CN111491389B

CN111491389B - Bandwidth switching method, device, medium and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN111491389B
Application number: CN201910087901.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 柯颋; 胡丽洁; 刘建军; 邵华; 童辉; 王飞; 王启星; 刘光毅
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2019-01-29
Filing date: 2019-01-29
Publication date: 2023-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-29
Also published as: CN111491389A

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of wireless technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a medium, and a device for switching bandwidths. According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the terminal can detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected in the first time length, the terminal can switch from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relation. Therefore, when the scheduling opportunity cannot be obtained on the current bandwidth, the scheduling opportunity can be timely obtained from other bandwidths through bandwidth switching, the scheduling opportunity cannot be obtained within the whole MCOT duration is avoided, and user experience is improved, such as throughput is improved and/or time delay is reduced.

Description

Bandwidth switching method, device, medium and equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a medium, and a device for switching bandwidths.

Background

The third generation partnership project (3 GPP) first fifth generation mobile communication (5G) release (3 GPP Rel-15) initiated the non-licensed new air interface (NR-U, NR unlicensed) research topic, which studies NR enhancement techniques working on the non-licensed spectrum.

Unlike licensed spectrum, which is exclusively shared by operators, unlicensed spectrum is a common frequency band, and can be used by all wireless communication systems and all operators. Since different wireless communication systems and/or different operators often lack joint planning when deploying sites, in order to suppress coexistence interference between the NR-U system and other wireless communication systems, the NR-U system requires a channel access procedure (channel access procedure) to support a Listen Before Talk (LBT) mechanism, i.e., the NR-U system can obtain a channel access opportunity only when the channel is idle.

Unlike Long Term Evolution (LTE), the system operating bandwidth of 5G NR is very large (e.g., 100 megahertz (MHz)), so the base station (gNB) needs to support sub-bandwidth (sub-band) level LBT mechanism.

The sub-band level LBT mechanism described herein refers to that the gNB listens to a part of bandwidth (e.g. 20 MHz) for whether a channel is idle, and if the channel is found to be idle in the part of bandwidth, the gNB may perform signal transmission within a preset time zone (the maximum duration of which is referred to as MCOT, e.g. MCOT =8 ms).

Otherwise, if only the full-bandwidth (full-band) LBT mechanism is supported, that is, only after the channel of the entire system bandwidth (e.g. 100 MHz) is idle, the gNB can perform signal transmission within a preset time zone, which results in very inefficient channel access of the gNB and affects user experience.

In the above method, the Bandwidth of the sub-Bandwidth level may be a Bandwidth corresponding to one Component Carrier (CC), or a combined Bandwidth corresponding to a plurality of Component carriers, or a Bandwidth corresponding to a partial Bandwidth (BWP, bandwidth Part).

Once the gNB selects one or more sub-bandwidth levels of bandwidth for signal transmission, the gNB cannot change to signal transmission on other sub-bandwidth levels of bandwidth within the predetermined time zone.

The current problems are: for terminals (UEs) supporting smaller bandwidths, should choose on which sub-bandwidth level bandwidths to listen for scheduling information (such as Downlink Control Information (DCI)) and/or indication information?

Assuming that the bandwidths supported by UE1 and UE2 are relatively small, such as 20MHz, and UE1 is fixed on the bandwidth of 60-80 MHz to listen to DCI, and UE2 is fixed on the bandwidth of 0-20 MHz to listen to DCI, a schematic diagram of UE1 and UE2 to listen to DCI may be as shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 1, except for the bandwidth occupied by the wireless access points (wireless access point 1 (WIFI AP 1), wireless access point 2 (WIFI AP 2), and wireless access point 3 (WIFI AP 3)), in the process of performing LBT on the gNB (labeled gNB1 in fig. 1) (which may be understood as corresponding to MCOT1 and MCOT 2), if the gNB fails to compete for a channel access opportunity on the bandwidth of 0-20 MHz, the UE2 may not obtain a scheduling opportunity all the time, which affects the user experience of the UE 2.

Currently, generally, a UE supporting a smaller bandwidth cannot get a scheduling opportunity for the entire MCOT duration if it is associated with a bandwidth that a gNB does not compete for, thereby reducing the user experience of the UE, such as resulting in lower throughput (UPT) and greater latency.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, a medium, and a device for switching a bandwidth, which are used to solve the problem that a terminal cannot obtain a scheduling opportunity within the entire MCOT duration.

