed here.

Sixthly, DCI size alignment

DCI size alignment may also be referred to as setting the number of bits occupied by two DCIs to be equal. For example, DCI size alignment may refer to changing two pieces of DCI information having different DCI sizes into two pieces of DCI information having the same DCI size. For the DCI with a small number of information bits, a redundant bit adding mode and the DCI with a large number of information bits can be adopted for size alignment. For DCI with a large number of information bits, a partial bit truncation scheme and DCI with a small number of information bits may be used for size alignment.

As shown in fig. 3, a flow of a communication method is provided, where a network device in the flow may be the network device 110 in fig. 1, and a terminal device may be the terminal device 120 in fig. 1. It is understood that the functions of the network device may also be implemented by a chip applied to the network device or by other means to support the network device, and the functions of the terminal device may also be implemented by a chip applied to the terminal device or by other means to support the terminal device. The process comprises the following steps:

and S301, when the network equipment configures the first terminal equipment to monitor the first DCI, the network equipment aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, wherein the first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data, and the second DCI is used for side link resource allocation. Optionally, scheduling uplink data may also be described as scheduling PUSCH (scheduling of PUSCH in one cell) in one cell.

And S303, the network equipment sends the second DCI.

Optionally, the process shown in fig. 3 may further include:

s302, when the network equipment configures the first terminal equipment to monitor the first DCI, the first terminal equipment aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI.

S304, the first terminal equipment receives the second DCI.

It is understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the sequence of S301 to S304 is not limited, for example, S301 may be located before S302 in sequence, S301 may also be located after S302 in sequence, and the like.

In this embodiment, the network device may configure the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in different search spaces, and the sizes of the first DCI may be different when the first DCI is monitored in different search spaces. In the embodiment of the present application, the network device and/or the first terminal device may employ the following example to align the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI.

For example, if the size of the second DCI is larger than that of the first DCI, then a part of bits in the second DCI may be truncated (rounding) so that the size of the second DCI is aligned with that of the first DCI, for example, if the second DCI occupies M1 bits, the first DCI occupies N1 bits, M1 and N1 are both positive integers, and M1 is larger than N1, then N1 bits may be truncated in the second DCI so that the size of the second DCI is the same as that of the first DCI, truncating M5-N1 bits in the second DCI may include truncating M1-N1 bits at a front position in the second DCI information, or truncating M1-N1 bits at a rear position in the second DCI information, or truncating M1-N1 bits at an intermediate position in the second DCI information, or if the preceding and following positions in the second DCI information, the preceding and following positions in the second DCI information indicate that the second DCI and the preceding DCI information and following DCI information are aligned with the same size of the first DCI, or the second DCI, the preceding DCI, or following bits indicate that the second DCI information may be equal to the size of the first DCI, or the preceding DCI size of the second DCI, or the preceding DCI, the preceding and following bits of the second DCI information may indicate that the preceding and the preceding DCI information are equal to the redundancy, or the redundancy, if the preceding DCI size of the second DCI, the preceding DCI, the second DCI size of the preceding and the preceding size of the second DCI, the preceding and the preceding length of the second DCI, the preceding length of the preceding or the preceding length of the preceding DCI, the second DCI, the preceding or the preceding DCI information, the preceding DCI, the preceding length of the second DCI, the preceding or the second DCI, the preceding length of the second DCI, the preceding or the preceding length of the second DCI, the preceding length of the second DCI, the length is equal, or the length of the second DCI, the length.

For example, the network device may configure the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a first search space, which may be a search space serving the first terminal device, for example, the first search space may be a USS. And when the first terminal device monitors the first DCI in the first search space, the size of the first DCI is the first size, and the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the first size.

For example, the network device may configure the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a second search space, where the second search space may be a search space serving a cell user in which the first terminal device is located, for example, the second search space may be a CSS. And when the first terminal device monitors the first DCI in the second search space, the size of the first DCI is a second size, and the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the second size.

