CN111972041B

CN111972041B - Method, device, chip and storage medium for discontinuous reception on unlicensed spectrum

Info

Publication number: CN111972041B
Application number: CN201980016771.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 石聪; 王淑坤; 尤心
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-19
Filing date: 2019-03-19
Publication date: 2022-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-19
Also published as: WO2020186467A1; CN111972041A

Abstract

The application discloses a method and equipment for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum, which can be beneficial to improving data transmission performance. The method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment starts a first timer according to the first discontinuous reception DRX period; and if the downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of the n first timers, the terminal equipment switches the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer.

Description

Method, device, chip and storage medium for discontinuous reception on unlicensed spectrum

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum.

Background

In order to save power, the terminal device receives downlink transmission in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode. The network device may configure one DRX cycle (cycle) for the terminal device. The DRX cycle consists of an active period (On Duration) and a dormant period (Opportunity for DRX), and the terminal equipment monitors and receives downlink transmission in the On Duration; during the Opportunity for DRX time, the terminal device does not receive downlink transmission to reduce power consumption.

However, for the unlicensed spectrum, the network device needs to perform downlink transmission if channel sensing is successful. If the terminal device does not receive downlink transmission in the active period of the DRX cycle, it may be that the network device does not have downlink transmission to send to the terminal device, or it may be that the network device has downlink transmission to send, but does not listen to an available channel. For the latter situation, how to ensure the data transmission performance and enable the network device to send downlink transmission to the terminal device in time becomes an urgent problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and equipment for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum, which are beneficial to improving data transmission performance.

In a first aspect, a method for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum is provided, including: the terminal equipment starts a first timer according to the first discontinuous reception DRX period; and if the downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of the n first timers, the terminal equipment switches the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer.

In a second aspect, a method for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum is provided, including: under the condition that network equipment needs to send downlink transmission to terminal equipment, the network equipment detects a channel on an unlicensed spectrum; if the network equipment does not detect an available channel within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, the network equipment switches the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer; and the network equipment detects the channel in the second DRX period.

In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, configured to perform the method in the first aspect or each implementation manner thereof. Specifically, the terminal device includes a functional module configured to execute the method in the first aspect or each implementation manner thereof.

In a fourth aspect, a network device is provided for performing the method of the second aspect or its implementation manners. In particular, the network device comprises functional modules for performing the methods of the second aspect or its implementations.

In a fifth aspect, a terminal device is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method in the first aspect or each implementation manner thereof.

In a sixth aspect, a network device is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The memory is used for storing a computer program, and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program stored in the memory to execute the method of the second aspect or each implementation manner thereof.

In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided for implementing the method in any one of the first to second aspects or implementations thereof. Specifically, the apparatus comprises: a processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device in which the chip is installed performs the method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect or the implementation manners thereof.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, the computer program causing a computer to perform the method of any one of the first to second aspects or implementations thereof.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program instructions to cause a computer to perform the method of any one of the first to second aspects or implementations thereof.

A tenth aspect provides a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the first to second aspects or implementations thereof.

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

Wherein the network device is configured to: detecting a channel on an unlicensed spectrum under the condition that downlink transmission needs to be sent to terminal equipment; if no available channel is detected within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, switching the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is larger than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer; and detecting the channel in the second DRX period.

Wherein the terminal device is configured to: starting a first timer according to a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle; and if the downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of n first timers, switching the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer.

Based on the above technical solution, if the terminal device does not detect any downlink transmission within the duration of the first timer of the first DRX cycle, the first DRX cycle can be directly switched to the second DRX cycle, and the second DRX cycle is smaller than the first DRX cycle. Therefore, the problem that if the network equipment does not detect the available channel within the duration of the first timer, the network equipment can only wait for the next first timer of the first DRX period to detect the channel, so that the data transmission performance is reduced can be avoided.

According to the scheme, even if the network equipment does not occupy the channel in a robbing mode, the terminal equipment can be directly switched to the second DRX period with a shorter period according to the detection result in the duration of the first timer, and the network equipment can detect the channel according to the second DRX period, so that the time delay of data transmission can be reduced, the data transmission performance is improved, and the probability that the network equipment dispatches the terminal equipment is favorably improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture applied in the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a DRX cycle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of another method for discontinuous reception on unlicensed spectrum according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of DRX cycle switching according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another DRX cycle switching according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

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

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all 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 application.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, communication system 100 may include a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. Network device 120 may communicate with terminal device 110 over the air. Multi-service transport is supported between terminal device 110 and network device 120.

It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application is only illustrated as the communication system 100, but the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. That is to say, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) System, a Time Division Duplex (TDD) System, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication System, a New Radio (NR), a future 5G System, or the like.

Taking a 5G system as an example, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage of a wide area and an islanding coverage mode of NR. Moreover, a large amount of LTE is deployed below 6GHz, and the spectrum below 6GHz available for 5G is rare. NR must therefore be studied for spectrum applications above 6GHz, with limited high band coverage and fast signal fading. Meanwhile, in order to protect the early LTE investment of a mobile operator, a work mode of tight connection (light interworking) between LTE and NR is provided.

The main application scenarios of 5G include: enhanced Mobile Ultra wide band (eMBB), Low-Latency and high-reliability Communication (URLLC), and massive machine type Communication (mMTC). Among them, the eMBB aims at users to obtain multimedia contents, services and data, and its demand is rapidly increasing. As the eMBB may be deployed in different scenarios. For example, indoor, urban, rural, etc. have relatively large differences in capabilities and needs, so that they cannot be analyzed in general and can be combined with detailed analysis of specific deployment scenarios. Typical applications of URLLC include: industrial automation, electric power automation, remote medical operation (surgery), traffic safety, and the like. Typical characteristics of mtc include: high connection density, small data volume, insensitive time delay service, low cost and long service life of the module, etc.

In addition, since the complete 5G NR coverage is difficult to obtain, the network coverage of the embodiment of the present application may adopt a Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage of a wide area and an islanding coverage mode of NR. Meanwhile, in order to protect the mobile operator from LTE investment in the early stage, a tight connection (light interworking) working mode between LTE and NR may be further adopted.

In particular, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to various communication systems based on non-orthogonal Multiple Access technologies, for example, a Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA) system, a Low Density Signature (LDS) system, and the like, and of course, the SCMA system and the LDS system may also be called other names in the communication field; further, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a Multi-Carrier transmission system using a non-Orthogonal multiple access technology, for example, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) using a non-Orthogonal multiple access technology, a Filter Bank Multi-Carrier (FBMC), a General Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM), a Filtered Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (F-OFDM) system, and the like.

In communication system 100 shown in fig. 1, network device 120 may be an access network device that communicates with terminal device 110. An access network device may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminal devices 110 (e.g., UEs) located within the coverage area.