The invention provides a bandwidth switching method, which comprises the following steps:

the terminal detects scheduling information and/or indication information on the current bandwidth;

and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first duration, the terminal switches from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relation.

The invention also provides a bandwidth switching method, which comprises the following steps:

when a base station competes for a channel access opportunity on a designated bandwidth, determining a schedulable terminal according to a preset time sequence relation, wherein the current bandwidth of the schedulable terminal is overlapped with the designated bandwidth;

and the base station sends scheduling information to the determined terminal so that the terminal can detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected in the first time length, the terminal is switched from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relation.

The invention also provides a bandwidth switching device, comprising:

the detection module is used for detecting the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth of the terminal;

and the switching module is used for switching the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relationship if the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected by the detection module within the first duration.

The invention also provides a bandwidth switching device, comprising:

the base station determines a schedulable terminal according to a preset time sequence relation when competing for a channel access opportunity on a designated bandwidth, wherein the current bandwidth of the schedulable terminal is overlapped with the designated bandwidth;

and the sending module is used for sending scheduling information to the determined terminal so that the terminal can detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first time length, the terminal is switched from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relation.

The present invention also provides a non-transitory computer storage medium storing an executable program for execution by a processor to implement the steps of any of the methods described above.

The invention also provides a communication device, which comprises a memory, a processor, a transceiver and a bus interface; the processor is used for reading the program in the memory and executing:

detecting scheduling information and/or indication information on a current bandwidth of a terminal through the transceiver; if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first duration, switching from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relationship; or, performing:

when a base station competes for a channel access opportunity on a designated bandwidth, determining a schedulable terminal according to a preset time sequence relation, wherein the current bandwidth of the schedulable terminal is overlapped with the designated bandwidth; and sending scheduling information to the determined terminal through the transceiver so that the terminal can detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first time length, switching the current bandwidth to other bandwidths by the terminal according to a preset time sequence relation.

According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the terminal can detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected in the first time length, the terminal can switch from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relation. Therefore, when the scheduling opportunity cannot be obtained in the current bandwidth, the scheduling opportunity can be obtained from other bandwidths in time through bandwidth switching, the scheduling opportunity cannot be obtained in the whole MCOT duration is avoided, and user experience is improved, such as throughput is improved and/or time delay is reduced.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a terminal provided in the prior art for monitoring DCI;

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a bandwidth switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of bandwidth switching according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a bandwidth switching apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a bandwidth switching method according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a bandwidth switching apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Unlike the authorized NR system, in the unlicensed NR system, the actual downlink transmission bandwidth of the base station is determined by the LBT result on the base station side. Existing unlicensed NR systems do not support a bandwidth-flexible handover mechanism on the terminal side, thereby resulting in the possibility that the terminal may not get a scheduling opportunity for the entire MCOT duration. To solve the problem, embodiments of the present invention provide a method for periodically switching bandwidths on a terminal side of an unlicensed spectrum, so as to significantly improve a response speed and a probability of a terminal obtaining a base station service, and further improve communication performance indexes such as downlink or uplink transmission delay and/or throughput on the terminal side.

Further, the embodiment of the invention also provides a plurality of determination schemes of the switching period. And aiming at how to select the bandwidth to be switched, the embodiment of the invention also provides a plurality of selection schemes.

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that, the "plurality" or "a plurality" mentioned herein 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. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims, and in the drawings described above, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used is interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein.

Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Example one

An embodiment of the present invention provides a bandwidth switching method, where the method is applied to a terminal side, and a step flow of the method may be as shown in fig. 2, where the method includes:

step 101, the terminal detects scheduling information and/or indication information.

In this step, the terminal may detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth to confirm whether the scheduling opportunity is available on the current bandwidth.

The indication information may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), downlink Control Information (DCI), a system message, a synchronization signal block (SSB, SS/PBCH block), and a downlink reference signal.

If the terminal does not detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information within the first duration, it may be considered that a scheduling opportunity is not available on the current bandwidth, and the step 102 may be continued.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the first time length may be counted by a timer (e.g., a first timer). If the terminal does not detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information within the first time period, it may also be understood that the terminal does not detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information within the first timer timing time period, or it may also be understood that the first timer is overtime.

And 102, the terminal switches the bandwidth.