For example, the network device may configure the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first search space and the second search space, respectively, and when the first terminal device monitors the first DCI in the first search space, the size of the first DCI is the first size, and when the first terminal device monitors the first DCI in the second search space, the size of the first DCI is the second size. Alternatively, the first search space may be a USS and the second search space may be a CSS. In the embodiment of the present application, the size of the second DCI may be determined to be aligned with the first size or aligned with the second size in the following manner:

and if the network equipment configures the total number of the different sizes of the first terminal equipment monitoring DCI to be less than or equal to the first number, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the first size, otherwise, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the second size. Alternatively, the first number may be referred to as a DCI size budget (DCI size budget). For example, the DCI size budget refers to the number of DCI sizes detected by a terminal device in one slot for each cell in order to reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device in a communication system (such as an NR system). For example, the terminal device may be specified to detect 4 DCI sizes at most in one slot for each cell, 3 DCI sizes at most for DCI scrambled with C-RNTI, and the like. For example, when the first number is taken as 4, in a cell, when the total number of different sizes of the configuration monitoring DCI is less than or equal to 4 (the total number of different sizes of the configuration monitoring DCI sized configured to be monitored to be no more than 4for the cell), the size of the second DCI is aligned with the first size, otherwise, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the second size. Specifically, the network device may determine the monitoring DCI configured for the first terminal device, obtain the size of each monitoring DCI, and count the total number of different DCI sizes monitored by the first terminal device. For example, the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor 3 types of DCI, which are the first DCI, the second DCI, and the third DCI. If the size of the first DCI is size 0, the size of the second DCI is size 1, and the size of the third DCI is size 2, then the total number of different sizes of the first terminal device monitoring DCI is 3. Similarly, if the size of the first DCI is size 0, the size of the second DCI is size 1, and the size of the third DCI is size 1, that is, the size of the second DCI is the same as the size of the third DCI, then the first terminal device monitors that the total number of different sizes of the DCIs is 2.

In this embodiment, the network device may configure the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI with different formats, and the DCI with different formats may have different sizes. In this embodiment, the network device or the first terminal device may align the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI in the following manner. For example, the functions of the first DCI with different formats may be different, for example, the first DCI with the first format may be referred to as fallback DCI (fallback DCI), and the fallback DCI may be used for data scheduling before RRC connection establishment or data scheduling after RRC connection establishment. The first DCI of the second format may be referred to as a non-fallback DCI (non-fallback DCI), and the non-fallback DCI may be used for data scheduling after RRC connection establishment.

For example, if the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, for example, the first DCI in the first format may be a DCI in format 0_0(format 0_0), and the size of the first DCI in the first format is a third size, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the third size.

For example, if the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the second format, for example, the first DCI in the second format may be a DCI in format 0_1(format 0_1), and the size of the first DCI in the second format is a fourth size, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the fourth size.

For example, if the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the first format and the first DCI of the second format simultaneously, and the size of the first DCI of the first format is the third size, the size of the first DCI of the second format is the fourth size. The size of the second DCI may be aligned with the third size, or the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the fourth size. For example, the size of the second DCI may be determined to be aligned with the third size or the fourth size according to a protocol specification or a preset rule. Specifically, if the protocol specifies or predetermines a rule that specifies that the size of the second DCI is aligned with the third size, otherwise, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the fourth size.

In this embodiment of the present application, when the first terminal device monitors the first DCI, the size of the first DCI may be determined according to the resource determination of the initial uplink activation BWP, or the size of the first DCI may be determined according to the resource determination of the activation uplink BWP, where the determined size of the first DCI is the fifth size according to the resource determination of the initial uplink activation BWP, and the determined size of the first DCI is the sixth size according to the resource activation uplink BWP. In this embodiment, the network device or the first terminal device may determine that the size of the second DCI is aligned with the fifth size or the sixth size in the following manner.

When the number of the monitoring DCIs of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to the second number, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the fifth size, otherwise, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the sixth size, and as to how to determine the number of the monitoring DCIs of the first terminal device, the second number may be the same as or different from the first number. For example, the second number may be a DCI size budget (DCI size budget), or the like.

In this embodiment of the present application, the second DCI may use different Radio Network Temporary Identities (RNTIs) to perform Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) scrambling, and sizes of the second DCI scrambled by different RNTIs are different, and in this embodiment of the present application, sizes of the second DCI scrambled by different RNTIs may be all aligned with sizes of the first DCI. As to how to align the size of the second DCI scrambled by a different RNTI with the size of the first DCI, reference may be made to the above-described example, which is not described here.