Alternatively, the network device 120 may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, or may be a Base Station (NodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, and the network device 120 may also be an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) System. Alternatively, the Network device 120 may also be a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG RAN), or a base station (gNB) in an NR system, or a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN), or the Access Network device may be a relay station, an Access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a hub, a switch, a bridge, a router, or a Network device in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) for future evolution, or the like.

Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may be any terminal device, including but not limited to: via a wireline connection, such as via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a Digital cable, a direct cable connection; and/or another data connection/network; and/or via a Wireless interface, e.g., to a cellular Network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a digital television Network such as a DVB-H Network, a satellite Network, an AM-FM broadcast transmitter; and/or means of another terminal device arranged to receive/transmit communication signals; and/or Internet of Things (IoT) devices. A terminal device arranged to communicate over a wireless interface may be referred to as a "wireless communication terminal", "wireless terminal", or "mobile terminal". Examples of mobile terminals include, but are not limited to, satellite or cellular telephones; personal Communications Systems (PCS) terminals that may combine cellular radiotelephones with data processing, facsimile, and data Communications capabilities; PDAs that may include radiotelephones, pagers, internet/intranet access, Web browsers, notepads, calendars, and/or Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers; and conventional laptop and/or palmtop receivers or other electronic devices that include a radiotelephone transceiver. Terminal Equipment may refer to an access terminal, User Equipment (UE), subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, User terminal, wireless communication device, User agent, or User Equipment. An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having Wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a Wireless modem, a vehicle mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved PLMN, etc.

Optionally, terminal-to-Device (D2D) communication may be performed between terminal devices 110.

Fig. 1 illustrates a network device and a terminal device, and optionally, the communication system 100 may include a plurality of network devices and each network device may include other numbers of terminal devices within its coverage area, which is not limited to the implementation of the present application.

Optionally, the communication system 100 may further include other network entities such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and the like, which is not limited thereto in the embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the Uplink Channel in the embodiment of the present application may include a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), and the like. The uplink Reference Signal may include an uplink Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), a phase tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS), and the like. The uplink DMRS can be used for demodulation of an uplink channel, the SRS can be used for measurement, uplink time-frequency synchronization or phase tracking of the uplink channel, and the PT-RS can also be used for measurement, uplink time-frequency synchronization or phase tracking of the uplink channel. It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, an uplink physical channel or an uplink reference signal with the same name and different function as the above may be included, and an uplink physical channel or an uplink reference signal with the same name and different function as the above may also be included, which is not limited in the present application.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, devices having a communication function in a network/system may be referred to as communication devices. Taking the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device 120 and a terminal device 110 having a communication function, and the network device 120 and the terminal device 110 may be the devices described above and are not described herein again; the communication device may also include other devices in the communication system 100, such as other network entities, for example, a network controller, a mobility management entity, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

At present, the NR system also supports the use of an unlicensed frequency band, and the scenarios in which the NR system operates in the unlicensed frequency band include the following:

1. a carrier aggregation scenario: a primary cell (PCell) is a licensed spectrum, and secondary cells (scells) operating on an unlicensed spectrum are aggregated in a carrier aggregation manner.

2. Double-connection working scene: the PCell is an LTE licensed spectrum, and the primary secondary cell (PSCell) is an NR unlicensed spectrum.

3. Independent working scene: the NR operates as an independent cell in unlicensed spectrum.

Taking the NR system as an example, the operating band of NR (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) on the unlicensed band is 5GHz unlicensed spectrum and 6GHz unlicensed spectrum. On unlicensed spectrum, the design of NR-U should guarantee fairness with other systems already operating on these unlicensed spectrum, such as wireless local area network (WiFi). The principle of fairness is that the impact of NR-U on systems already deployed on unlicensed spectrum cannot exceed the impact between these systems.

In order to ensure fair coexistence between systems over unlicensed spectrum, energy detection has been agreed as a basic coexistence mechanism. A general energy detection mechanism is a Listen Before Talk (LBT) mechanism, and a basic principle of the mechanism is that a base station or a terminal (transmission end) needs to listen for a period of time according to a rule before transmitting data on an unlicensed spectrum. If the sensed result indicates that the channel is in an idle state, the transmitting end may transmit data to the receiving end. If the interception result indicates that the channel is in an occupied state, the transmission end needs to back off for a period of time according to the specification and then continues to intercept the channel until the channel interception result is in an idle state, and data can not be transmitted to the receiving end.

An access procedure of an LTE LAA unlicensed-assisted access (LAA) channel is described below with an LTE licensed-assisted access (LAA) as an example.

For downlink data transmission, the base station needs to perform LBT on the unlicensed frequency band. In LAA, the priority of channel access is determined by the following table 1.

TABLE 1 channel Access priority

Where Mp is related to the listening channel time for performing channel access. Specifically, the base station needs to perform channel sensing for a period of Td, where Td is 16us + Mp × 9 us.

Wherein CW_min，p、CW_max，pIt is related to the random channel sensing time in the channel access process. Specifically, when the base station listens to the channel with the duration of Td as idle, it needs to listen to the channel N times again, and each time duration is 9 us. Where N is a random number from 0 to CWp and CW_min，p≤CW_p≤CW_max，p。

Wherein, T_{m cot，p}The longest time for occupying the channel after occupying the channel for the base station. The T is_{m cot，p}The channel priority used by the base station is related, for example, if the channel priority is 1, the channel is occupied for 2ms at most after the channel sensing is successful.

In summary, for the terminal device, it is necessary for the network device to transmit data to the terminal device within the MCOT time, and if the network device does not seize the channel within the MCOT time or the network device seizes the channel outside the MCOT time, the terminal device does not receive the scheduling data sent by the network device.

In the communication framework shown in fig. 1, a packet-based data stream may be transmitted between end device 110 and network device 120, however, a packet-based data stream is typically bursty.

In other words, terminal device 110 has data transmitted for a period of time, but has no data transmitted for a subsequent longer period of time. Thus, if the terminal device 110 always performs blind detection on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), power consumption of the terminal device may be excessive.

In Long Term Evolution (LTE), a concept of Discontinuous Reception (DRX) is proposed. Specifically, the main idea of DRX is: the network can configure the terminal to wake up (DRX ON) at a time predicted by the network, and the terminal monitors a downlink control channel; meanwhile, the network can also configure the terminal to sleep (DRX OFF) at a time predicted by the network, that is, the terminal device does not need to monitor the downlink control channel. Thus, if network device 120 has data to transmit to terminal device 110, network device 120 may schedule terminal device 110 during the time terminal device 110 is DRX ON, and during DRC OFF, terminal power consumption may be reduced due to radio frequency OFF.

Specifically, a Media Access Control (MAC) entity (entity) may configure a DRX function by a Radio Resource Control (RRC) for controlling a terminal to monitor a downlink transmission behavior.