If the terminal does not detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth within the first time period, in this step, the terminal may switch from the current bandwidth to another bandwidth according to a preset timing relationship, so that when the scheduling opportunity cannot be obtained on the current bandwidth, the scheduling opportunity may be obtained from the other bandwidth in time through bandwidth switching, thereby avoiding that the scheduling opportunity cannot be obtained within the entire MCOT duration, and improving user experience, for example, improving throughput and/or reducing time delay.

It should be noted that, in one possible implementation, the switched bandwidth, that is, the current bandwidth and the other bandwidth, may be corresponding partial Bandwidths (BWPs), and in this case, the current bandwidth may be referred to as an active BWP (active BWP). In another possible implementation manner, the bandwidth for performing the handover, that is, the current bandwidth and the other bandwidths may be corresponding Component Carriers (CCs), and in this case, the current bandwidth may be referred to as active CCs (active CCs).

The preset timing relationship may be, but is not limited to, determined according to at least one of a current radio frame (frame) number, a current subframe number, a current intra radio frame slot (slot) number, a current mini-slot number, and an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol number in a current slot.

In a possible implementation manner, in this step, the terminal may select one bandwidth from a bandwidth set configured by the base station and including at least one bandwidth according to a preset timing relationship, and switch from the current bandwidth to the selected bandwidth.

Each bandwidth in the bandwidth set may be non-overlapping, for example, the bandwidth set may be { 0-20MHz, 20-40MHz, 40-60MHz, 60-80MHz, 80-100 MHz }. Each bandwidth in the bandwidth sets may also be overlapped, for example, the bandwidth sets may be { 0-40MHz, 20-60MHz, 40-80MHz, 60-100 MHz }.

In a specific implementation manner, each bandwidth in a bandwidth set configured by a base station and including at least one bandwidth may correspond to a number n, where n may be an integer. The terminal selects one bandwidth from a bandwidth set configured by the base station and including at least one bandwidth according to a preset time sequence relationship, which may include, but is not limited to: and the terminal determines the bandwidth number of the bandwidth selected from the bandwidth set according to a preset time sequence relation.

Specifically, the bandwidth number of the bandwidth selected from the bandwidth set may be determined by, but is not limited to, any one of the following three formulas:

wherein:

n is the number of bandwidths included in the bandwidth set;

n _f numbering the received frame;

indicating the number of time slots contained in one radio frame;

numbering the slots in the received wireless frames;

indicating the number of OFDM symbols contained in a slotMesh;

l is the OFDM symbol number in the received time slot;

alpha, beta, gamma and delta are constants;

operator

Indicating a rounding down operation.

The constants α, β, γ, δ may be preset by a protocol, or may be configured by higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling or MAC layer signaling (MAC layer signaling may also be referred to as MAC CE), or may be indicated by DCI. Preferably, the constants corresponding to different terminals may not be completely the same, so as to avoid that the terminals switch to the same bandwidth at the same time.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the first duration may be, but is not limited to, at least one of the following determination manners:

in a first mode, if the terminal is switched to a new bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a first set value;

if the terminal detects DCI of a first format, wherein the DCI of the first format comprises indication information of residual channel occupation time, determining the first duration according to the residual channel occupation time corresponding to the indication information of the residual channel occupation time;

if the terminal detects DCI of a second format, wherein the DCI of the second format does not include indication information of the occupied time of the remaining channel, determining the first time length according to the time length of a second set value;

and fourthly, if the terminal detects an activation signal (WUS, wake up signal), determining the first time length according to the time length of a third set value.

Assuming that the first time length is clocked by the first timer, what is held in the first timer may be an integer value. In particular, the first duration, which may be determined in the various manners described above, may be quantified in a certain time unit scale. The unit time scale may include: slot, mini-slot, OFDM symbol, etc. For example, the first set value, the second set value, the third set value, and the duration of the remaining time of the channel occupancy may all be converted into integer values in units of slots. At this time, it can be understood that the value of the timer for timing the first time length is reduced by 1 every slot.

In addition, the above-mentioned various manners of determining the first duration may be used in combination, and when used in combination, the various manners may have a priority relationship.

In an embodiment, if the terminal switches to a new bandwidth, the first time duration may be determined according to the first mode, and the first timer may be initialized to the first preset value.