Optionally, the process shown in fig. 3 may further include: the network equipment configures first terminal equipment to monitor the first DCI, schedules uplink data to the terminal equipment based on the first DCI, and allocates sidelink resources to the terminal equipment based on the second DCI.

In the embodiment of the present application, based on the flow shown in fig. 3, the following scheme may be described: and when the network equipment configures the first terminal equipment to monitor the first DCI, aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, otherwise, aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI. In an example, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the size of the third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI. Alternatively, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the size of the third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI. Alternatively, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the size of the third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI and the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI. In the flow shown in fig. 4, the following description will be given by taking as an example that the size of the second DCI is aligned with the size of the third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI, and the present application is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 4, a flow of a communication method is provided, where a network device in the flow may be the network device 110 in fig. 1, and a terminal device may be the terminal device 120 in fig. 1, and the flow includes:

s401, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI, the network device aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, the second DCI is used for side link resource allocation, and the third DCI is used for scheduling downlink data and does not need uplink scheduling. Optionally, scheduling downlink data may also be described as scheduling pdsch (scheduling of pusch in one cell) in one cell.

And S403, the network equipment sends the second DCI.

Optionally, the process shown in fig. 4 may further include: s402, when the network equipment configures the first terminal equipment to monitor the third DCI, the first terminal equipment aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI.

S404, the first terminal equipment receives the second DCI.

It is understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the sequence of S401 to S404 is not limited, for example, S401 may be located before S402 in sequence, S401 may also be located after S402 in sequence, and the like.

Alternatively, S401 of the above step may be replaced by: when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a size of a third DCI, where the first DI is used to schedule uplink data transmission, the second DCI is used to allocate sidelink resources, and the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data transmission.

Accordingly, the step S402 can be replaced by: when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI.

Optionally, the process shown in fig. 4 may further include: and the network equipment configures the first terminal equipment to monitor the third DCI, schedules downlink data to the terminal equipment based on the third DCI, and allocates sidelink resources to the terminal equipment based on the second DCI.

Optionally, in the flow shown in fig. 3 or fig. 4, the method may further include: and the first terminal equipment determines the sidelink resources according to the second DCI. The first terminal equipment transmits a side link signal on the side link resource, wherein the side link signal can comprise side link data information and/or SA information and the like, and the second terminal equipment receives the side link signal on the side link resource and the like.

In this embodiment, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in different search spaces, the size of the third DCI is different, and with respect to the above-mentioned fig. 4, the network device and/or the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, the following example may be adopted:

illustratively, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the first search space, the third DCI may have a size of the seventh size, the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device, for example, the first search space may be a USS, and the first terminal device may align the size of the second DCI with the seventh size.

For example, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the second search space, the size of the third DCI is an eighth size, the second search space is a search space serving a cell user in which the first terminal device is located, for example, the second search space may be a CSS, and the first terminal device may align the size of the second DCI with the eighth size.

Illustratively, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the first search space and the second search space, and when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the first search space, the third DCI having a size of a seventh size, and when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the second search space, the third DCI having a size of an eighth size, the size of the second DCI may be determined to be aligned with the seventh size or with the eighth size based on a total number of different sizes at which the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the DCIs. For example, if the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor that the total number of the different DCI sizes is smaller than or equal to the first number, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the seventh size, otherwise, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the eighth size. As to how to determine the size of the number of the first terminal device monitoring DCI configured by the network device, reference may be made to the above description, and no further description is given here.

In this embodiment, the network device may configure the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI with different formats, where the DCI with different formats has different sizes. In this embodiment, the network device or the first terminal device may align the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI in the following manner.

For example, the third DCI may include different formats, and the different formats of DCI have different sizes. For example, the third DCI may include a first DCI of a first format and a second DCI of a second format, and for example, the third DCI of the first format may be a DCI of format1_ 0(format1_0) and the third DCI of the second format may be a DCI of format1_ 1(format1_ 1). The size of the third DCI of the first format is a ninth size, and the size of the third DCI of the second format is a tenth size.