For example, as shown in fig. 2, a DRX cycle (cycle) configured by the network device for the terminal device is composed of an active period (On Duration) and a dormant period (Opportunity for DRX). For the RRC connected mode (RRC connected), if the terminal device configures the DRX function, the terminal device may monitor and receive the PDCCH during an Active Time (Active Time); and does not receive a PDCCH within a Non Active Time (Non Active Time) to reduce power consumption.

The duration of the active period may be controlled by a DRX-on duration timer (DRX-on duration timer) and a DRX deactivation timer (DRX-inactivity timer). Wherein the DRX-active period timer is also referred to as DRX-active phase timer. The deactivation timer is also referred to as an inactivity timer. Specifically, when the DRX-on duration timer (DRX-on duration timer) expires, if no other timer is running, the active duration ends. The terminal equipment can prolong the duration of the activation period by starting or restarting the drx-inactivytytytimer.

The terminal device may start the DRX inactivity timer upon receiving the PDCCH, whereby the time of the DRX active period is extended with the start of the DRX on duration timer. Of course, the terminal device may restart the DRX-inactivity timer when receiving the PDCCH and currently starting the DRX-inactivity timer.

The terminal equipment can switch the DRX period to the DRX period with a longer period after the DRX-inactivity timer is overtime, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be saved.

In a communication system, the system can respectively configure a DRX short cycle and/or a DRX long cycle for a terminal device according to different service scenarios. If the terminal device currently uses the DRX short cycle, the time interval for the terminal device to enter the next active period from the current active period is shorter. If the terminal device uses the DRX long cycle currently, the time interval for the terminal device to enter the next active period from the current active period is longer.

For example, when performing a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service based on an Internet Protocol (IP), a voice codec usually sends a VOIP packet in 20ms, and then a DRX short cycle with a length of 20ms may be configured; and a longer silent period during voice call, the DRX long period can be configured.

The terminal device may determine the time for starting the DRX on duration timer according to the current DRX cycle, which is specifically as follows:

if the terminal equipment is in the DRX short cycle, the time for starting the DRX onDurationTimer needs to satisfy the following conditions: [ (SFN × 10) + subframe number ] module (DRX-short) where modul represents the modulo operation, SFN represents the frame number of the start DRX-onDurationTimer, subframe number represents the subframe number of the start DRX-onDurationTimer, DRX-short represents the cycle duration of the DRX short cycle, and DRX-StartOffset represents the subframe offset of the start DRX-onDurationTimer (equation 1).

If the terminal equipment is in the DRX long cycle, the time for starting the DRX onDurationTimer needs to satisfy the following conditions: [ (SFN × 10) + subframe number ] module (DRX-LongCycle) ═ DRX-StartOffset (equation 2), where, moduo denotes the modulo operation, SFN denotes the frame number of the starting DRX-onDurationTimer, subframe number denotes the subframe number of the starting DRX-onDurationTimer, DRX-LongCycle denotes the cycle duration of the DRX long cycle, and DRX-StartOffset denotes the subframe offset.

In existing mechanisms, the DRX long cycle is the default configuration and the DRX short cycle is the optional configuration. The network device can configure only one DRX long cycle to the terminal device, and does not configure the DRX short cycle; or the network device can configure the terminal device with the DRX long cycle and the DRX short cycle at the same time. The DRX long cycle and the DRX short cycle are relative as long as the cycle duration of the DRX long cycle is greater than the cycle duration of the DRX short cycle.

If the terminal device configures a DRX long cycle and a DRX short cycle at the same time, the terminal device may switch between the DRX long cycle and the DRX short cycle, and specific switching conditions are described below.

In the existing protocol, if the terminal device is currently in the DRX long cycle, the terminal device may switch to the DRX short cycle after the DRX-inactivity timer expires or after receiving a DRX MAC Control Element (CE) sent by the network device. If the terminal device is currently in the DRX short cycle, the terminal device may switch to the DRX long cycle after the DRX-ShortCycleTimer times out, or after receiving the long DRX command MAC CE sent by the network device.

For the unlicensed spectrum, when a network device wants to send data to a terminal device configured with DRX, the network device needs to send data in an active period of a DRX cycle, and needs to listen to a channel in the active period first, and send downlink data to the terminal device only when channel listening is successful.

Therefore, if the terminal device does not receive downlink transmission from the network device during the active period, such as PDCCH scheduling, there are two possibilities:

1. the network device has data to transmit to the terminal device, but the network device does not preempt the channel.

2. The network device has no data to schedule to the terminal device.

In this case, the terminal device cannot distinguish which case results in the PDCCH scheduling not being received during the DRX active period.

If the first case is, the network device can only schedule data to the terminal device in the next DRX cycle, and it is a precondition that the network device can preempt the channel in the active period of the next DRX cycle. If the duration of the DRX cycle in which the terminal device is located is long, the network device needs a long time to successfully transmit data to the terminal device, so that the time required for the network device to schedule to the terminal device is long, and the terminal device cannot receive the data transmitted by the network device in time, which may affect the data transmission performance of the network device.

And if the terminal equipment is in the long DRX period, the terminal equipment wants to switch to the short DRX period, and the terminal equipment can only send long DRX command MAC CE through the network equipment or can only switch to the short DRX period after the time of DRX-inactivity timer is out. With the former approach, the network device needs to preempt the channel to transmit the MAC CE. For the latter approach, since the drx-inactivity timer needs to receive the PDCCH schedule sent by the network device before starting the timer, it also means that the network device needs to occupy the channel for use. In summary, both approaches cannot be used without the network device preempting the channel. Therefore, it is necessary to design a new way to more efficiently switch the DRX long cycle and the DRX short cycle to improve data transmission performance.

The embodiment of the application provides a method for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum, which can improve the transmission performance of data.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method for discontinuous reception on an unlicensed spectrum according to an embodiment of the present application. The method may be performed by a terminal device, which may be the terminal device shown in fig. 1. The method includes steps S310 and S320.

S310, the terminal device starts a first timer according to the first DRX period.

The first DRX cycle may be a DRX long cycle or a DRX short cycle, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

As an example, the network device may configure the terminal device with only one DRX cycle, and the first DRX cycle may be the configured DRX cycle. Wherein, the configured DRX cycle may be a DRX long cycle. Alternatively, the first DRX cycle may be a DRX cycle determined according to the configured DRX cycle, which will be described in detail below.

As another example, the network device may configure the terminal device with multiple DRX cycles, and the first DRX cycle may be any one of the multiple DRX cycles.

If the terminal device configures multiple DRX cycles, the embodiment of the present application may refer to a DRX cycle with the longest DRX cycle as a DRX long cycle, and refer to the rest as a DRX short cycle.

The terminal device starting the first timer according to the first DRX cycle may indicate starting the first timer according to the DRX parameters of the first DRX cycle, and the first timer may indicate a DRX-onDurationTimer described above.