If the terminal does not detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information within the first duration, namely the first timer is overtime, switching to other bandwidths;

if the terminal detects the scheduling information and/or the indication information within the first duration, that is, the first timer does not time out:

if the terminal senses the DCI of the first format, the first time length can be determined again according to the mode, and the value of the first timer can be reset. At this time, the terminal does not re-determine the first time length according to the third mode and the fourth mode, that is, does not change the value of the first timer according to the third mode and the fourth mode until the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected within the first time length, that is, the first timer is overtime;

if the terminal senses the DCI of the second format or the WUS, the first time duration may be re-determined according to the third or fourth mode, and the value of the first timer may be reset. At this time, the terminal may still re-determine the first duration according to the second, third, or fourth mode, i.e., may continue to attempt to listen to other indication information (e.g., DCI in the first format, DCI in the second format, or WUS) to re-determine the first duration.

In the embodiment, it can be understood that when the mode two, the mode three and the mode four are used in combination, the priority of the mode two is higher than that of the mode three and the mode four.

In a possible implementation manner, for the first manner, if the terminal switches to a new bandwidth, the first time length may be a time length of a first set value;

for the second mode, if the terminal detects DCI in a first format, where the DCI in the first format includes remaining channel occupation time indication information, the first time duration may be a channel occupation remaining time corresponding to the remaining channel occupation time indication information;

for the third mode, if the terminal detects DCI of a second format, where the DCI of the second format does not include remaining channel occupation time indication information, the first time duration may be a time duration of a second set value;

for the fourth mode, if the terminal detects a WUS, the first duration may be a duration of a third setting value.

In the above possible implementation manner, it may be understood that, for the first implementation manner, if switching to a new bandwidth is performed, the first time length is set to a first set value. If the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected within the duration of the first setting value, it means that the UE needs to switch to a new bandwidth.

For the second mode, it may be understood that, if the UE detects the DCI of the first format, and the DCI of the first format includes the remaining channel occupation time indication information (assuming that the corresponding channel occupation remaining time is X), the UE considers that the base station (gNB) may still occupy the X duration on the current bandwidth, and therefore, the UE may set the first duration as the channel occupation remaining time X.

For the third method, it can be understood that, if the UE detects DCI in the second format, but the DCI in the second format does not carry indication information of remaining channel occupation time, the UE can only assume that a current bandwidth is occupied by a serving base station (gNB), and the base station may also continuously occupy a period of time, so that the UE should not switch to another bandwidth within the estimated potential continuous occupation time. At this time, the UE may set the first time length to the second set value. Preferably, the second set point may be one or more slot durations.

With respect to the fourth mode, it can be understood that the base station (gNB) sends an activation signal after preempting the channel. If the UE detects an activation signal, it may assume that the base station will continue to occupy for a period of time, and therefore, the UE may set the first time duration to the third setting. Preferably, the third setting value may be set to the MCOT period.

As previously described, the first duration may be timed by a timer (e.g., a first timer). Wherein:

for a first possible implementation manner, the value of the first timer may be updated in the following manner: and resetting the first timer to a first set value if the terminal is switched to a new bandwidth.

For a second mode of the possible implementation manners, the value of the first timer may be updated in the following mode: and if the terminal detects the DCI of the first format, wherein the DCI of the first format comprises residual channel occupation time indication information, resetting the first timer to the channel occupation residual time corresponding to the residual channel occupation time indication information.

For a third mode of the possible implementation manners, the value of the first timer may be updated in the following mode:

and resetting the first timer to a second set value if the terminal detects the DCI of the second format, wherein the DCI of the second format does not include the indication information of the remaining channel occupation time.

For a fourth possible implementation manner, the value of the first timer may be updated in the following manner:

and resetting the first timer to a third set value if the terminal detects the WUS.

In another possible implementation manner, for the first mode, the first time length may also be obtained by subtracting a specified time length from a time length of the first setting value;

for the second mode, the first duration may also be obtained by subtracting a specified duration from a duration of the channel occupation remaining time corresponding to the remaining channel occupation time indication information;

for the third mode, the first duration may also be a duration obtained by subtracting a specified duration from a duration of the second setting value;

for the fourth mode, the first duration may also be a duration of the third setting value minus a specified duration.