Illustratively, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the first format, the size of the second DCI is aligned with a ninth size.

Illustratively, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of a second format, the size of the first DCI is aligned with a tenth size, where the tenth size is the third DCI size of the second format.

Illustratively, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor third DCI of the first format and third DCI of the second format, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the ninth size or the tenth size. Specifically, in the embodiment of the present application, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the ninth size or the tenth size according to a protocol rule or a preset rule. For example, the protocol rule or the preset rule may specify that, when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI of the first format and the third DCI of the second format simultaneously, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the third DCI of the first format (i.e., the ninth size). Alternatively, the protocol specifies or predetermines a rule that may specify that, when the network device configures the first terminal device to simultaneously monitor the third DCI of the first format and the third DCI of the second format, the size of the second DCI may be aligned with the third DCI of the second format (i.e., the tenth size).

In this embodiment of the application, when the first terminal device monitors the third DCI, the size of the third DCI may be determined according to the resource of the initial downlink activation BWP, or the size of the third DCI may be determined according to the resource of the activation downlink BWP, where the determined size of the third DCI is an eleventh size according to the resource of the initial downlink activation BWP, and the determined size of the third DCI is a twelfth size according to the resource of the activation downlink BWP. In this embodiment, the network device or the first terminal device may determine that the size of the second DCI is aligned with the eleventh size or the twelfth size in the following manner.

When the number of the first terminal device monitoring DCIs is greater than or equal to the second number, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the eleventh size, otherwise, the size of the second DCI is aligned with the twelfth size, and as to how to determine the number of the first terminal device monitoring DCIs, the second number may be the same as or different from the first number. For example, the second number may be a DCI size budget (DCI size budget), or the like.

In this embodiment, the network device may perform CRC scrambling on the second DCI with different RNTIs, and the sizes of the second DCI scrambled with different RNTIs are different. As to how to align the size of the second DCI scrambled with a different RNTI with the size of the third DCI, see the above description.

It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, different examples can be used alone or in combination, and the use of different examples alone or in combination is within the scope of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the second DCI in the flows shown in fig. 3 and fig. 4 is referred to as format x (format x) DCI, the first DCI is referred to as format 0(format 0) DCI, the third DCI is referred to as format 1(format1) DCI, and the first terminal device is a UE as an example, and the following description is given:

as shown in fig. 5, the carrier configuration in a cell includes 1 primary cell and 2 secondary cells, where the index of the primary cell is 0, and the indexes of the 2 secondary cells are 1 and 2, respectively, three carrier units (CCs) are configured in the primary cell, two carriers are configured in the secondary cell with the index of 1, respectively, a downlink carrier D L CC, an uplink carrier U L CC, and a supplementary carrier SU L CC, and one downlink carrier D L CC is configured in the secondary cell with the index of 2, respectively, a downlink carrier D L CC, and an uplink carrier U L CC.

In the embodiment of the present application, for a primary cell and an auxiliary cell with an index of 0, a network device may configure a UE to monitor DCI with format 0 and DCI with format1, where the DCI with format 0 is used to schedule uplink transmission on an uplink carrier U L CC, and the DCI with format1 is used to schedule downlink transmission on a downlink carrier D L CC.

In this embodiment of the present application, in a primary cell and a secondary cell with an index of 1, according to the method provided in fig. 3, a network device configures a terminal device to monitor DCI of format 0, and the network device may align the size of DCI of format X with the size of DCI of format 0. For the secondary cell with index 2, according to the method provided in fig. 4, the network device does not monitor DCI of format 0, which is also called that the network device only monitors DCI of format1, and the network device may align the size of DCI of format X with the size of DCI of format 1. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the DCI size alignment is performed for one cell.

In an example, as shown in table 1, the DCI of format 0 may include DCI of format 0_0(format 0_0) and DCI of format 0_1(format 0_1), and the DCI of format1 may include DCI of format1_ 0(format1_0) and DCI of format1_ 1(format1_ 1). The DCI of format 0_0 is used to schedule uplink data, and may be present in the CSS and/or the USS, that is, the network device may configure the UE to monitor the DCI of format 0_0 at the CSS and/or the USS. The DCI of format 0_1 is used to schedule uplink data, and may only be present in the USS, i.e., the network device may configure the UE to monitor the DCI of format 0_1 in the USS. The DCI of format1_0 is used to schedule downlink data, and may be present in the CSS and/or USS, i.e., the network device may configure the UE to monitor the DCI of format1_0 at the CSS and/or USS. The DCI of format1_1 may be used to schedule downlink data, and may only be present in the USS, i.e., the network device may configure the UE to monitor the DCI of format1_1 in the USS.

It should be noted that the DCI of format 0_0 and the DCI of format1_0 may be referred to as fallback DCI (fallback DCI), and the fallback DCI may be used for data scheduling before RRC link establishment of the UE and may also be used for data scheduling after RRC link establishment of the UE. The DCI of format 0_1 and the DCI of format1_1 may be referred to as non-fallback DCI, which is used for data scheduling after RRC link establishment of the UE.

Table 1 DCI format description

In an example, the network device may determine whether the UE is configured to monitor the DCI of format 0_1 in the USS, and if so, align the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format 0_1, otherwise, align the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format 0_0, or align the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format1_ 1.

Specifically, if the network device configures the UE to monitor the DCI of format 0_1 in the USS (there is an uplink carrier in the cell, for example, the primary cell and the secondary cell numbered 1 in fig. 5), the size of the DCI of format 0_1 monitored by the UE in the USS is set to be 0_1_ USS. The network device may align the DCI size of format X with 0_1_ USS and the DCI sizes of formats X scrambled with different RNTIs all with 0_1_ USS.

If the network device configures the UE not to monitor the DCI of format 0_1 in the USS (the cell has no uplink carrier, such as the secondary cell numbered 2 in fig. 5, or the cell has an uplink carrier, but the UE is configured not to monitor the DCI of format 0_1), the following cases are considered:

for example, when the UE needs to monitor the DCI of format1_0, the size of the DCI of format X may be aligned with the size of the DCI of format1_ 0. As can be seen from table 1, the DCI of format1_0 may occur in the CSS and also in the USS, and the DCI of format1_0 is different in size when the CSS and the USS occur. When the DCI of format1_0 appears in the CSS, the size is 1_0_ CSS, and when the DCI of format1_0 appears in the USS, the size is 1_0_ USS. In the embodiment of the present application, if the total number of different sizes of the DCI monitored by the UE is greater than or equal to the first number, the size of the DCI of format X may be aligned with 1_0_ CSS, otherwise, the size of the DCI of format X is aligned with 1_0_ USS. Alternatively, the first number may be referred to as a DCI size budget (DCI sizebutt). For DCI size budget, see the above description, and will not be described here.

For example, when the UE needs to monitor the DCI of format1_1, the DCI size of format X may be aligned with the DCI size of format1_ 1. As can be seen from table 1, the DCI of format1_1 only appears in the USS, and thus the size of the DCI of format1_1 when the USS appears may be defined as 1_1_ USS, and the DCI size of format X may be aligned with 1_1_ USS.

Illustratively, when the UE needs to monitor both DCI of 1_0 and DCI of format1_1, the DCI size of format X may be aligned with the DCI size of format1_0 or the DCI size of format X may be aligned with the DCI size of format1_1 by configuring or pre-defining a protocol.

In another example, the network device may determine whether the UE is configured to monitor the DCI of format 0_0, and if so, align the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format 0_0, otherwise, align the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format1_0, or align the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format1_ 1. For the procedure of aligning the DCI size of format X with the DCI size of format1_0, and aligning the DCI size of format X with the DCI size of format1_1, refer to the above description.

It can be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, if the size of the DCI of format 0_0 is already aligned with the size of the DCI of format1_0, then aligning the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format 0_0 is equivalent to aligning the size of the DCI of format X with the size of the DCI of format1_ 0. For example, if the DCI size of 0_0_ CSS is aligned with the size of 1_0_ CSS, the DCI size of format X is aligned with the DCI size of format 0_0_ CSS, which is equivalent to the DCI size of format X being aligned with the size of 1_0_ CSS; if the DCI size of 0_0_ USS is aligned with the size of 1_0_ USS, the DCI size of format X is aligned with the DCI size of format 0_0_ USS, which is equivalent to the DCI size of format X being aligned with the size of 1_0_ USS.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is introduced from the perspective of a network device, a terminal, and interaction between the network device and the terminal. In order to implement the functions in the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device and the terminal may include a hardware structure and/or a software module, and the functions are implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure and a software module. Whether any of the above-described functions is implemented as a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technical solution.

Similar to the above concept, as shown in fig. 6, an apparatus 600 is further provided in the present embodiment to implement the functions of the network device in the above method. The apparatus may be a network device, or an apparatus in a network device. Wherein the apparatus may be a system-on-a-chip. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices. The apparatus 600 may include:

a processing module 601, configured to, when a network device configures a first terminal device to monitor a first downlink control information DCI, align a size of a second DCI with a size of the first DCI, where the first DCI is used to schedule uplink data, and the second DCI is used to allocate sidelink resources.

A transceiver module 602, configured to send the second DCI.

For specific execution processes of the processing module 601 and the transceiver module 602, reference may be made to the above description of the method embodiment. The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and only one logical function division is provided, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, may also exist alone physically, or may also be integrated in one module by two or more modules. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode.

Similar to the above concept, as shown in fig. 7, an apparatus 700 is provided in the present embodiment for implementing the function of the network device in the above method, and the apparatus may be a network device or an apparatus in a network device.

The apparatus 700 includes at least one processor 701 configured to implement the functions of the network device in the above-described method. For example, the processor 701 may align the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first downlink control information DCI, which is described in detail in the method and is not described here.

The apparatus 700 may also include at least one memory 702 for storing program instructions and/or data. A memory 702 is coupled to the processor 701. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is a spaced coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form, and is used for information interaction between the devices, units or modules. The processor 701 may cooperate with the memory 702. The processor 701 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 702. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

Apparatus 700 may also include a communication interface 703 for communicating with other devices over a transmission medium, such that the apparatus used in apparatus 700 may communicate with other devices. Illustratively, the communication interface 703 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, which may be the first terminal device. The processor 701 transceives data using the communication interface 703 and is used to implement the methods in the above-described embodiments. For example, the communication interface may transmit the second DCI.

In the embodiment of the present application, the connection medium between the communication device 703, the processor 701, and the memory 702 is not limited. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 702, the processor 701 and the communication interface 703 are connected by the bus 704 in fig. 7, the bus is represented by a thick line in fig. 7, and the connection manner between other components is merely schematic illustration and is not limited thereto. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 7, but this does not represent only one bus or one type of bus.

As shown in fig. 8, an apparatus 800 is further provided in this embodiment of the present application to implement the functions of the terminal device in the foregoing method. The apparatus may be a terminal device, or an apparatus in a terminal device. Wherein the apparatus may be a system-on-a-chip. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices. The apparatus 800 may include:

a processing module 801, configured to align a size of the second DCI with a size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI.

The transceiver module 802 is configured to receive second downlink control information DCI.

For specific implementation procedures of the processing module 801 and the transceiver module 802, reference may be made to the above description in the method embodiment. The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and only one logical function division is provided, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, may also exist alone physically, or may also be integrated in one module by two or more modules. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode.

Similar to the above concept, as shown in fig. 9, an embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus 900, which is used to implement the function of the first terminal device in the above method, and the apparatus may be a terminal device or an apparatus in a terminal device.

The apparatus 900 comprises at least one processor 901 configured to implement the functionality of the first terminal device in the above method. For example, the processor 901 may align the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, which is described in detail in the method and is not described here.

The apparatus 900 may also include at least one memory 902 for storing program instructions and/or data. The memory 902 is coupled to the processor 901. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is a spaced coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form, and is used for information interaction between the devices, units or modules. The processor 901 may operate in conjunction with the memory 902. The processor 901 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 902. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

Apparatus 900 may also include a communication interface 903 for communicating with other devices over a transmission medium such that the apparatus used in apparatus 900 may communicate with other devices. Illustratively, the communication interface 903 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, which may be a second terminal device or a network device. The processor 901 transceives data using the communication interface 903 and is used to implement the methods in the above embodiments. Illustratively, the communication interface 903 may receive the second DCI.

The connection medium between the communication device 903, the processor 901, and the memory 902 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 902, the processor 901, and the communication interface 903 are connected by the bus 904 in fig. 9, the bus is represented by a thick line in fig. 9, and the connection manner between other components is merely schematic illustration and is not limited thereto. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 9, but this does not represent only one bus or one type of bus.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory (e.g., a random-access memory (RAM)). The memory is 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, but is not limited to such. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be circuitry or any other device capable of performing a storage function for storing program instructions and/or data.

The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, 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 computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another computer readable storage medium via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DS L)), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless website, microwave, etc.), to another computer, or data center via a wired (e.g., Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), digital subscriber line (DS L)), or a wireless (e.g., optical disk, wireless website, microwave, etc.), the computer, data center, or any suitable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, a magnetic disk, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape, or a magnetic storage medium.

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 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 intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

when a network device configures a first terminal device to monitor a first downlink control information DCI, the network device aligns the size of a second DCI with the size of a first DCI, wherein the first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data, and the second DCI is used for side link resource allocation;

the network device transmits the second DCI.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, where the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the network device aligning a size of a second DCI with a size of the first DCI, comprising:

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for monitoring by the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, the network device aligns the size of the second DCI with a first size, where the first size is a size of a first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the network device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI comprises:

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device to monitor by the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first DCI comprises a first DCI of a first format and/or a first DCI of a second format;

the network device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, comprising:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a fifth size, where the fifth size is a size of the first DCI in the first format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

6. The method of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the third DCI comprises a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format;

the network device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI, comprising:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the first format, the network device aligns a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI of the first format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the network device aligning a size of a second DCI with a size of the first DCI, comprises:

the network device aligns a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the first DCI.

8. The method of any of claims 2 to 7, wherein the network device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI comprises:

the network device aligns a size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identity with a size of the third DCI.

9. A method of communication, comprising:

a first terminal device receives second Downlink Control Information (DCI), wherein the second DCI is used for side link resource allocation;

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a first DCI, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, and the first DCI is used for scheduling uplink data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI, or when the network device configures the first terminal device not to monitor the first DCI, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a size of the third DCI, and the third DCI is used to schedule downlink data.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI comprises:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a first size when the total number of different sizes of the first DCI configured by the network device is less than or equal to a first number, where the first size is a size of a first DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the third DCI comprises:

when the total number of different sizes of the DCI configured by the network device for monitoring by the first terminal device is smaller than or equal to a first number, the first terminal device aligns the size of the second DCI with a third size, where the third size is a size of a third DCI when the network device configures the first terminal device for monitoring the third DCI in a first search space, and the first search space is a search space serving the first terminal device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

13. The method of any of claims 9 to 12, wherein the first DCI comprises a first DCI of a first format and/or a first DCI of a second format;

the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI, including:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a fifth size, where the fifth size is a size of the first DCI in the first format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI of the second format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a sixth size, where the sixth size is the size of the first DCI of the second format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the first DCI in the first format and the first DCI in the second format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with the fifth size or the sixth size.

14. The method of any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the third DCI comprises a third DCI of a first format and/or a third DCI of a second format;

the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of a third DCI, including:

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the first format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with a seventh size, where the seventh size is a size of the third DCI of the first format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor a third DCI of the second format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with an eighth size, where the eighth size is the third DCI size of the second format; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the network device configures the first terminal device to monitor the third DCI in the first format and the third DCI in the second format, the first terminal device aligns a size of the second DCI with the seventh size or the eighth size.

15. The method of any of claims 9 to 14, wherein the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the size of the first DCI comprises:

and the first terminal equipment aligns the size of the second DCI scrambled by the Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI) with the size of the first DCI.

16. The method of any of claims 10 to 15, wherein the first terminal device aligning the size of the second DCI with the third DCI comprises:

and the first terminal equipment aligns the size of the second DCI scrambled by the radio network temporary identifier with the size of the third DCI.

17. An apparatus for carrying out the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having stored therein instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

19. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.