If the DRX cycle is determined, the time to start the first timer may be determined according to equation 1 or equation 2 described above. For example, if the first DRX cycle is a short cycle, the time to start the first timer may be determined according to equation 1; if the first DRX cycle is a long cycle, the time to start the first timer may be determined according to equation 2.

S320, if the downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of the n first timers, the terminal equipment switches the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period.

If the terminal device is currently in the first DRX cycle, the terminal device may detect downlink transmission within the duration of the first timer.

If the terminal device detects downlink transmission within the duration of the first timer, the terminal device may start a DRX-inactivity timer according to the existing procedure, and perform DRX cycle switching.

If the terminal device does not detect downlink transmission within the duration of the first timer, the terminal device may not need to wait until receiving the DRX command MAC CE sent by the network device or the DRX-inactivity timer times out, and may switch to the second DRX cycle, but may directly switch the DRX cycle from the first DRX cycle to the second DRX cycle.

The terminal device does not detect downlink transmission within the duration of the first timer, which may mean that the terminal device does not detect downlink transmission within the duration of one first timer, or may mean that the terminal device does not detect downlink transmission within the durations of a plurality of first timers, or may also mean that the terminal device does not detect downlink transmission within a preset duration, which may be greater than the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle.

And under the condition that the terminal equipment does not detect downlink transmission within the time length of the plurality of first timers, switching the first DRX period to the second DRX period, so that the data transmission performance can be ensured to a certain extent, and overlarge power consumption of the terminal equipment can not be caused.

After the terminal device switches to the second DRX cycle, the downlink transmission may be detected according to the DRX-onDurationTimer of the second DRX cycle. The network device may also listen to the channel according to the DRX-onDurationTimer of the second DRX cycle, and send downlink transmission to the terminal device when the channel listening is successful. The DRX-onDurationTimer of the second DRX cycle may also be the same timer as the first timer.

Fig. 4 is another method for discontinuous reception on unlicensed spectrum according to an embodiment of the present application, where the method may be performed by a network device, and the network device may be the network device shown in fig. 1. The method shown in fig. 4 corresponds to the method shown in fig. 3, and features not described in fig. 4 may refer to the description of corresponding features in fig. 3. The method includes steps S410 to S430.

S410, under the condition that the network equipment needs to send downlink transmission to the terminal equipment, the network equipment detects the channel on the unlicensed spectrum.

For the unlicensed spectrum, if the network device wants to send downlink transmission to the terminal device, the network device needs to detect a channel on the unlicensed spectrum first, and only if the channel detection is successful, the network device can send downlink transmission to the terminal device.

S420, if the network device does not detect an available channel within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, the network device switches the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer.

For the terminal device configured with the DRX, the terminal device can receive the downlink transmission sent by the network device only in the active period of the DRX cycle. Therefore, the network device needs to detect the channel in the active period of the DRX cycle, and can send downlink transmission to the terminal device only when the channel detection in the active period is successful.

If the terminal device is currently in the first DRX cycle, the network device may detect the channel within the duration of n first timers of the first DRX cycle, and switch the first DRX cycle to the second DRX cycle if no available channel is detected within any of the n first timers.

The first timer may be a drx-onDurationTimer.

S430, the network device detects the channel in the second DRX period.

After switching the first DRX cycle to the second DRX cycle, the network device may continue to detect the channel during the active period of the second DRX cycle.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, if the terminal device does not detect any downlink transmission within the duration of the first timer of the first DRX period, the first DRX period can be directly switched to the second DRX period, and the second DRX period is smaller than the first DRX period. Therefore, the problem that if the network equipment does not detect the available channel within the duration of the first timer, the network equipment can only wait for the next first timer of the first DRX period to detect the channel, so that the data transmission performance is reduced can be avoided. According to the scheme of the embodiment of the application, even if the network equipment does not occupy the channel in a robbing mode, the terminal equipment can be directly switched to the second DRX cycle with a shorter cycle according to the detection result in the duration of the first timer, and the network equipment can detect the channel according to the second DRX cycle, so that the time delay of data transmission can be reduced, the data transmission performance is improved, and the probability that the network equipment dispatches the terminal equipment is favorably improved.

The following description is equally applicable to terminal devices and network devices.

The downlink transmission in the embodiment of the present application may include a downlink signal and/or a downlink channel. The downlink signal and/or the downlink channel may include at least one of: a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) transmission, a downlink reference signal, and a downlink reference signal sequence. The downlink reference signal sequence may include, for example, a downlink demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence, other sequences, and the like.

The detection of the downlink channel by the terminal device may refer to the detection of data or signals on the downlink channel. Taking the downlink channel as PDCCH as an example, the terminal device detects PDCCH, which may indicate that the terminal device detects data or other downlink signals transmitted on PDCCH by the network device.

The first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are both DRX cycles configured by the network device. For example, the network device may send a first DRX configuration message to the terminal device, which may include at least two DRX cycles including a first DRX cycle and a second DRX cycle.

The DRX configuration message sent by the network device to the terminal device may include at least one of the following information: the cycle duration of the DRX cycle, DRX-onDuration timer, subframe offset of DRX-onDuration timer, DRX-InactivityTimer, DRX-shortCycleTimer, and DRX-longCycleTimer, among others.

If the network device configures at least two DRX cycles for the terminal device, the selection of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

As an example, the first DRX cycle may be any one of the at least two DRX cycles, and the second DRX cycle may be any one of the at least two DRX cycles with a cycle duration smaller than the first DRX cycle.

As yet another example, the network device may further configure the terminal device with a switching order of the at least two DRX cycles, the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle being two DRX cycles adjacent in the switching order.

The switching order of the at least two DRX cycles is determined according to the cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles. For example, the switching order of the at least two DRX cycles may be arranged in order of cycle duration from large to small, or from small to large.

In this case, the second DRX cycle is a DRX cycle whose cycle duration is next to the first DRX cycle, of the at least two DRX cycles.

Optionally, the first DRX cycle may be a DRX cycle with a longest cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles. That is, the terminal device is currently in the DRX long cycle, and if the terminal device does not detect downlink transmission within the duration of the n first timers, the terminal device may automatically switch to the DRX short cycle, so that the network device can schedule the terminal device in a timely manner.

The first DRX period is a DRX period configured by the network equipment, and the second DRX period is a DRX period determined according to the first DRX period. For example, the network device may send a second DRX configuration message to the terminal device, the second DRX configuration message including the first DRX cycle; the terminal device may determine the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

The terminal device determining the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle may mean that the terminal device determines a cycle duration and/or an active period duration of the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

As an implementation manner, the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle may be obtained according to the first reduction rule on the basis of the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle. The first reduction rule may refer to a reduction ratio or a reduced number of subframes. For example, the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle may be reduced by a certain ratio on the basis of the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, or the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle may be reduced by a certain number of subframes on the basis of the first DRX cycle.

For example, the first reduction rule may include a reduction ratio of 1/2 such that the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is half the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle. Of course, the first reduction rule may also include other reduction scales, such as 1/3, 2/3, etc.

As another example, the first reduction rule may include a reduced number of subframes. The cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is obtained by reducing m subframes on the basis of the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, where m is a positive integer.

The duration of the DRX on duration timer of the second DRX cycle is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

For example, the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the second DRX cycle may be equal to the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the first DRX cycle, that is, the embodiment of the present application may only shorten the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle, and the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the second DRX cycle may continue the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the first DRX cycle.

For another example, the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the second DRX cycle may be obtained according to the second reduction rule on the basis of the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the first DRX cycle. The second reduction rule is similar to the first reduction rule, and may refer to a reduction ratio or a reduced number of subframes. If the second reduction rule includes a reduction ratio of 1/2, the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the second DRX cycle is half of the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer corresponding to the first DRX cycle.

The terminal device may continue to detect downlink transmissions during a DRX-onDurationTimer of the second DRX cycle after switching to the second DRX cycle. There are two cases, one is that downlink transmission is detected in the second DRX cycle, and the other is that no downlink transmission is detected in the second DRX cycle.

If the terminal device detects downlink transmission in the second DRX cycle, the terminal device may remain on the second DRX cycle, and the terminal device may perform DRX cycle switching according to the existing switching conditions. For example, the terminal device may switch the second DRX cycle to the first target DRX cycle according to indication information sent by the network device, where the indication information may be, for example, long DRX command MAC CE. For another example, the terminal device may start a second timer when receiving the downlink transmission, and switch the second DRX cycle to the first target DRX cycle after the second timer expires, where the second timer may be, for example, a DRX-inactivity timer. The terminal device may switch to the first target DRX cycle after the DRX-inactivity timer times out.

The cycle duration of the first target DRX cycle may be greater than the second DRX cycle, and the first target DRX cycle may be, for example, the first DRX cycle, so that the terminal device may detect downlink transmission at a longer interval, which may save the power of the terminal device.

Optionally, the terminal device may also start a third timer after switching to the second DRX cycle, where the third timer may be used to determine the staying time duration of the terminal device in the second DRX cycle. The third timer may be, for example, drx-ShortCycleTimer. The terminal device may switch to a second target DRX cycle after the DRX-ShortCycleTimer times out, where the cycle duration of the second target DRX cycle is longer than the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle, and the second target DRX cycle may be a DRX long cycle or other DRX short cycles.

Optionally, the DRX-ShortCycleTimer in the unlicensed spectrum may be different from the DRX-ShortCycleTimer in the licensed spectrum, and for a terminal device that supports both the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum, two DRX-shortcycletimers may be configured for the terminal device, where one is used for DRX cycle switching in the unlicensed spectrum and the other is used for DRX cycle switching in the licensed spectrum.

Of course, the terminal device may also configure only one drx-ShortCycleTimer, and use the same drx-ShortCycleTimer in the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum.

The handover procedure of the DRX cycle of the terminal device is described in detail below with reference to fig. 5 and 6.

As shown in fig. 5, taking the first DRX cycle as the DRX long cycle and the second DRX cycle as the DRX short cycle as an example, assuming that the terminal device is currently in the first DRX cycle, the terminal device may start DRX-onDurationTimer according to the specification of equation 2, and detect downlink transmission within the DRX-onduration timer. If the terminal device does not detect any downlink transmission within the duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer of the n1 first DRX cycles, the terminal device may switch to the second DRX cycle, n1 being a positive integer.

After the terminal device switches to the second DRX cycle, according to the configuration of the second DRX cycle, the DRX-onDurationTimer of the second DRX cycle may be started according to the specification of formula 1, and a downlink signal may be detected within a duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer of the second DRX cycle. Optionally, at the same time, the terminal device may also start a drx-ShortCycleTimer. The starting trigger condition of the DRX-ShortCycleTimer is switching in a DRX cycle, and the DRX-ShortCycleTimer may be the same as or different from the DRX-ShortCycleTimer of the licensed spectrum. Of course, the start triggering condition of the drx-ShortCycleTimer may also be compatible with the existing protocol, for example, the drx-ShortCycleTimer may be started after the drx-inactivtytimer expires or after receiving a Command MAC CE sent by the network device.

After the terminal device switches to the second DRX cycle, it may detect downlink transmission in DRX-onDurationTimer of n2 second DRX cycles, where n2 is a positive integer, and n2 and n1 may be equal to or different from each other.

If DRX-ShortCycleTimer times out, the terminal device may switch to the first DRX cycle.

The terminal device may remain on the second DRX cycle if the terminal device detects downlink transmissions on the second DRX cycle.

Fig. 6 is another handover manner according to the embodiment of the present application, in which a terminal device may perform handover on multiple DRX cycles. And the duration of the first DRX period, the duration of the second DRX period and the duration of the third DRX period are sequentially reduced.

The switching process of the terminal device from the first DRX cycle to the second DRX cycle is similar to the method shown in fig. 5 and will not be repeated here.

If the terminal device does not detect any downlink transmission within n2 DRX onDuration timers, the terminal device may switch the second DRX cycle to a third DRX cycle, wherein the third DRX cycle is less than the second DRX cycle.

The second DRX cycle and the third DRX cycle may be configured by the network device or determined according to the first DRX cycle.

If the network device configures a plurality of DRX cycles to the terminal device, wherein the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle and the third DRX cycle all belong to the plurality of DRX cycles. The terminal device may repeat the above steps during the handover procedure until the terminal device switches to the last DRX cycle of the multiple DRX cycles. The terminal device may remain on the third DRX cycle after switching to the third DRX cycle if the third DRX cycle is the last DRX cycle of the plurality of DRX cycles.

The second DRX cycle and the third DRX cycle may be determined by the terminal device according to the first DRX cycle, for example, the terminal device may obtain the first DRX cycle according to a certain reduction ratio and/or reduction times. Assuming that the second DRX cycle is obtained according to a rule of halving on the basis of the first DRX cycle, the terminal device may halve the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle to obtain the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle. The third DRX cycle may be reduced twice on the basis of the first DRX cycle. In addition, the embodiment of the application may further specify the scaling times, and the switching process of the terminal device may repeat the above steps until the scaling times are reached. The terminal device may remain on the third DRX cycle if it is the last scaled.

The scaling and/or the number of scaling may be configured by the network device or specified in the protocol.

If the terminal device detects downlink transmission within the DRX-onDurationTimer of a certain DRX cycle, the terminal device may remain in the DRX cycle. Meanwhile, the terminal equipment can also start a drx-inactivtytimer so as to prolong the time length of the terminal equipment in the activation period. That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, regardless of whether the downlink transmission detected by the terminal device is the PDCCH, for example, when the downlink transmission received by the terminal device is the indication channel occupancy information, the DRX-inactivity timer may also be started to extend DRX Active Time (Active Time), so that the network device may also schedule the terminal device within the extended Time, so as to improve the probability that the network device schedules the terminal device.

Or, the terminal device receives the downlink transmission, which also means that the channel interception of the network device is successful, so the terminal device also performs the switching of the DRX cycle according to the indication information sent by the network device.

After the DRX-ShortCycleTimer times out, the terminal device may switch to any DRX cycle configured by the network device, where the switched DRX cycle may not be the DRX long cycle.

Of course, the DRX cycle of the handover may also be indicated by the network device. The terminal device may receive indication information sent by the network device, where the indication information is used to indicate which DRX cycle to switch to.

When the network device configures multiple DRX cycles, the network device may further specify a switching order (or priority) of the multiple DRX cycles, and the terminal device may switch according to the switching order of the multiple DRX cycles. The switching order of the plurality of DRX cycles may be determined according to cycle durations of the plurality of DRX cycles. For example, the switching sequence of the multiple DRX cycles is determined according to the cycle duration from large to small, so that if the terminal device fails to detect downlink transmission, the DRX cycles can be continuously reduced, the delay requirement of data transmission can be ensured, and the probability that the network device schedules to the terminal device is improved.

The method for discontinuous reception on unlicensed spectrum provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above, and the apparatus of the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 7 to fig. 11, and the apparatus embodiment and the method embodiment correspond to each other, so that the non-detailed portions may refer to the foregoing method embodiments.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device shown in fig. 7 may refer to a terminal device in the method embodiment. The terminal device 700 comprises a processing unit 710.

The processing unit 710 is configured to perform the following operations: starting a first timer according to a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle; and if the downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of n first timers, switching the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer.

Optionally, the terminal device 700 further includes a communication unit 720, where the communication unit 720 is configured to receive a first DRX configuration message sent by a network device, where the first DRX configuration message includes at least two DRX cycles, and the at least two DRX cycles include the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

Optionally, the communication unit 720 is configured to receive a switching sequence of the at least two DRX cycles sent by the network device, where the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are two adjacent DRX cycles in the switching sequence.

Optionally, the switching order of the at least two DRX cycles is determined according to cycle durations of the at least two DRX cycles.

Optionally, the first DRX cycle is a DRX cycle with a longest cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles.

Optionally, the terminal device 700 further includes a communication unit 720, where the communication unit 720 is configured to receive a second DRX configuration message sent by a network device, where the second DRX configuration message includes the first DRX cycle; the processing unit is configured to determine the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

Optionally, the processing unit 710 is configured to: and determining the cycle duration and/or the activation period duration of the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

Optionally, the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is obtained according to a first reduction rule based on the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or the active duration of the second DRX cycle is obtained according to a second reduction rule based on the active duration of the first DRX cycle.

Optionally, the first reduction rule and the second reduction rule each include a reduction ratio and/or a reduction number.

Optionally, the first reduction rule and/or the second reduction rule are configured by the network device or are protocol-specified.

Optionally, the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is half of the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or the active period duration of the second DRX cycle is half of the active period duration of the first DRX cycle.

Optionally, the processing unit 710 is configured to switch the second DRX cycle to a target DRX cycle according to indication information sent by a network device if the downlink transmission is detected in the second DRX cycle; or, if the downlink transmission is detected within the second DRX cycle, starting a second timer; and switching the second DRX period to the target DRX period after the second timer is overtime.

Optionally, the target DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle.

Optionally, the target DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle.

Optionally, the processing unit 710 is configured to start a third timer according to the second DRX cycle when the first DRX cycle is switched to the second DRX cycle, where the third timer is used to determine a duration of the terminal device staying in the second DRX cycle.

Optionally, the downlink transmission includes a downlink signal and/or a downlink channel, and the downlink signal and/or the downlink channel includes at least one of the following: a physical downlink control channel, downlink semi-persistent scheduling transmission, a downlink reference signal, and a downlink reference signal sequence.

Optionally, the downlink reference signal sequence includes a demodulation reference signal DMRS sequence.

It should be understood that the terminal device 700 may perform corresponding operations performed by the terminal device in the above method, and for brevity, the description is omitted here.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 800 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The network device shown in fig. 8 may refer to a network device in the method embodiment. The network device 800 includes a processing unit 810.

The processing unit 810 may be configured to perform the following operations: detecting a channel on an unlicensed spectrum under the condition that downlink transmission needs to be sent to terminal equipment; if no available channel is detected within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, switching the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is larger than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer; and detecting the channel in the second DRX period.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, if the network equipment has downlink transmission needing to be sent to the terminal part and no available channel is detected within the duration of the first timer, the network equipment can switch the first DRX period to the second DRX period and detect the channel on the second DRX period. Therefore, the time interval for channel detection can be reduced, the probability of the network equipment scheduling to the terminal equipment is improved, and the data transmission performance is improved.

Optionally, the network device 800 further includes a communication unit 820, configured to send a first DRX configuration message to the terminal device, where the first DRX configuration message includes at least two DRX cycles, and the at least two DRX cycles include the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

Optionally, the communication unit 820 is further configured to send a switching sequence of the at least two DRX cycles to the terminal device, where the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are two adjacent DRX cycles in the switching sequence.

Optionally, the network device 800 further includes a communication unit 820, configured to send a second DRX configuration message to the terminal device, where the second DRX configuration message includes the first DRX cycle; the processing unit 810 is configured to determine the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

Optionally, the processing unit 810 is configured to determine a cycle duration and/or an active period duration of the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

Optionally, the communication unit is configured to send the first reduction rule and/or the second reduction rule to the terminal device.

Optionally, the network device 800 further includes a communication unit 820, configured to send, in a case that the downlink transmission is sent to the terminal device in the second DRX cycle, indication information to indicate that the terminal device switches from the second DRX cycle to a target DRX cycle.

Optionally, the target DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle.

Optionally, the target DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle.

It should be understood that the network device 800 may perform corresponding operations performed by the network device in the above method, and therefore, for brevity, detailed description is omitted here.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 shown in fig. 9 includes a processor 910, and the processor 910 can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 9, the communication device 900 may also include a memory 920. From the memory 920, the processor 910 can call and run a computer program to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

The memory 920 may be a separate device from the processor 910, or may be integrated in the processor 910.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 9, the communication device 900 may further include a transceiver 930, and the processor 910 may control the transceiver 930 to communicate with other devices, and specifically, may transmit information or data to the other devices or receive information or data transmitted by the other devices.

The transceiver 930 may include a transmitter and a receiver, among others. The transceiver 930 may further include one or more antennas.

Optionally, the communication device 900 may specifically be a terminal device in this embodiment, and the communication device 900 may implement a corresponding process implemented by the terminal device in each method in this embodiment, which is not described herein again for brevity.

For example, the processor 910 in the communication device 900 may be configured to perform the following operations: starting a first timer according to a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle; and if the downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of n first timers, switching the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer.

Optionally, the communication device 900 may specifically be a network device in this embodiment, and the communication device 900 may implement a corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in this embodiment, which is not described herein again for brevity.

For example, the processor 910 in the communication device 900 may be configured to perform the following operations: detecting a channel on an unlicensed spectrum under the condition that downlink transmission needs to be sent to terminal equipment; if no available channel is detected within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, switching the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is larger than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer; and detecting the channel in the second DRX period.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1000 shown in fig. 10 includes a processor 1010, and the processor 1010 may call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 10, the apparatus 1000 may further include a memory 1020. From the memory 1020, the processor 1010 may call and execute a computer program to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

The memory 1020 may be a separate device from the processor 1010 or may be integrated into the processor 1010.

Optionally, the apparatus 1000 may further comprise an input interface 1030. The processor 1010 may control the input interface 1030 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically may obtain information or data transmitted by the other devices or chips.

Optionally, the apparatus 1000 may further comprise an output interface 1040. The processor 1010 may control the output interface 1040 to communicate with other devices or chips, and may particularly output information or data to the other devices or chips.

Optionally, the apparatus may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the apparatus may implement the corresponding process implemented by the terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

Optionally, the apparatus may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the apparatus may implement the corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

Alternatively, the device 1000 may be a chip. It should be understood that the chips mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as system-on-chip, system-on-chip or system-on-chip, etc.

It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The Processor may be a general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. Volatile Memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache Memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous link SDRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

It should be understood that the above memories are exemplary but not limiting illustrations, for example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be Static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), Dynamic random access memory (Dynamic RAM, DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Double Data Rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM), and the like. That is, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the communication system 1100 includes a network device 1110 and a terminal device 1120.

Wherein the network device 1110 is configured to: detecting a channel on an unlicensed spectrum under the condition that downlink transmission needs to be sent to terminal equipment; if no available channel is detected within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, switching the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is larger than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer; and detecting the channel in the second DRX period.

Wherein the terminal device 1120 is configured to: starting a first timer according to a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle; and if the downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of n first timers, switching the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer.

Optionally, the network device 1110 may be configured to implement corresponding functions implemented by the network device in the foregoing methods, and the components of the network device 1110 may be as shown in the network device 800 in fig. 8, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the terminal device 1120 may be configured to implement corresponding functions implemented by the terminal device in the foregoing method, and the composition of the terminal device 1120 may be as shown in the terminal device 700 in fig. 7, which is not described herein again for brevity.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium for storing the computer program. Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity. Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding process implemented by the terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising computer program instructions. Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the methods in the embodiment of the present application, which are not described herein again for brevity. Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in the methods in the embodiment of the present application, which are not described herein again for brevity.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program. Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again. Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the corresponding process implemented by the terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

It should also be understood that in the present embodiment, "B corresponding to (corresponding to) a" means that B is associated with a, from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

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

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for discontinuous reception over unlicensed spectrum, comprising:

the terminal equipment starts a first timer according to the first discontinuous reception DRX period;

if downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of n first timers, the terminal equipment switches the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer;

under the condition that the first DRX period is switched to the second DRX period, the terminal equipment starts a third timer according to the second DRX period, wherein the third timer is used for determining the stay duration of the terminal equipment in the second DRX period;

and after the third timer is overtime, the terminal equipment switches the second DRX period to a second target DRX period, wherein the second target DRX period is larger than the second DRX period.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the terminal equipment receives a first DRX configuration message sent by network equipment, wherein the first DRX configuration message comprises at least two DRX cycles, and the at least two DRX cycles comprise the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

the terminal equipment receives a switching sequence of the at least two DRX cycles sent by the network equipment, and the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are two adjacent DRX cycles in the switching sequence.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the switching order of the at least two DRX cycles is determined according to cycle durations of the at least two DRX cycles.

5. The method according to any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first DRX cycle is the DRX cycle with the longest cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the terminal equipment receives a second DRX configuration message sent by network equipment, wherein the second DRX configuration message comprises the first DRX cycle;

and the terminal equipment determines the second DRX period according to the first DRX period.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the terminal device determines the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle, comprising:

and the terminal equipment determines the cycle duration and/or the activation period duration of the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is derived according to a first reduction rule based on the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

the active period duration of the second DRX period is obtained according to a second reduction rule on the basis of the active period duration of the first DRX period.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first and second reduction rules each comprise a reduction scale and/or a reduction number.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the first and/or second scaling-down rule is configured by the network device or is protocol-specified.

11. The method according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is half the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

the active period duration of the second DRX period is half of the active period duration of the first DRX period.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

if the downlink transmission is detected in the second DRX period, the terminal equipment switches the second DRX period to a target DRX period according to indication information sent by network equipment; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

if the downlink transmission is detected in the second DRX period, the terminal equipment starts a second timer;

and the terminal equipment switches the second DRX period to the target DRX period after the second timer is overtime.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the target DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the target DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle.

15. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the downlink transmission comprises a downlink signal and/or a downlink channel, and wherein the downlink signal and/or the downlink channel comprises at least one of: a physical downlink control channel, downlink semi-persistent scheduling transmission, a downlink reference signal, and a downlink reference signal sequence.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the downlink reference signal sequence comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence.

17. A method for discontinuous reception over unlicensed spectrum, comprising:

under the condition that network equipment needs to send downlink transmission to terminal equipment, the network equipment detects a channel on an unlicensed spectrum;

if the network equipment does not detect an available channel within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, the network equipment switches the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer;

the network equipment detects the channel in the second DRX period;

the network equipment configures a second target DRX period, so that the terminal equipment starts a third timer according to the second DRX period when the terminal equipment switches the first DRX period to the second DRX period, wherein the third timer is used for determining the stay duration of the terminal equipment in the second DRX period;

and after the third timer is overtime, the terminal equipment switches the second DRX period to the second target DRX period, wherein the second target DRX period is larger than the second DRX period.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

the network equipment sends a first DRX configuration message to the terminal equipment, wherein the first DRX configuration message comprises at least two DRX cycles, and the at least two DRX cycles comprise the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

and the network equipment sends a switching sequence of the at least two DRX cycles to the terminal equipment, wherein the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are two adjacent DRX cycles in the switching sequence.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the switching order of the at least two DRX cycles is determined according to cycle durations of the at least two DRX cycles.

21. The method according to any of claims 18 to 20, wherein the first DRX cycle is the DRX cycle with the longest cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

the network equipment sends a second DRX configuration message to the terminal equipment, wherein the second DRX configuration message comprises the first DRX cycle;

and the network equipment determines the second DRX period according to the first DRX period.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the network device determines the second DRX cycle based on the first DRX cycle, comprising:

and the network equipment determines the cycle duration and/or the activation period duration of the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is derived according to a first reduction rule based on the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the first and second reduction rules each comprise a reduction scale and/or a reduction number.

26. The method of claim 24 or 25, further comprising:

and the network equipment sends the first reduction rule and/or the second reduction rule to the terminal equipment.

27. The method according to any of claims 23 to 25, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is half the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

28. The method of any one of claims 17 to 20, further comprising:

and under the condition that the second DRX period sends the downlink transmission to the terminal equipment, the network equipment sends indication information to the terminal equipment so as to indicate the terminal equipment to switch from the second DRX period to a target DRX period.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the target DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the target DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle.

31. The method according to any of claims 17 to 20, wherein the downlink transmission comprises a downlink signal and/or a downlink channel, wherein the downlink signal and/or the downlink channel comprises at least one of: a physical downlink control channel, downlink semi-persistent scheduling transmission, a downlink reference signal, and a downlink reference signal sequence.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the downlink reference signal sequence comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence.

33. A terminal device, comprising a processing unit configured to:

starting a first timer according to a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle;

if downlink transmission is not detected within the duration of n first timers, switching the first DRX period to a second DRX period, wherein the first DRX period is larger than the second DRX period, and n is a positive integer;

the processing unit is further to:

under the condition that the first DRX period is switched to the second DRX period, starting a third timer according to the second DRX period, wherein the third timer is used for determining the stay duration of the terminal equipment in the second DRX period;

34. The terminal device of claim 33, further comprising a communication unit configured to receive a first DRX configuration message sent by a network device, wherein the first DRX configuration message comprises at least two DRX cycles, and wherein the at least two DRX cycles comprise the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

35. The terminal device of claim 34, wherein the communication unit is configured to:

receiving a switching sequence of the at least two DRX cycles sent by the network equipment, wherein the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are two adjacent DRX cycles in the switching sequence.

36. The terminal device of claim 35, wherein the switching order of the at least two DRX cycles is determined according to cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles.

37. The terminal device according to any of claims 34-36, wherein the first DRX cycle is the DRX cycle with the longest cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles.

38. The terminal device according to claim 33, wherein the terminal device further comprises a communication unit, wherein the communication unit is configured to receive a second DRX configuration message sent by a network device, and wherein the second DRX configuration message comprises the first DRX cycle;

the processing unit is configured to determine the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

39. The terminal device of claim 38, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

and determining the cycle duration and/or the activation period duration of the second DRX cycle according to the first DRX cycle.

40. The terminal device according to claim 39, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is derived according to a first reduction rule based on the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

41. The terminal device according to claim 40, wherein the first and second reduction rules each comprise a reduction ratio and/or a reduction number.

42. A terminal device according to claim 40 or 41, wherein the first and/or second reduction rules are configured by the network device or are protocol specific.

43. The terminal device according to any of claims 39 to 41, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is half the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

44. The terminal device of any of claims 33 to 36, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

if the downlink transmission is detected in the second DRX period, switching the second DRX period to a target DRX period according to indication information sent by network equipment; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

starting a second timer if the downlink transmission is detected within the second DRX cycle;

and switching the second DRX period to the target DRX period after the second timer is overtime.

45. The terminal device of claim 44, wherein the target DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle.

46. The terminal device of claim 45, wherein the target DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle.

47. The terminal device according to any of claims 33 to 36, wherein the downlink transmission comprises a downlink signal and/or a downlink channel, wherein the downlink signal and/or the downlink channel comprises at least one of: a physical downlink control channel, downlink semi-persistent scheduling transmission, a downlink reference signal, and a downlink reference signal sequence.

48. The terminal device of claim 47, wherein the downlink reference signal sequence comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence.

49. A network device, comprising a processing unit to:

detecting a channel on an unlicensed spectrum under the condition that downlink transmission needs to be sent to terminal equipment;

if no available channel is detected within the duration of n first timers of a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle, switching the first DRX cycle to a second DRX cycle, wherein the first DRX cycle is larger than the second DRX cycle, and n is a positive integer;

detecting the channel in the second DRX period;

configuring a second target DRX period, so that the terminal equipment starts a third timer according to the second DRX period under the condition that the terminal equipment switches the first DRX period to the second DRX period, wherein the third timer is used for determining the stay duration of the terminal equipment in the second DRX period;

50. The network device of claim 49, wherein the network device further comprises a communication unit configured to send a first DRX configuration message to the terminal device, wherein the first DRX configuration message comprises at least two DRX cycles, and wherein the at least two DRX cycles comprise the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

51. The network device of claim 50, wherein the communication unit is further configured to: and sending a switching sequence of the at least two DRX cycles to the terminal equipment, wherein the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are two adjacent DRX cycles in the switching sequence.

52. The network device of claim 51, wherein the switching order of the at least two DRX cycles is determined according to cycle durations of the at least two DRX cycles.

53. The network device of any one of claims 50 to 52, wherein the first DRX cycle is a DRX cycle with a longest cycle duration of the at least two DRX cycles.

54. The network device of claim 49, wherein the network device further comprises a communication unit configured to send a second DRX configuration message to the terminal device, wherein the second DRX configuration message includes the first DRX cycle;

55. The network device of claim 54, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a cycle duration and/or an active duration of the second DRX cycle based on the first DRX cycle.

56. The network device according to claim 55, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is derived according to a first reduction rule based on the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

57. The network device of claim 56, wherein the first reduction rule and the second reduction rule each comprise a reduction scale and/or a reduction number.

58. The network device according to claim 56 or 57, wherein the communication unit is configured to send the first reduction rule and/or the second reduction rule to the terminal device.

59. The network device according to any of claims 55 to 57, wherein the cycle duration of the second DRX cycle is half the cycle duration of the first DRX cycle, and/or,

60. The network device according to any of claims 49-52, wherein the network device further comprises a communication unit configured to send indication information to the terminal device to indicate the terminal device to switch from the second DRX cycle to a target DRX cycle if the second DRX cycle sends the downlink transmission to the terminal device.

61. The network device of claim 60, wherein the target DRX cycle is greater than the second DRX cycle.

62. The network device of claim 61, wherein the target DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle.

63. The network device of any one of claims 49-52, wherein the downlink transmission comprises a downlink signal and/or a downlink channel, and wherein the downlink signal and/or the downlink channel comprises at least one of: a physical downlink control channel, downlink semi-persistent scheduling transmission, a downlink reference signal, and a downlink reference signal sequence.

64. The network device of claim 63, wherein the downlink reference signal sequences comprise demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequences.

65. A terminal device, comprising:

a processor, a memory for storing a computer program, and a transceiver, the processor for invoking and executing the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.

66. A network device, comprising:

a processor, a memory for storing a computer program, and a transceiver, the processor for invoking and executing the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 17-32.

67. A chip, comprising:

a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory so that a device on which the chip is installed performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.

68. A chip, comprising:

a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory so that a device on which the chip is installed performs the method of any one of claims 17 to 32.

69. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program which causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.

70. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program which causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 17 to 32.