That is, in order to guarantee that the bandwidth switching time is set aside for the UE, the first time length may be smaller than the bandwidth switching time length actually required by the terminal. For example, when the terminal is actually required to switch the bandwidth every Z OFDM symbols (the duration corresponding to Z OFDM symbols can be understood as the duration corresponding to the first setting value), or when the terminal is actually required to switch to a new bandwidth after Z OFDM symbols (the duration corresponding to Z OFDM symbols can be understood as the duration corresponding to the second setting value, or the duration corresponding to the third setting value, or the duration corresponding to the remaining time occupied by the channel), the first duration X = Z-Y OFDM symbols may be set. Wherein Z is a positive integer, Y is smaller than Z, and a value of Y may be predefined by a protocol, or may be configured by a higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling, or MAC layer signaling (MAC layer signaling may also be referred to as MAC CE). The duration corresponding to Y OFDM symbols may be understood as corresponding to a specified duration.

Of course, in this case, the value of the first timer may also be updated correspondingly according to various determination manners of the first duration in this possible implementation manner.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of bandwidth switching according to an embodiment of the present invention, and it is assumed that bandwidths (assumed to be BWP) selectable by the terminal UE1 are 0 to 20MHz (denoted by a), 20 to 40MHz (denoted by B), 40 to 60MHz (denoted by C), and 60 to 80MHz (denoted by D), respectively. According to a predetermined first duration determination manner, for example, at least one of the first to fourth manners provided in this embodiment, when the terminal performs bandwidth switching according to a predetermined time sequence relationship, in each time grid of the virtual line separation on the time axis t, the current bandwidth (active BWP) of the terminal (UE 1) may be abcdbcddb in sequence. In two time grids corresponding to the MCOT1, the current bandwidth of the UE1 is maintained as D due to the sensed at least one of the DCI of the first format, the DCI of the second format, and the WUS. Similarly, the current bandwidth of UE1 is maintained as D in the two time grids corresponding to MCOT 2. While in other time grids, the UE1 switches the operating bandwidth according to the mode.

It should be noted that, since the bandwidth switching involves the switching operation of the rf circuit, a period of time is required, and during this period of time, the terminal cannot perform normal data receiving and transmitting actions. That is, the terminal may not perform normal data operations, such as data reception, data transmission, or radio resource management RRM measurement, from the time when the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected in the first duration to the time when the next timeslot starts. Therefore, in this embodiment, the terminal does not perform data operation from the time when the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected in the first duration to the time when the next time slot starts. Of course, correspondingly, when the base station configures the bandwidth switching, a period of switching duration may be set aside. And in the switching duration, the base station does not expect the terminal to carry out any data transmission so as to avoid the problem of inconsistent understanding of the base station and the terminal.

Optionally, before step 101, step 100 may be further included:

step 100, the terminal determines the working state.

Optionally, in this embodiment, different working states may also be set for the terminal, for example, a first state and a second state are set, bandwidth switching may be enabled when the terminal works in the first state, and bandwidth switching may not be enabled when the terminal works in the second state, which may be understood as that the terminal remains working in the current bandwidth and bandwidth switching is not performed.

That is, in this embodiment, when the terminal performs bandwidth switching, although the communication delay can be reduced and the throughput can be improved, the power consumption of the terminal is also improved to some extent. Therefore, a second state for saving energy can be set for the terminal, and when the terminal works in the second state, the action of periodically switching the bandwidth is stopped, so that the power consumption of the terminal is reduced.

If different operating states are set for the terminal, the terminal may determine its own operating state in this step, and when it is determined that the terminal is operating in the first state, proceed to step 101. Of course, if the terminal determines to operate in the second state, the flow may be ended.

In a possible implementation manner, which operating state the terminal operates in may be determined according to activation information sent by the base station, for example, if the base station sends first activation information (which may be understood as activation information of the first state), the terminal operates in the first state, and if the base station sends second activation information (which may be understood as deactivation information of the first state), the terminal operates in the second state. Then, at this time, before step 100, step 100':

step 100', the terminal receives activation information.

In this step, the terminal may receive the activation information, and if the terminal receives the first activation information, the terminal may determine to operate in the first state according to the received first activation information in step 100. If the terminal receives the second activation information, the terminal may determine to operate in the second state according to the received second activation information in step 100.

It should be noted that the first activation information and the second activation information may be configured through higher layer signaling or may be indicated through DCI.

Corresponding to the method provided by the first embodiment, the following device is provided.

Example two

An embodiment of the present invention provides a bandwidth switching apparatus, and the apparatus may have a structure as shown in fig. 4, and includes:

the detecting module 11 is configured to detect scheduling information and/or indication information on a current bandwidth of a terminal;

the switching module 12 is configured to switch from the current bandwidth to another bandwidth according to a preset timing relationship if the detection module does not detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information within the first duration.

The switching module 12 switches from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relationship, including:

selecting one bandwidth from a bandwidth set which is configured by a base station and comprises at least one bandwidth according to a preset time sequence relation; and switching to the selected bandwidth from the current bandwidth.

The apparatus further comprises a determining module 13:

the determining module 13 is configured to determine that the terminal operates in a first state, where the terminal may enable bandwidth switching.

The determining module 13 is specifically configured to receive first activation information, and determine that the terminal operates in the first state according to the received first activation information.

Corresponding to the method provided in the first embodiment, the following method is provided.

EXAMPLE III

A third embodiment of the present invention provides a bandwidth switching method, where the method is applied to a base station side, and a flow of steps of the method may be as shown in fig. 5, where the method includes:

step 201, determining a terminal.

In this step, when the base station competes for the channel access opportunity on the designated bandwidth, the schedulable terminal may be determined according to the preset timing relationship, and the current bandwidth of the schedulable terminal overlaps with the designated bandwidth.

Step 202, transmitting the scheduling information.

In this step, the base station may send scheduling information to the determined terminal, so that the terminal detects the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected within the first duration, the terminal may switch from the current bandwidth to another bandwidth according to a preset time sequence relationship.

Of course, in this embodiment, the process of the base station transmitting the indication information can be understood as the same as the prior art. That is, when the base station contends for the Channel access opportunity on the designated bandwidth, a Channel occupancy duration (COT) may be determined, and the indication information may be sent within the Channel occupancy duration.

Corresponding to the method provided in the third embodiment, the following apparatus is provided.

Example four

An embodiment of the present invention provides a bandwidth switching apparatus, where the apparatus may be as shown in fig. 6, and includes:

the determining module 21 is configured to determine a schedulable terminal according to a preset timing relationship when a base station contends for a channel access opportunity on an assigned bandwidth, where a current bandwidth of the schedulable terminal overlaps the assigned bandwidth;

the sending module 22 is configured to send scheduling information to the determined terminal, so that the terminal detects the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected within the first duration, the terminal switches from the current bandwidth to another bandwidth according to a preset time sequence relationship.

Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of the present invention provide the following apparatus and medium.

EXAMPLE five

Fifth embodiment of the present invention provides a communication device, which may have a structure as shown in fig. 7, and includes a memory 31, a processor 32, a transceiver 33, and a bus interface; the processor 32 is configured to read the program in the memory 31, and execute:

detecting scheduling information and/or indication information on a current bandwidth of a terminal through the transceiver 33; if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first duration, switching from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relationship; or, performing:

when a base station competes for a channel access opportunity on a designated bandwidth, determining a schedulable terminal according to a preset time sequence relation, wherein the current bandwidth of the schedulable terminal is overlapped with the designated bandwidth; and sending scheduling information to the determined terminal through the transceiver 33 so that the terminal detects the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected within the first time period, switching the current bandwidth to other bandwidths by the terminal according to a preset time sequence relation.

Optionally, the processor 32 may specifically include a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), one or more integrated circuits for controlling program execution, a hardware circuit developed by using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a baseband processor.

Optionally, the processor 32 may include at least one processing core.

Alternatively, the memory 31 may include a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), and a disk memory. The memory 31 is used for storing data required by the at least one processor 32 during operation. The number of the memory 31 may be one or more.

A sixth embodiment of the present invention provides a non-volatile computer storage medium, where the computer storage medium stores an executable program, and when the executable program is executed by a processor, the method provided in the first or third embodiment of the present invention is implemented.

In particular implementations, the computer storage media may include: various storage media capable of storing program codes, such as a Universal Serial Bus flash drive (USB), a mobile hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

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

The functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may also be an independent physical module.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, all or part of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device, such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device, or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a universal serial bus flash drive (usb flash drive), a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

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

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including the preferred embodiment and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method of bandwidth switching, the method comprising:

if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first duration, the terminal switches from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relationship;

wherein the first duration is determined according to at least one of:

if the terminal is switched to a new bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a first set value; or,

if the terminal detects DCI of a first format on the current bandwidth, wherein the DCI of the first format comprises indication information of residual channel occupation time, determining the first duration according to the residual channel occupation time corresponding to the indication information of the residual channel occupation time; or,

if the terminal detects DCI of a second format on the current bandwidth, wherein the DCI of the second format does not include indication information of the occupied time of the residual channel, determining the first time length according to the time length of a second set value; or,

and if the terminal detects the activation signal WUS on the current bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a third set value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication information comprises at least one of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), downlink Control Information (DCI), a system message, a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and a downlink reference signal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined timing relationship is determined according to at least one of a current radio frame number, a current subframe number, a current intra-radio-frame slot number, a current minislot number, and an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol number in a current slot.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal switches from the current bandwidth to the other bandwidth according to a predetermined timing relationship, comprising:

the terminal selects a bandwidth from a bandwidth set which is configured by the base station and comprises at least one bandwidth according to a preset time sequence relation;

and switching to the selected bandwidth from the current bandwidth.

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

and the terminal does not perform data operation from the moment when the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected in the first time length to the moment when the next time slot starts.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein before the terminal detects the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, the method further comprises:

the terminal determines to operate in a first state in which the terminal may enable bandwidth switching.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the terminal determines to operate in the first state before, the method further comprising:

the terminal receives first activation information;

the terminal determines to operate in a first state, including:

and the terminal determines to work in a first state according to the received first activation information.

8. A method of bandwidth switching, the method comprising:

the base station sends scheduling information to the determined terminal so that the terminal can detect the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first time length, the terminal is switched from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relation; wherein the terminal determines the first duration according to at least one of the following methods: if the terminal is switched to a new bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a first set value; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a first format in a current bandwidth, where the DCI of the first format includes remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to channel occupation remaining time corresponding to the remaining channel occupation time indication information; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a second format on the current bandwidth, where the DCI of the second format does not include remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to a duration of a second set value; or, if the terminal detects the activation signal WUS on the current bandwidth, determining the first duration according to a duration of a third setting value.

9. A bandwidth switching apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

the switching module is used for switching the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relationship if the scheduling information and/or the indication information is not detected by the detection module within the first duration; wherein the first duration is determined according to at least one of: if the terminal is switched to a new bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a first set value; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a first format in a current bandwidth, where the DCI of the first format includes remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to channel occupation remaining time corresponding to the remaining channel occupation time indication information; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a second format on a current bandwidth, where the DCI of the second format does not include remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to a duration of a second set value; or, if the terminal detects the activation signal WUS on the current bandwidth, determining the first duration according to a duration of a third setting value.

10. A bandwidth switching apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a sending module, configured to send scheduling information to the determined terminal, so that the terminal detects the scheduling information and/or the indication information on the current bandwidth, and if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within a first duration, the terminal switches from the current bandwidth to another bandwidth according to a preset time sequence relationship; wherein the terminal determines the first time length according to at least one of the following methods: if the terminal is switched to a new bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a first set value; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a first format in a current bandwidth, where the DCI of the first format includes remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to channel occupation remaining time corresponding to the remaining channel occupation time indication information; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a second format on the current bandwidth, where the DCI of the second format does not include remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to a duration of a second set value; or, if the terminal detects the activation signal WUS on the current bandwidth, determining the first duration according to a duration of a third setting value.

11. A non-transitory computer storage medium storing an executable program for execution by a processor to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.

12. A communication device comprising a memory, a processor, a transceiver, and a bus interface; the processor is used for reading the program in the memory and executing:

detecting scheduling information and/or indication information on a current bandwidth of a terminal through the transceiver; if the scheduling information and/or the indication information are not detected within the first duration, switching from the current bandwidth to other bandwidths according to a preset time sequence relationship; wherein the first duration is determined according to at least one of: if the terminal is switched to a new bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a first set value; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a first format in a current bandwidth, where the DCI of the first format includes remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to channel occupation remaining time corresponding to the remaining channel occupation time indication information; or, if the terminal detects DCI of a second format on the current bandwidth, where the DCI of the second format does not include remaining channel occupation time indication information, determining the first duration according to a duration of a second set value; or if the terminal detects an activation signal WUS on the current bandwidth, determining the first time length according to the time length of a third set value; or, performing: