CN112188609A

CN112188609A - Method and device for determining Timing Advance (TA) reference time

Info

Publication number: CN112188609A
Application number: CN201910600805.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴晔; 毕晓艳
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-04
Filing date: 2019-07-04
Publication date: 2021-01-05
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-04
Also published as: CN112188609B; WO2021000939A1

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for determining TA reference time, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment determines a time difference and an offset, wherein the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, the first downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a first uplink sending time unit, and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a second uplink sending time unit; the terminal equipment determines the time length TA of the starting time of the second uplink sending time unit earlier than the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time, the time difference and the offset of the first downlink receiving time unit. By determining the starting time of another downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference, the offset and the starting time of one downlink receiving time unit, the network equipment can obtain the accurate sending time of the uplink sending time unit, and realize accurate channel estimation or channel prediction.

Description

Method and device for determining Timing Advance (TA) reference time

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for determining a timing advance, TA, reference time.

Background

In the existing communication system, an important feature of uplink transmission is that different terminal equipments are orthogonal multiple access (orthogonal multiple access) in time and frequency, that is, uplink transmissions from different terminal equipments in the same cell do not interfere with each other. In order to ensure orthogonality of uplink transmission and avoid intra-cell (intra-cell) interference, the network device requires that uplink signals from different terminal devices in the same frame but different frequency domain resources arrive at the network device at substantially aligned time. As long as the network device receives the uplink data sent by the terminal device within the range of Cyclic Prefix (CP), the network device can correctly decode the uplink data, so that the uplink synchronization requires that the time of arrival of signals from different terminal devices in the same frame at the network device falls within the CP. In order to ensure time synchronization on the network device side, LTE proposes a Timing Advance (TA) mechanism, and as seen from the terminal device side, TA is essentially a negative offset between the start time of a received downlink frame and the start time of an uplink transmission frame, but the existing protocol does not specify the implementation of the start time of the downlink frame, that is, the start times of different downlink frames corresponding to different uplink frames are independent from each other, so that the network device cannot obtain an accurate transmission time of the uplink frame, and thus accurate channel estimation or channel prediction is achieved.

Disclosure of Invention

The method and the device for determining the TA reference time of the timing advance determine the time difference and the preset offset, determine the starting time of another downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference and the offset and the starting time of one downlink receiving time unit, and establish the relationship between the starting times of different downlink receiving time units corresponding to different uplink sending time units respectively, so that network equipment can obtain the accurate sending time of the uplink sending time unit, thereby realizing accurate channel estimation or channel prediction.

In a first aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA reference time is provided, including: the terminal equipment determines a time difference and an offset, wherein the time difference is the time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value; the terminal device determines the TA, where the TA is a duration in which a starting time of the second uplink sending time unit is earlier than a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, a terminal device determines a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit, and a preset offset, and determining the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference and the offset and the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, wherein the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is the TA reference time, thereby establishing the relationship between the starting time of different downlink receiving time units corresponding to different uplink sending time units respectively, the network equipment can obtain the accurate sending time of the uplink sending time unit, thereby realizing accurate channel estimation or channel prediction.

It should be understood that, in the present application, the method for determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference and the offset between the first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit may also be applied in other scenarios where it is necessary to establish a relationship between the start times of different downlink receiving time units corresponding to different uplink sending time units, and the reference time for determining the TA is not limited only.

For example, a method for determining a starting time of a downlink receiving time unit includes: the terminal equipment determines a time difference and an offset, wherein the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value; the terminal equipment determines the starting time of a second downlink receiving time unit; wherein the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before the terminal device determines the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit, the method further includes: the terminal equipment receives first indication information sent by network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to start a first function, and the first function is as follows: and determining the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, the terminal device can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset based on the first indication information received from the network device, so that the accuracy of determining the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment receives second indication information sent by the network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the moment when the indication information takes effect.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, after the terminal device receives the first indication information from the network device, the terminal device can determine the time when the first indication information becomes effective through the received second indication information, and then determine that the terminal device can determine the effective time of the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset, so that a feasible scheme is provided for determining the effective time of the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

Optionally, the second indication information is carried in the first indication information and sent to the terminal device by the network device, for example, a possible implementation manner is that the first indication information includes time delay information, and after the terminal device receives the first indication information and delays for a certain time, the content indicated by the first indication information will take effect, where the time delay information may be understood as the second indication information;

in another possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes an effective time of the first indication information, where the effective time included in the first indication information may be understood as the second indication information.

Optionally, the second indication information is another indication information sent by the network device to the terminal device, and is not carried in the first indication information, for example, in a possible implementation manner, the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device first, and then sends the second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information indicates a time when the first indication information received by the terminal device takes effect.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment sends first capability information to network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for reporting the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit which can be determined by the terminal equipment according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset. In other words, the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device has the capability of determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the start time of the first downlink receiving unit, the time difference, and the offset.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, provided by the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may report its own capability to the network device, and notify the network device that it can determine the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset, so that the network device can obtain the capability of the terminal device.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment sends second capability information to network equipment, wherein the second capability information is also used for reporting at least one of the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit for bearing an uplink physical channel or a reference signal. Herein, the uplink physical channel is one or more uplink physical channels, and the reference signal is one or more reference signals.

In the method for determining the TA reference time in advance, the second capability information reported by the terminal device may further notify the network device that the network device itself may carry at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal in the uplink transmission time unit, so as to provide a feasible scheme for the network device to acquire the capability of the terminal device.

As a possible implementation manner, the second capability information may be carried in the first capability information, that is, the first capability information sent by the terminal device to the network device may report its own capability of calculating the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and may also report the capability of carrying some information on the uplink sending time unit.

As another possible implementation manner, the second capability information and the first capability information are two different pieces of information.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment receives function indication information sent by network equipment, wherein the function indication information is used for indicating that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used for bearing at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

In the method for determining the TA reference time in advance, according to the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may receive the function indication information from the network device, and learn, based on the function indication information, that at least one of the uplink physical channel and the reference signal may be carried in the uplink transmission time unit, so as to provide a feasible scheme for the terminal device to learn, via the network device, the carrying function in the uplink transmission time unit.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry a channel sounding reference signal, SRS.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit may be used to carry the SRS, so as to provide possibility for the network device to perform CSI prediction.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment reports the offset to network equipment.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, the terminal device can report the preset offset to the network device, so that the network device can acquire the offset.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the manner in which the terminal device reports the offset to the network device includes periodic reporting, semi-static reporting, or aperiodic reporting.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, a reporting mode of the terminal device for reporting the offset may be a periodic reporting mode, a semi-static reporting mode, or a non-periodic reporting mode, and a flexible reporting mode is provided for the terminal device to report the offset.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the terminal device actively reports the offset.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the terminal device reports the offset in an active manner, so that a flexible reporting manner is provided for the terminal device to report the offset.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, the terminal device reports, to the network device, a time duration for which the offset amount is valid.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the terminal device may also report the effective time of the offset, so that the network device can know the effective time of the offset.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit includes: the time length of the difference between the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is the sum of the time difference and the offset.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, when the terminal device determines the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, the terminal device may determine the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit by adding the time difference and the offset to the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit, and provide a simple and feasible scheme for determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

In a second aspect, a method for determining a timing advance, TA, reference time is provided, comprising: the method comprises the steps that network equipment sends first indication information to terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to start a first function, the first function is to determine the starting time of a second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of a first downlink receiving time unit, time difference and offset, the time difference is the time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value; and the network equipment sends the TA time length to the terminal equipment, and the TA time length and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit are used for determining the TA.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, a network device may instruct, through first indication information, a terminal device to enable a first function of determining a start time of a second downlink receiving time unit according to the start time of a first downlink receiving time unit, a time difference, and an offset.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: and the network equipment sends second indication information to terminal equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the moment when the first indication information takes effect.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, provided by the embodiment of the present application, when the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, the network device may further notify the terminal device of the effective time of the first indication information through the second indication information, so as to provide a feasible scheme for determining the effective time of the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device receives first capability information sent by the terminal device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, network equipment can know that the terminal equipment can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset through the received first capacity information of the terminal equipment, so that the network equipment can know the capacity of the terminal equipment.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: and the network equipment receives second capability information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the second capability information is used for reporting the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit and is used for bearing at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the network device may further obtain, through the received second capability information of the terminal device, uplink information that the terminal device may transmit in the uplink transmission time unit.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the network device sends, to the terminal device, function indication information, where the function indication information is used to indicate that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the network device may indicate, by sending the function indication information to the terminal device, the uplink information that the terminal device may transmit on the uplink sending time unit.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementation manners of the second aspect, the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry a channel sounding reference signal, SRS.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the uplink transmission time unit may be used to carry the SRS, so as to provide possibility for the network device to perform CSI prediction.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the network device receives the offset reported by the terminal device.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the network device determines the value of the offset by receiving the offset reported by the terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network equipment sends reporting mode indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the reporting mode indication information is used for indicating the mode of the offset reported by the terminal equipment and comprises periodic reporting, semi-static reporting or non-periodic reporting, and a flexible reporting mode is provided for the terminal equipment to report the offset.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, the network equipment can indicate the reporting capacity of the terminal equipment.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementation manners of the second aspect, the network device receives a time length for the offset reported by the terminal device to take effect.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the network device determines the effective time of the offset by receiving the effective time of the offset reported by the terminal device, so that the network device can obtain the effective time of the offset.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first function is: and determining the sum of the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset as the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, when the terminal device determines the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, the terminal device may determine the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the sum of the time difference and the offset as the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and a simple and feasible scheme for determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit is provided.

In a third aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA reference time is provided, including: the terminal equipment determines a time difference, wherein the time difference is the time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit; the terminal device determines the TA, where the TA is a duration in which a starting time of the second uplink sending time unit is earlier than a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

In the method for determining a TA reference time for timing advance according to the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device determines a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit, and then determines a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference and a starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, where the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is a TA reference time, so as to establish a relationship between starting times of different downlink receiving time units corresponding to different uplink sending time units, respectively, so that a network device can obtain an accurate sending time of the uplink sending time unit, thereby implementing accurate channel estimation or channel prediction.

It should be understood that, in the present application, the method for determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit may also be applied in other scenarios where a relationship between the start times of different downlink receiving time units corresponding to different uplink sending time units respectively needs to be established, and the reference time for determining the TA is not limited only.

For example, a method for determining a starting time of a downlink receiving time unit includes: the terminal equipment determines a time difference, wherein the time difference is the time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit; the terminal equipment determines the starting time of a second downlink receiving time unit; the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, and the first downlink receiving time unit is a downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, before the terminal device determines the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit, the method further includes: the terminal device receives third indication information sent by a network device, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device starts a second function, and the second function is to determine a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the terminal device may determine, based on the third indication information received from the network device, the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, so as to improve accuracy of determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment receives fourth indication information sent by network equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the effective moment of the third indication information.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, after the terminal device receives the third indication information from the network device, the terminal device can determine the time when the third indication information becomes effective through the received fourth indication information, and then determine that the terminal device can determine the effective time of the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, so that a feasible scheme is provided for determining the effective time of the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

Optionally, the fourth indication information is carried in third indication information, and the third indication information is sent to the terminal device by the network device, for example, a possible implementation manner is that the third indication information includes time delay information, and after the third indication information is received by the indication terminal device, a certain time after a certain time delay occurs, and the content indicated by the third indication information will take effect, where the time delay information may be understood as the fourth indication information;

in another possible implementation manner, the third indication information includes an effective time of the third indication information, where the effective time included in the third indication information may be understood as the fourth indication information.

Optionally, the fourth indication information is another indication information sent by the network device to the terminal device, and is not carried in the third indication information, for example, in a possible implementation manner, the network device sends the third indication information to the terminal device first, and then sends the fourth indication information to the terminal device, where the fourth indication information indicates a time when the third indication information received by the terminal device takes effect.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment sends first capability information to network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for reporting the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit which can be determined by the terminal equipment according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, the terminal device can report the capability of the terminal device to the network device, and inform the network device that the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit can be determined according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, so that the network device can acquire the capability of the terminal device.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment sends second capability information to network equipment, wherein the second capability information is used for reporting that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used for bearing at least one of an uplink physical channel and a reference signal.

In the method for determining the TA reference time in the timing advance according to the embodiment of the present application, the second capability information reported by the terminal device may notify the network device that the network device itself may carry at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal in the uplink transmission time unit, so as to provide a feasible scheme for the network device to acquire the capability of the terminal device.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment receives function indication information sent by network equipment, wherein the function indication information is used for indicating that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used for bearing at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the terminal device may receive the function indication information from the network device, and learn, based on the function indication information, that at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal may be carried in the uplink transmission time unit, so as to provide a feasible scheme for the terminal device to learn, via the network device, that the function is carried in the uplink transmission time unit.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementation manners of the third aspect, the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry a channel sounding reference signal, SRS.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit includes: the time length of the difference between the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is time difference.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, when the terminal device determines the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, the terminal device may determine the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit plus the time difference as the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and a simple and feasible scheme for determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit is provided.

In a fourth aspect, a method for determining a timing advance TA reference time is provided, comprising: the network device sends third indication information to the terminal device, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating the terminal device to start a second function, the second function is to determine the starting time of a second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of a first downlink receiving time unit and a time difference, and the time difference is the time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit; and the network equipment sends the TA time length to the terminal equipment, and the TA time length and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit are used for determining the TA.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, the network device may instruct, through the third indication information, the terminal device to enable the second function of determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the start time and the time difference of the first downlink receiving time unit.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: and the network equipment sends fourth indication information to terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the moment when the third indication information takes effect.

In the method for determining the TA reference time, provided by the embodiment of the present application, when the network device sends the third indication information to the terminal device, the network device may further notify the terminal device of the effective time of the third indication information through the fourth indication information, so as to provide a feasible scheme for determining the effective time of the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the network device receives first capability information sent by the terminal device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

According to the method for determining the TA reference time, network equipment can know that the terminal equipment can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference through the received first capacity information of the terminal equipment, so that the network equipment can know the capacity of the terminal equipment.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: and the network equipment receives second capability information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the second capability information is used for reporting the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit and is used for bearing at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the network device sends, to the terminal device, function indication information, where the function indication information is used to indicate that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry a channel sounding reference signal, SRS.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit includes: the time length of the difference between the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is the time difference.

In a fifth aspect, an apparatus for determining a timing advance, TA, reference time is provided, which may be used to perform the operations of the terminal device in the first and third aspects and any possible implementation manner of the first and third aspects. In particular, the means for determining the timing advance TA reference moment comprises means (means) for performing the steps or functions described in the first and third aspects and any possible implementation manners of the first and third aspects, which may be chips or functional modules within the terminal device or the terminal device in the first and third aspects. The steps or functions may be implemented by software, or hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software.

In a sixth aspect, an apparatus for determining a timing advance, TA, reference time is provided, which may be used to perform the operations of the network device in the second and fourth aspects and any possible implementation manner of the second and fourth aspects. In particular, the means for determining the timing advance TA reference moment may comprise a component (means) corresponding to the steps or functions for performing the steps or functions described in the second and fourth aspects and any possible implementation manners of the second and fourth aspects, which may be a chip or a functional module within the network device or the network device of the second and fourth aspects. The steps or functions may be implemented by software, or hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to execute the transceiving steps in the method for determining a timing advance TA reference time in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program from the memory, so that the communication device executes the method for determining a timing advance TA reference time in any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or provided separately from the processor.

Optionally, the transceiver comprises a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

In one possible design, a communication device is provided that includes a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The processor is configured to control the transceiver to transceive signals, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to retrieve and execute the computer program from the memory, so that the communication device performs the method of the first and third aspects and any possible implementation manner of the first and third aspects.

In another possible design, a communication device is provided that includes a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The processor is configured to control the transceiver to transceive signals, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to call and run the computer program from the memory, so that the communication device performs the method of the second and fourth aspects and any possible implementation manner of the second and fourth aspects.

In an eighth aspect, a system is provided, which comprises the means for determining a timing advance, TA, reference time provided in the fifth and sixth aspects.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: computer program (also called code, or instructions), which when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects.

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

In an eleventh aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes a memory for storing a computer program and a processor for calling and running the computer program from the memory, so that a communication device in which the chip system is installed executes the method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first to fourth aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 to which the method for determining a TA reference time provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system to which the method for determining a TA reference time provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a TA provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for determining a TA reference time according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5(a), (b), and (c) are schematic diagrams of the time difference provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a relationship between start times of different downlink receiving time units according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart of another method for determining a TA reference time according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between start times of different downlink receiving time units according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus 10 for determining a TA reference time instant according to the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 20 suitable for use in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus 30 for determining a TA reference time instant according to the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 40 suitable for use in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: global system for mobile communications (GSM) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) systems, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication systems, future fifth generation (5G) or new radio NR systems, etc.

A terminal equipment (terminal equipment) in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a relay station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, a terminal (terminal), or a user equipment. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and the like, which are not limited in this embodiment.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be any device with a wireless transceiving function for communicating with a terminal device. Such devices include, but are not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), home base station (home NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseBand unit (BBU), Access Point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay Node, wireless backhaul Node, Transmission Point (TP), or Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), etc., and may also be 5G, such as NR, a gbb in the system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of base stations in the 5G system may include multiple antennas, or a panel of a network, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), etc.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an Active Antenna Unit (AAU). The CU implements part of the function of the gNB and the DU implements part of the function of the gNB. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing a physical layer protocol and a real-time service, and implements functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements part of the physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing and active antenna related functions. Since the information of the RRC layer eventually becomes or is converted from the information of the PHY layer, the higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the DU + AAU under this architecture. It is to be understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal device or the network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Memory Management Unit (MMU), and a memory (also referred to as a main memory). The operating system may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes (processes), such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a windows operating system. The application layer comprises applications such as a browser, an address list, word processing software, instant messaging software and the like. Furthermore, the embodiment of the present application does not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution main body of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, as long as the program recorded with the code of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application can be executed to perform communication according to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution main body of the method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module capable of calling the program and executing the program in the terminal device or the network device.

In addition, various aspects or features of the present application may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, or magnetic tape), optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), card, stick, or key drive, etc.). In addition, various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable storage medium" can include, without being limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 to which the method for determining a timing advance TA reference time provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied.

As shown in fig. 1, the system 100 includes a network device 102, and the network device 102 may include 1 antenna or multiple antennas. Such as

antennas

104, 106, 108, 110, 112, and 114. Additionally, network device 102 may additionally include: a transmitter and a receiver.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that both the transmitter and receiver can include a number of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.).

Network device 102 may communicate with terminal devices, such as terminal device 116 and terminal device 122 shown in fig. 1. However, it is understood that network device 102 may communicate with any number of terminal devices similar to terminal device 116 or terminal device 122.

End devices

116 and 122 may be various devices that communicate with network device 102, for example, end device 116 may be a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop, a handheld communication device, a handheld computing device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a PDA, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wireless communication system 100.

As shown in fig. 1, terminal device 116 communicates with network devices via

antennas

112 and 114. Where

antennas

112 and 114 transmit information to terminal device 116 over a forward link (also called a downlink) 118 and receive information from terminal device 116 over a reverse link (also called an uplink) 120.

In addition, terminal device 122 communicates with network devices via

antennas

104 and 106. Where

antennas

104 and 106 transmit information to terminal device 122 over forward link 124 and receive information from terminal device 122 over reverse link 126.

For example, in a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system. For example, forward link 118 may use a different frequency band than reverse link 120, and forward link 124 may use a different frequency band than reverse link 126.

As another example, in Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems and full duplex (full duplex) systems, forward link 118 and reverse link 120 may utilize a common frequency band and forward link 124 and reverse link 126 may utilize a common frequency band.

Each antenna (or group of antennas consisting of multiple antennas) and/or area designed for communication is referred to as a sector of network device 102.

For example, antenna groups may be designed to communicate to terminal devices in a sector of the areas covered by network device 102. The network device may transmit signals to all terminal devices in its corresponding sector through single-antenna or multi-antenna transmit diversity. During communication by network device 102 with

terminal devices

116 and 122 via

forward links

118 and 124, respectively, the transmitting antennas of network device 102 may also utilize beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio of

forward links

118 and 124.

Moreover, mobile devices in neighboring cells can experience less interference when network device 102 utilizes beamforming to transmit signals to

terminal devices

116 and 122 scattered randomly through an associated coverage area than if the network device were transmitting signals to all of its terminal devices through single-antenna or multi-antenna transmit diversity.

At a given time, network device 102, terminal device 116, or terminal device 122 may be a wireless communication transmitting apparatus and/or a wireless communication receiving apparatus. When transmitting data, a wireless communication transmitting device may encode the data for transmission. Specifically, the wireless communication transmitting device may obtain (e.g., generate, receive from other communication devices, or save in memory, etc.) a number of data bits to be transmitted over the channel to the wireless communication receiving device. Such data bits may be contained in a transport block (or multiple transport blocks) of data, which may be segmented to produce multiple code blocks.

Moreover, the communication system 100 may be a PLMN network, a device to device (D2D) network, a machine to machine (M2M) network, an internet of things (IoT) network, or other networks, fig. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of an example, and the communication system shown in fig. 1 may further include other network devices and/or other terminal devices, which are not shown in fig. 1 for simplicity. For example, the communication system shown in fig. 1 may be a network device communicating with a plurality of terminal devices, i.e. a single network device may transmit data or control signaling to a single or a plurality of terminal devices; alternatively, the communication system shown in fig. 1 may be a plurality of network devices communicating with one terminal device, that is, a plurality of network devices may also transmit data or control signaling for a single terminal device at the same time.

It should be understood that fig. 1 is only a simple schematic diagram for illustrating a scenario where the method for determining the timing advance TA reference time provided in the embodiment of the present application is applicable, and does not constitute any limitation to the present application.

For example, the method for determining the TA reference time in the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to a vehicle networking (V2X) communication system as shown in fig. 2, where fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system to which the method for determining the TA reference time in the embodiment of the present application is applied. Under the LTE system proposed by the 3rd generation partnership project (3 GPP), V2X technology is proposed. The communication method in the V2X system is collectively referred to as V2X communication. For example, the V2X communication includes: communication between a vehicle and a vehicle (V2V), communication between a vehicle and a roadside infrastructure (V2I), communication between a vehicle and a pedestrian (V2P), or communication between a vehicle and a network (V2N), and the like. Communication between terminal devices involved in the V2X system is widely referred to as Sidelink (SL) communication.

At present, vehicles can acquire road condition information or receive service information in time through V2V, V2I, V2P or V2N communication modes, which may be collectively referred to as V2X communication. Fig. 2 is an illustration of a prior art V2X system. The schematic includes V2V communication, V2P communication, and V2I/N communication. The V2X communication is a basic technology and a key technology applied in a scene with high communication delay requirement in the future, such as intelligent automobiles, automatic driving, intelligent transportation systems and the like, aiming at high-speed equipment represented by vehicles. The terminal described herein may also be a networked vehicle or a vehicle component used in a vehicle.

In order to facilitate understanding of the method for determining a timing advance TA reference time provided in the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application will be described first.

1、TA。

In a communication system, signals are transmitted with a delay in space. For example, some terminal devices are moving away from the network device, and the terminal devices farther away from the network device receive the downlink signal from the network device later, and at the same time, the uplink signal transmitted by the terminal devices farther away from the network device arrives at the network device later. Meanwhile, some terminal devices are moving towards the direction close to the network device, and the terminal devices closer to the network device receive the downlink signal earlier from the network device, and meanwhile, the uplink signal sent by the terminal device closer to the network device also arrives at the network device earlier. The different delays may cause the uplink signals from the terminal devices to interfere with each other. Therefore, the network device needs to monitor the time of the terminal device sending the uplink signal to reach the network device, and send an instruction to the terminal device on the downlink channel to indicate the timing advance, namely TA, of the uplink signal sent by the terminal device relative to the reference point of the downlink signal.

The network device can control the time when the uplink signal from different terminal devices reaches the network device by appropriately controlling the TA of each terminal device. For a terminal device far away from the network device, due to a larger transmission delay, it is required to send uplink data in advance than a terminal device near the network device, and therefore, the TA of the terminal device far away from the network device is greater than that of the terminal device near the network device.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a TA provided in an embodiment of the present application. The TA is briefly described with reference to fig. 3, which includes a downlink reception frame and an uplink transmission frame. As can be seen from fig. 3, the start time of the uplink transmission frame is earlier than the start time of the downlink reception frame by TA, and the reference time of TA is the start time of the downlink reception frame.

In particular, the present application mainly relates to the design of the relationship between the starting time of the downlink receiving frames corresponding to different uplink transmission frames. It should be understood that in the existing protocol, there is no limitation on the starting time of the downlink receiving frame corresponding to each uplink transmission frame as shown in fig. 3, and the starting time of the downlink receiving frame corresponding to each uplink transmission frame is independent, which may result in the time duration (T)_L) The time difference between the start time of the downlink receiving frame corresponding to the first uplink transmission frame and the start time of the downlink receiving frame corresponding to the last uplink transmission frame in the uplink transmission system is not T_LThat is, the time difference between the first uplink transmission frame and the last uplink transmission frame is T_LBut the time difference between the start times of their respective corresponding downlink received frames is not T_LBut instead is related to T_LThere is a deviation (t)_L) And t is_LThe value of (c) may vary based on at least one of the following factors:

1) the distance between the terminal device and the network device changes. For example, terminal equipment on a running high-speed rail;

2) and the current transmission path of the terminal equipment disappears, and the terminal equipment is switched to a new transmission path. For example, in cities with dense buildings, when walking to a corner of a building;

3) the crystal oscillation of the terminal device is shifted.

2. Predict/estimate Channel State Information (CSI).

The method for determining the Timing Advance (TA) reference time provided by the embodiment of the application can be used for accurately predicting/estimating the CSI when being applied to a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) scene of an uplink transmission channel. In a mobile (mobility) scenario, CSI measured by an SRS received at a current time is often required to be used to predict CSI at a future time.

Briefly introducing an existing method for predicting CSI, firstly, a network device receives an SRS sent by a terminal device at a current time (T), measures CSI at the current time T based on the SRS, and secondly, the network device predicts the T based on the CSI_LThe next CSI after the duration. It should be understood that the SRS receiving time corresponding to the next CSI predicted by the network device should be T + T_LHowever, according to the relationship between the start time of the uplink transmission frame and the start time of the downlink reception frame defined in the conventional protocol, since the start times of the downlink reception frames corresponding to the start times of different uplink transmission frames are independent from each other, the time T2 at which the next SRS is actually received should be T2 ═ T + T_L+t_L，t_LIs a random number, that is, the time T2 when the next SRS is actually received and the predicted time T + T when the next SRS is received_LThere will be a deviation t between_LIn this case, the uplink transmission frame of the next CSI predicted by the network device is not accurate.

The above description is provided in conjunction with fig. 1 and 2 to briefly describe a scenario in which the embodiments of the present application can be applied, and to briefly describe several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application. The method for determining the timing advance TA reference moment provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 4 to 8.

It should be understood that the reference to timing advance as timing advance in the embodiment of the present application is only an example, and does not limit the scope of protection of the present application in any way, for example, it may also be referred to as advance time, timing advance amount or advance time amount, etc. And are not illustrated one by one here.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for determining a TA reference time according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The flow chart includes a terminal device and a network device.

The method for determining the TA reference moment comprises the following steps:

s110, the terminal device determines the time difference.

The time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit. It should be understood that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit in the embodiment of the present application do not refer to any two uplink transmission time units, and the "first" and "second" in the present application are used for distinguishing and explaining only, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are only used for distinguishing different uplink transmission time units, and the second uplink transmission time unit is an uplink transmission time unit after the first uplink transmission time unit.

One possible implementation is that the second uplink transmission time unit is the immediately next uplink transmission time unit after the first uplink transmission time unit; or, another possible implementation manner is that at least one uplink transmission time unit is separated between the second uplink transmission time unit and the first uplink transmission time unit; or, the uplink transmission time unit performs uplink transmission according to the period of P time units, the interval between the second uplink transmission time unit and the first uplink transmission time unit is at least n × P slots, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

The time units referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be, but are not limited to, frames, slots, subframes, or symbols. For example, taking a frame as an example, the first uplink transmission time unit is a first uplink transmission frame, and the second uplink transmission time unit is a second uplink transmission frame, where the first uplink transmission frame is a frame before the second uplink transmission frame.

Next, a possible time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit is described in detail with reference to fig. 5, where fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a time difference provided in an embodiment of the present application. The schematic diagram includes a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, as shown in fig. 5, a time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit is a time duration between a starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, which is defined as the time difference in the embodiment of the present application, and it should be understood that the time difference can only be determined based on the first downlink receiving time unit and the time durations of the downlink receiving time units between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit before the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is not determined.

One possible implementation is that the second downlink receiving time unit is the next downlink receiving time unit adjacent to the first downlink receiving time unit, as shown in fig. 5(a), in which the time difference is the duration of the first downlink receiving time unit.

Another possible implementation manner is that the first downlink receiving time unit is the xth downlink receiving time unit in the total time unit in the system, the second downlink receiving time unit is the yth downlink receiving time unit in the total time unit in the system, X is a positive integer, and Y is an integer greater than X. In this implementation, the time difference is equal to the duration of the first downlink receiving time unit plus the duration of each downlink receiving time unit between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit. Or, the time difference is a time length from the starting position of the first downlink receiving time unit to the starting position of the second downlink receiving time unit.

Optionally, the first downlink receiving time unit and the duration of each downlink receiving time unit between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit are equal (both are T)_C) In the case of (d), as shown in fig. 5(b), the time difference is (Y-X) × T_C；

Alternatively, in the case of the first downlink receiving time unit and the unequal duration of each downlink receiving time unit between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit, as shown in fig. 5(c), the time difference is the duration of the first downlink receiving time unit + the duration of the X +1 th downlink receiving time unit + the duration of the X +2 nd downlink receiving time unit …. + the duration of the Y-1 st downlink receiving time unit.

In both cases 5(b) and 5(c), the time difference can also be expressed as a time period from the start position of the first downlink reception time unit to the start position of the second downlink reception time unit.

It should be understood that the duration of the downlink receiving time unit is specified by the system, and the terminal device can determine the value of the time difference based on the duration of the downlink receiving time unit. Specifically, when the duration of a certain downlink receiving time unit changes, the network device needs to notify the terminal device that the duration of the certain downlink receiving time unit changes. For example, the network device informs the terminal device that the duration of the first downlink receiving time unit is T_CTo T_C1。

It should also be understood that, in the case that the duration of the starting time of the first uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the first downlink reception time unit and the duration of the starting time of the second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit are equal, the time difference can also be understood as the time difference between the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit, and the downlink reception time unit shown in fig. 5 can be replaced by the uplink transmission time unit, which is similar to that shown in fig. 5 in specific cases and will not be described again here.

S120, the terminal equipment determines TA.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, TA is defined by the reference time T_rAnd the duration L is determined, then the terminal device determining TA in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 refers to determining the reference time T of the TA_rAnd a duration L. Specifically, the duration L of the TA is the second uplink transmission timeThe starting time of the cell is earlier than the duration of the starting time of the corresponding second downlink receiving time cell, and the reference time T of the TA_rIs the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, how the terminal device learns the duration L of the TA is not limited, for example, the duration that the network device notifies the terminal device of the TA is L may be referred to as specified in an existing protocol, and then the method flow shown in fig. 4 further includes S111, where the network device sends the duration of the TA to the terminal device. That is, the emphasis of the embodiment of the present application is on how to determine the reference time T of TA_rI.e. the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit. Unlike the existing protocol that does not specify the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit, in the embodiment of the present application, there is a certain relationship between the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit, and the relationship between the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit will be described in detail below:

specifically, the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference determined by the terminal device in S110, where the first downlink receiving time unit is a downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is known, and may be determined based on a method for determining the starting time of the downlink receiving time unit, which is specified in an existing protocol, or may also be determined based on a method for determining a TA reference time provided by the present application, which is not described herein again, and only the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is defined to be known.

One possible implementation manner is that the first downlink receiving time unit is a downlink receiving time unit determined by the terminal device at the current time, and the second downlink receiving time unit is a target downlink receiving time unit for which the terminal device needs to determine the starting time; alternatively, another possible implementation manner is that the second downlink receiving time unit is a downlink receiving time unit that needs to be determined by the current terminal device, and the first downlink receiving time unit is a downlink receiving time unit for which the starting time has been determined by the terminal device last time.

For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, a start time of the first downlink receiving time unit may be denoted as T1, a start time of the second downlink receiving time unit may be denoted as T2, and a time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink transmitting time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink transmitting time unit is denoted as TX, which is a positive value as seen in fig. 5.

Alternatively, the start time of the second downlink reception time unit described above may be based on the start time of the first downlink reception time unit, and the time difference determination may be T2 ═ T1+ TX; alternatively, T2 ═ T1+ TX + C (where C is a constant); alternatively, T2 ═ (T1+ TX) × C (where C is a constant); or T2 ═ T1 ═ C1+ TX ═ C2 (where C1 and C2 are constants), etc., it should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, how T2 is calculated based on T1 and TX is not limited, and only T2 and T1 are limited to satisfy a known relationship, and T2 can be calculated based on T1.

The relationship between the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit will be briefly described with reference to fig. 6 by taking T2 ═ T1+ TX as an example. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a relationship between start times of different downlink receiving time units according to an embodiment of the present application.

As can be seen from fig. 6, the duration that the starting time of the first uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the corresponding first downlink reception time unit is TA 0; the duration that the starting time of the second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the corresponding second downlink reception time unit is TA 1. The time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit is TX, the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is T1, and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is T1+ TX.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the terminal device may determine, based on the third indication information received from the network device, that it may determine the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and before the terminal device determines the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, the method flow shown in fig. 4 further includes S121, where the network device sends the third indication information to the terminal device, and the third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device enables the second function; or, it can be said that the third indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to activate a second function, where the second function is to determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

As a possible implementation manner, the terminal device may determine the time when the third indication information is valid based on the fourth indication information received from the network device, that is, the method flow shown in fig. 4 optionally further includes S1211, and the network device sends the fourth indication information to the terminal device. The time when the third indication information is effective may also be considered as the time when the second function is effective.

Optionally, the fourth indication information is carried in the third indication information, and is sent to the terminal device by the network device:

for example, the terminal device receives the third indication information at a time slot k, where the third indication information includes time delay information, and the time delay information indicates that the third indication information takes effect after n time slots, and then the terminal device determines that a time at which the third indication information takes effect is a time slot k + n, where the time delay information carried in the third indication information may be understood as the fourth indication information.

For example, the third indication information includes the effective time of the third indication information. And the terminal device receives the third indication information in a time slot k, and the time when the third indication information including the valid time of the third indication information is a time slot m, the terminal device determines that the time when the third indication information is valid is the time slot m, and the time slot m is a certain time slot after the time slot k, wherein the valid time carried in the third indication information can be understood as the fourth indication information.

For example, the validation time of the third indication information included in the third indication information is the time when the terminal device receives the third indication information. And the terminal device receives the third indication information in a time slot k, and if the effective time of the third indication information included in the third indication information is the time when the terminal device receives the third indication information, the terminal device determines that the time when the third indication information is effective is the time slot k, where the time when the terminal device receives the third indication information may be understood as the fourth indication information.

Optionally, the fourth indication information is another indication information sent by the network device to the terminal device, and is not carried in the third indication information:

for example, the terminal device receives the third indication information and the fourth indication information in time slot k, where the fourth indication information indicates a time delay (n time slots), and the terminal device determines that the time when the third indication information becomes effective is time slot k + n.

For example, the terminal device receives the third indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the fourth indication information at time slot k + n, where the fourth indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots, m is greater than or equal to n), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the third indication information becomes effective is time slot k + m.

For example, the terminal device receives the third indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the fourth indication information at time slot k + n, where the fourth indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the third indication information becomes effective is time slot k + n + m.

For example, the terminal device receives the fourth indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the third indication information at time slot k + n, where the fourth indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots, m is greater than or equal to n), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the third indication information becomes effective is time slot k + m.

For example, the terminal device receives the fourth indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the third indication information at time slot k + n, where the fourth indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the third indication information becomes effective is time slot k + n + m.

As a possible implementation manner, the terminal device may determine the time when the third indication information is valid based on the determination of the capability of the terminal device itself.

For example, the terminal device receives the third indication information at time slot k, determines delay information indicating that the third indication information takes effect after n time slots, and determines that the time when the third indication information takes effect is time slot k + n. The time delay information determined by the terminal equipment can be a time length specified by a protocol, and the time length is n time slots; or, the determining of the delay information by the terminal device may be based on a preset calculation formula, and calculate a time length, where the time length is n time slots.

In another possible implementation manner, the third indication information is further used for indicating the terminal device to disable the second function; or, it can also be said that the third indication information is further used for indicating that the terminal device does not enable the second function; or, it can be said that, the third indication information is also used for instructing the terminal device to deactivate the second function; or, it can also be said that the third indication information is further used for indicating that the terminal device can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on a method for determining the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit specified by an existing protocol.

Optionally, the third indication information is carried in RRC signaling or Media access control-control element (MAC CE) signaling or Downlink Control Information (DCI) and sent to the terminal device.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the terminal device may also report, to the network device, whether the terminal device can support the start time based on the first downlink receiving time unit, and a function of determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the time difference. The method flow shown in fig. 4 further includes S122, where the terminal device sends first capability information to the network device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

As a possible implementation manner, the terminal device may further send second capability information to the network device, and then the method flow shown in fig. 4 further includes S1221, where the terminal device sends the second capability information to the network device, where the second capability information is used to report that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used to carry at least one uplink physical channel, or carry at least one reference signal, or carry at least one uplink physical channel and at least one reference signal.

It should be understood that the uplink transmission time unit referred to in this embodiment may be used to carry at least one reference signal, and the type of the reference signal is not limited, and the reference signal referred to in this embodiment may also be referred to as a pilot.

It should also be understood that, in this embodiment, the use of the uplink transmission time unit for carrying at least one uplink physical channel means that the uplink transmission time unit may be used for carrying at least one uplink physical channel of various uplink physical channels, and in this embodiment, the use of the uplink transmission time unit for carrying at least one reference signal means that the uplink transmission time unit may also be used for carrying at least one reference signal of various reference signals.

Further, the network device may determine the capability of the terminal device based on the first capability information reported by the terminal device, and send function indication information to the terminal device, where the function indication information is used to indicate that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used to carry at least one uplink physical channel, or carry at least one reference signal, or carry at least one uplink physical channel and at least one reference signal. The method flow shown in fig. 4 further includes S123, where the network device sends the function indication information to the terminal device.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment, the terminal device is not limited to send the first capability information to the network device.

For example, in a possible implementation manner, the terminal device does not report the first capability information, the default terminal device supports transmission of any uplink information in an uplink transmission time unit, and the network device may indicate the function of the terminal device; alternatively, another possible implementation manner is that the protocol specifies the functions of the terminal device, and the network device indicates all or part of the functions in the protocol specification as the functions of the terminal device. It should be understood that the network device typically indicates that the terminal device's capabilities do not exceed the capabilities that the terminal device is capable of supporting.

As a possible implementation manner, the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used for carrying a channel sounding reference signal SRS. Optionally, the SRS is scheduled periodically or semi-statically.

In a possible implementation manner, the SRS is used to measure the channel state information CSI, a first uplink transmission time unit corresponds to the first CSI, and the first CSI is used to predict a second CSI corresponding to the second uplink transmission time unit. Since, in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the interval between the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is a known value, the problem of inaccuracy of the existing CSI prediction does not occur when the second CSI is predicted.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart of another method for determining a TA reference time according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The flow chart comprises a terminal device and a network device.

s210, the terminal equipment determines the time difference and the offset.

The time difference is the time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value. Optionally, the offset is a value preset by the terminal device based on the communication status, or a value preset by another management device, and the terminal device is notified of the preset value.

It should be understood that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit in the embodiment of the present application do not refer to any two uplink transmission time units, and the "first" and "second" in the present application are used for distinguishing and explaining only, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are only used for distinguishing different uplink transmission time units, and the second uplink transmission time unit is an uplink transmission time unit after the first uplink transmission time unit.

One possible implementation is that the second downlink receiving time unit is the next downlink receiving time unit adjacent to the first downlink receiving time unit; or, another possible implementation manner is that at least one downlink receiving time unit is separated between the second downlink receiving time unit and the first downlink receiving time unit; or, the uplink sending time unit sends uplink according to the period of P time units, the second uplink sending time unit and the first uplink sending time unit are at least separated by n × P slots, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

It should also be understood that the time difference can also be understood as the time difference between the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit when the time duration of the start time of the first uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the time duration of the start time of the first downlink reception time unit and the time duration of the start time of the second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the time duration of the start time of the second downlink reception time unit. Specifically, the case that the time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit in the embodiment shown in fig. 7 is possible is as shown in fig. 5, and is not described again here. In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the terminal device may determine a plurality of different offsets, where the first downlink receiving time unit is a time unit of the starting time of the last downlink receiving time unit calculated by applying the last offset, and the second downlink receiving time unit is a time unit of the starting time of the downlink receiving time unit calculated by applying the current offset.

The offset is a preset value determined by the terminal device and used for correcting a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit. The offset may also be referred to as an error value or a correction amount in the embodiment shown in fig. 7.

Alternatively, when the offset value is 0, the determining of the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference and the offset amount and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit in the embodiment shown in fig. 7 is similar to the determining of the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit in the method flow shown in fig. 4.

S220, the terminal equipment determines TA.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, TA is defined by the reference time T_rAnd the duration L is determined, then the terminal device determining TA in the embodiment shown in fig. 7 refers to determining the reference time T of the TA_rAnd a duration L. Specifically, the duration L of the TA is a duration that the starting time of the second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the corresponding second downlink reception time unit, and the reference time T of the TA_rIs the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, how the terminal device learns the duration L of the TA is not limited, for example, the duration that the network device notifies the terminal device of the TA is L may be referred to as specified in an existing protocol, and then the method flow shown in fig. 7 further includes S211, where the network device sends the duration of the TA to the terminal device. That is, the emphasis of the embodiment of the present application is on how to determine the reference time T of TA_rI.e. the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit. Unlike the random determination of the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit specified in the existing protocol, in the embodiment of the present application, the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit are differentThere is a certain relation between them, and the relationship between the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit will be described in detail below:

specifically, the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, and the time difference and the offset determined by the terminal device in S210, where the first downlink receiving time unit is the downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment of the present application, the start time of the first downlink receive time unit is known, and may be determined based on a method for determining the start time of the downlink receive time unit, which is specified in an existing protocol, or may also be determined based on a method for determining a TA reference time provided in this application (for example, determined based on the embodiment shown in fig. 4, or the method for determining the start time of the downlink receive time unit in the embodiment shown in fig. 7), which is not described herein again, and only the start time of the first downlink receive time unit is defined to be known.

For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, a start time of the first downlink receiving time unit may be denoted as T1, a start time of the second downlink receiving time unit may be denoted as T2, a time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink transmitting time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink transmitting time unit may be denoted as TX, and the offset amount may be denoted as T1.

Alternatively, the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit described above is based on the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit, and the time difference determination may be T2 ═ T1+ TX + T1; alternatively, T2 ═ T1+ TX + T1+ C (where C is a constant); alternatively, T2 ═ (T1+ TX + T1) × C (where C is a constant); alternatively, T2 ═ T1 ═ C1+ TX ═ C2+ T1 × (C3) (where C1, C2, and C3 are constants), and the like, it should be understood that how T2 is calculated based on T1 and TX is not limited in the embodiment of the present application, and only that T2 and T1 satisfy a known relationship, and T2 can be calculated based on T1.

The relationship between the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit is briefly described below with reference to fig. 8 by taking T2 ═ T1+ TX + T1 as an example. Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a relationship between start times of different downlink receiving time units according to an embodiment of the present application.

As can be seen from fig. 8, the duration that the starting time of the first uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the corresponding first downlink reception time unit is TA 0; in fig. 8, the time length that the starting time of the first second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the corresponding first second downlink reception time unit is TA 1; in fig. 8, the duration that the start time of the second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the start time of the corresponding second downlink reception time unit is TA 2. Wherein, the time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit and the first second downlink receiving time unit is TX1, the time difference between the first downlink receiving time unit and the second downlink receiving time unit is TX2, the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is T1, and the starting time of the first second downlink receiving time unit is T1+ TX1+ T1; as shown in fig. 8, T1 may be kept constant for a while, and when the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit in fig. 8 is determined, the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit may also be determined to be T1+ TX2+ T1 based on the time difference between the first uplink transmitting time unit and the second uplink transmitting time unit and T1.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the terminal device may determine, based on the first indication information received from the network device, a start time of the terminal device itself may be determined based on the first downlink reception time unit, and the time difference and the offset amount, and then before the terminal device determines the start time of the second downlink reception time unit, the method flow shown in fig. 7 further includes S221, where the network device sends, to the terminal device, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device enables the first function; or, it can be said that the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to activate a first function, where the first function is to determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

As a possible implementation manner, the terminal device may determine the time when the first indication information is valid based on the second indication information received from the network device, that is, the method flow shown in fig. 7 further includes S2211, where the network device sends the second indication information to the terminal device. The time when the first indication information is effective may also be considered as the time when the first function is effective.

For example, the terminal device receives the first indication information at time slot k, where the first indication information includes time delay information, and the time delay information indicates that the first indication information takes effect after n time slots, and then the terminal device determines that the time when the first indication information takes effect is time slot k + n, where the time delay information may be understood as the second indication information.

For example, the first indication information includes an effective time of the first indication information. The terminal device receives the first indication information at a time slot k, and if the first indication information includes that the first indication information has a time slot m in effect, the terminal device determines that the time at which the first indication information has the effect is the time slot m, and the time slot m is a certain time slot after the time slot k, where the time in effect included in the first indication information may be understood as the second indication information.

For example, the validation time of the first indication information included in the first indication information is the time when the terminal device receives the first indication information. The terminal device receives the first indication information in a time slot k, and if the first indication information includes the time when the first indication information takes effect as the time when the terminal device receives the first indication information, the terminal device determines that the time when the first indication information takes effect is the time slot k, where the time when the terminal device receives the first indication information may be understood as the second indication information.

Optionally, the second indication information is another indication information sent by the network device to the terminal device, and is not carried in the first indication information:

for example, the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information at time slot k, where the second indication information indicates a time delay (n time slots), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the first indication information becomes effective is time slot k + n.

For example, the terminal device receives the first indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the second indication information at time slot k + n, where the second indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots, m is greater than or equal to n), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the first indication information becomes effective is time slot k + m.

For example, the terminal device receives the first indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the second indication information at time slot k + n, where the second indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the first indication information becomes effective is time slot k + n + m.

For example, the terminal device receives the second indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the first indication information at time slot k + n, where the second indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots, m is greater than or equal to n), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the first indication information becomes effective is time slot k + m.

For example, the terminal device receives the second indication information at time slot k, and the terminal device receives the first indication information at time slot k + n, where the second indication information indicates a time delay (m time slots), and then the terminal device determines that the time when the first indication information becomes effective is time slot k + n + m.

As a possible implementation manner, the terminal device may determine the time when the first indication information is valid based on the determination of the capability of the terminal device itself.

For example, the terminal device receives the first indication information at time slot k, determines delay information indicating that the first indication information takes effect after n time slots, and determines that the time when the first indication information takes effect is time slot k + n. The time delay information determined by the terminal equipment can be a time length specified by a protocol, and the time length is n time slots; or, the determining of the delay information by the terminal device may be based on a preset calculation formula, and calculate a time length, where the time length is n time slots.

In another possible implementation manner, the first indication information is further used for indicating the terminal device to disable the first function; or, it can be said that the first indication information is also used for indicating that the terminal device does not enable the first function; or, it can be said that, the first indication information is also used for indicating the terminal device to deactivate the first function; or, it can also be said that the first indication information is further used for indicating that the terminal device can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on a method for determining the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit specified by an existing protocol.

Further, the embodiment shown in fig. 4 and the embodiment shown in fig. 7 may be combined, that is, the terminal device simultaneously supports determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, and determining the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference and the offset. The terminal device has both the second function in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 and the first function in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, in this case, the third indication information in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 and the first indication information in the embodiment shown in fig. 7 may be a piece of indication information, which is called as fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal device enables the first function, or may be used to indicate that the terminal device enables the second function, or may be used to indicate that the terminal device enables the first function and the second function, and the terminal device may optionally select a capability for determining the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit to determine the TA reference time, or may combine the first function and the second function in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 and the embodiment shown in fig. 7 to be regarded as one function, the function includes two optional functions, and when the fifth indication information indicates that the terminal device enables the function, the terminal device may arbitrarily select a capability of determining the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit to determine the TA reference time.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in RRC signaling or MAC CE signaling or DCI and sent to the terminal device.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the terminal device may also report to the network device whether it can support the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit, and determine the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the time difference and the offset. The method flow shown in fig. 7 further includes S222, where the terminal device sends first capability information to the network device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

As a possible implementation manner, the terminal device may further send second capability information to the network device, and then the method flow shown in fig. 7 further includes S2221, where the terminal device sends the second capability information to the network device, and the second capability information is used to report the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit, and is used to carry at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

Further, the network device may determine the capability of the terminal device based on the first capability information reported by the terminal device, and send function indication information to the terminal device, where the function indication information is used to indicate that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry at least one uplink physical channel, or carry at least one reference signal, or carry at least one uplink physical channel and at least one reference signal. The method flow shown in fig. 7 further includes S223, the network device sends the function indication information to the terminal device.

For example, in a possible implementation manner, the terminal device does not report the first capability information, the default terminal device supports transmission of any uplink information in an uplink transmission time unit, and the network device may indicate the function of the terminal device; alternatively, another possible implementation is that the protocol specifies the functions of the terminal device, and the network device indicates all or part of the capabilities in the protocol specification as the functions of the terminal device. It should be understood that the network device typically indicates that the terminal device's capabilities do not exceed the capabilities that the terminal device is capable of supporting.

In a possible implementation manner, the SRS is used to measure the channel state information CSI, a first uplink transmission time unit corresponds to the first CSI, and the first CSI is used to predict a second CSI corresponding to the second uplink transmission time unit. Since, in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the interval between the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is a known value, the problem of inaccuracy of the existing CSI prediction does not occur when the second CSI is predicted.

Further, in order to enable the network device to predict the uplink information carried in the second uplink transmission time unit, the terminal device may report the offset to the network device, that is, S224 is further included in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 7, and the terminal device sends the offset to the network device.

One possible implementation manner is that the network device indicates the manner in which the terminal device reports the offset, for example, the manner in which the terminal device reports the offset to the network device includes periodic reporting, semi-static reporting, or aperiodic reporting; alternatively, another possible implementation manner is that the terminal device actively reports the offset.

Optionally, the terminal device may also report a time length for the offset to take effect to the network device, and the network device may determine, based on the time length for the offset to take effect, a time length for the offset to be used.

Optionally, the terminal device may also report a time at which the offset takes effect to the network device, and the network device can determine when the offset starts to take effect based on the time at which the offset takes effect.

For example, if the network device receives the above offset at slot k1, the offset includes latency information indicating that the offset takes effect after n1 slots, then the network device determines that the time at which the offset takes effect is slot k1+ n 1.

Also for example, if the network device receives the above offset at slot k1, the network device determines latency information indicating that the offset takes effect after n1 slots, and the network device determines that the offset takes effect at time slot k1+ n 1. The network device determines that the delay information may be a duration specified by a protocol, where the duration is n1 time slots; alternatively, the network device may determine the delay information by calculating a time duration, which is n1 time slots, based on a preset calculation formula.

Also for example, the offset includes the time of validation of the offset. The network device receives the offset amount at the time slot k1, and if the effective time of the offset, including the offset, is the time slot m1, the network device determines that the time when the offset is effective is the time slot m1, and the time slot m1 is a certain time slot after the time slot k 1.

Also for example, the effective time of the offset, including the offset, is the time when the network device receives the offset. If the network device receives the offset at the time slot k1, and the effective time of the offset is the time when the network device receives the offset, the network device determines that the time when the offset is effective is the time slot k 1.

As an optional implementation method, the embodiment shown in fig. 7 and the embodiment shown in fig. 4 can be used in combination, for example, after the terminal device reports the offset, the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit is calculated for the first time to take the offset into account, and when the start time of the downlink receiving time unit after the second downlink receiving time unit is calculated again based on the start time of the second downlink receiving time unit, the start time of the next downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the start time of the previous downlink receiving time unit and the time difference, and the offset is not taken into account again.

It should be understood that, in the above method embodiments, the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean that the execution sequence is first and last, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by the functions and the inherent logic of the processes, and should not limit the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application in any way.

The method for determining the timing advance TA reference time provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 4 to 8, and the apparatus for determining the timing advance TA reference time provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 9 to 12.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus 10 for determining a timing advance TA reference time proposed by the present application. As shown in fig. 9, the apparatus 10 includes a receiving unit 110, a transmitting unit 130, and a processing unit 120.

A receiving unit 110, configured to receive indication information sent by a network device, where the indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to determine a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference;

a processing unit 120, configured to determine a time difference and an offset, where the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to a second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value;

the processing unit 120 is further configured to determine a TA, where the TA is a duration that a starting time of the second uplink sending time unit is earlier than a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

A sending unit 130, configured to send first capability information to the network device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

The sending unit 130 is further configured to send second capability information to the network device, where the second capability information is used to report the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit, and is used to carry at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

The apparatus 10 and the terminal device in the method embodiment completely correspond to each other, and the apparatus 10 may be the terminal device in the method embodiment, or a chip or a functional module inside the terminal device in the method embodiment. The corresponding elements of the apparatus 10 are adapted to perform the corresponding steps performed by the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in fig. 4-8.

Wherein, the receiving unit 110 in the apparatus 10 executes the steps received by the terminal device in the method embodiment. For example, step 111 of receiving the time length of the network device sending the TA in fig. 4 is executed, step 121 of receiving the network device sending the third indication information in fig. 4 is executed, step 1211 of receiving the network device sending the fourth indication information in fig. 4 is executed, step 123 of receiving the network device sending the function indication information in fig. 4 is executed, step 211 of receiving the time length of the network device sending the TA in fig. 7 is executed, step 221 of receiving the network device sending the first indication information in fig. 7 is executed, step 2211 of receiving the network device sending the second indication information in fig. 7 is executed, and step 223 of receiving the network device sending the function indication information in fig. 7 is executed. The processing unit 120 performs the steps implemented or processed internally by the terminal device in the method embodiments. For example, step 110 of determining the time difference in fig. 4 is performed, step 120 of determining the TA in fig. 4 is performed, step 210 of determining the time difference in fig. 7 is performed, and step 220 of determining the TA in fig. 7 is performed. The sending unit 130 executes the steps sent by the terminal device in the method embodiment. For example, step 122 of sending the first capability information to the network device in fig. 4 is executed, step 1221 of sending the second capability information to the network device in fig. 4 is executed, step 222 of sending the first capability information to the network device in fig. 7 is executed, step 2221 of sending the second capability information to the network device in fig. 7 is executed, and step 224 of sending the offset to the network device in fig. 7 is executed.

The receiving unit 110 and the transmitting unit 130 may constitute a transceiving unit, and have both receiving and transmitting functions. Wherein the processing unit 120 may be a processor. The transmitting unit 130 may be a receiver. The receiving unit 110 may be a transmitter. The receiver and transmitter may be integrated together to form a transceiver.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 20 suitable for use in the embodiments of the present application. The terminal device 20 is applicable to the system shown in fig. 1 and 2. For convenience of explanation, fig. 10 shows only main components of the terminal device. As shown in fig. 10, the terminal device 20 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input-output means. The processor is used for controlling the antenna and the input and output device to send and receive signals, the memory is used for storing a computer program, and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory to execute the corresponding flow and/or operation executed by the terminal equipment in the method for determining the timing advance TA reference moment. And will not be described in detail herein.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that fig. 8 shows only one memory and processor for ease of illustration. In a practical terminal device, there may be multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, and the like, which is not limited in this application.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus 30 for determining a timing advance TA reference time proposed in the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the apparatus 30 includes a transmitting unit 310 and a receiving unit 320.

A sending unit 310, configured to send indication information to a terminal device, where the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device starts a first function, and the first function is to determine a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on a starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, a time difference and an offset, where the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the first uplink sending time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit corresponding to the second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value.

A receiving unit 320, configured to receive first capability information sent by the terminal device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

The receiving unit 320 is further configured to receive second capability information sent by the terminal device, where the second capability information is used to report that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used to carry at least one uplink physical channel and/or at least one reference signal.

The apparatus 30 corresponds to the network device in the method embodiment, and the apparatus 30 may be the network device in the method embodiment, or a chip or a functional module inside the network device in the method embodiment. The corresponding elements of the apparatus 30 are for performing the corresponding steps performed by the network device in the method embodiments shown in fig. 4-8.

The sending unit 310 in the apparatus 30 executes the steps sent by the network device in the method embodiment. For example, step 111 of transmitting the time length of TA to the terminal device in fig. 4 is performed, step 121 of transmitting the third indication information to the terminal device in fig. 4 is performed, step 1211 of transmitting the fourth indication information to the terminal device in fig. 4 is performed, step 123 of transmitting the function indication information to the terminal device in fig. 4 is performed, step 211 of transmitting the time length of TA to the terminal device in fig. 7 is performed, step 221 of transmitting the first indication information to the terminal device in fig. 7 is performed, step 2211 of transmitting the second indication information to the terminal device in fig. 7 is performed, and step 223 of transmitting the function indication information to the terminal device in fig. 7 is performed. The receiving unit 320 performs the steps received by the network device in the method embodiment. For example, step 122 in fig. 4 in which the receiving terminal device transmits the first capability information, step 1221 in fig. 4 in which the receiving terminal device transmits the second capability information, step 222 in fig. 7 in which the receiving terminal device transmits the capability information, step 2221 in fig. 7 in which the receiving terminal device transmits the second capability information, and step 224 in fig. 7 in which the receiving terminal device transmits the offset are executed.

Optionally, the apparatus 30 may further include a processing unit, configured to execute the steps implemented or processed inside the network device in the method embodiment. The receiving unit 320 and the transmitting unit 310 may constitute a transceiving unit, and have both receiving and transmitting functions. Wherein the processing unit may be a processor. The transmitting unit 310 may be a receiver. The receiving unit 320 may be a transmitter. The receiver and transmitter may be integrated together to form a transceiver.

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device 40 suitable for the embodiment of the present application, and may be used to implement the functions of the network device in the above-described method for determining the timing advance TA reference time. The diagram may be a structural representation of a network device.

In a 5G communication system, the network device 40 may include CU, DU, and AAU in comparison to the network device in the LTE communication system, which is composed of one or more radio frequency units, such as a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) 401 and one or more baseband units (BBUs):

the non-real-time part of the original BBU is divided and redefined as CU, which is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, combining part of physical layer processing functions of the BBU with the original RRU and passive antenna into AAU, redefining the rest functions of the BBU into DU, and processing physical layer protocols and real-time services. In short, CU and DU are distinguished by real-time processing of content, and AAU is a combination of RRU and antenna.

The CU, DU, and AAU may be separately or jointly disposed, so that multiple network deployment forms may occur, one possible deployment form is consistent with the conventional 4G network device as shown in fig. 12, and the CU and DU are deployed in hardware. It should be understood that fig. 12 is only an example, and the scope of protection of the present application is not limited, for example, the deployment modality may also be that the DUs are deployed in a 4G BBU room, the CUs are deployed centrally or the DUs are deployed centrally, the CUs are deployed at a higher level, and the like.

The AAU 401 may implement a transceiving function called a transceiving unit 401, which corresponds to the transmitting unit 310 in fig. 8. Optionally, the transceiver unit 401 may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or the like, and may include at least one antenna 4011 and a radio frequency unit 4012. Alternatively, the transceiver 401 may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, where the receiving unit may correspond to a receiver (or called receiver, receiving circuit), and the transmitting unit may correspond to a transmitter (or called transmitter, transmitting circuit). The CU and DU 402 may implement internal processing functions called a processing unit 402, corresponding to the processing unit 330 in fig. 8. Alternatively, the processing unit 402 may control a network device, and the like, and may be referred to as a controller. The AAU 401 and the CU and DU 402 may be physically disposed together or may be physically disposed separately.

The network device is not limited to the form shown in fig. 12, and may be another form: for example: the antenna comprises a BBU (baseband unit) and an Adaptive Radio Unit (ARU), or comprises a BBU and an Active Antenna Unit (AAU); the client user equipment (CPE) may be a Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) or other forms, and the present application is not limited thereto.

It should be understood that the network device 40 shown in fig. 12 is capable of implementing the network device functions involved in the method embodiments of fig. 4 and 5. The operations and/or functions of the units in the network device 40 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes executed by the network device in the method embodiments of the present application. To avoid repetition, detailed description is appropriately omitted herein. The structure of the network device illustrated in fig. 10 is only one possible form, and should not limit the embodiments of the present application in any way. This application does not exclude the possibility of other forms of network device architecture than may be possible.

It should be understood that the network device 40 shown in fig. 12 is capable of implementing the network device functions involved in the method embodiments of fig. 4-8. The operations and/or functions of the units in the network device 40 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes executed by the network device in the method embodiments of the present application. To avoid repetition, detailed description is appropriately omitted herein. The structure of the network device shown in fig. 12 is only one possible form, and should not limit the embodiments of the present application in any way. This application does not exclude the possibility of other forms of network device architecture that may appear in the future.

The network device in the foregoing various apparatus embodiments corresponds to the terminal device or the network device in the terminal device and method embodiments, and the corresponding module or unit executes the corresponding steps, for example, the communication unit (transceiver) executes the steps of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiments, and other steps besides transmitting and receiving may be executed by the processing unit (processor). The functionality of the specific units may refer to the respective method embodiments. The number of the processors may be one or more.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the foregoing network device and one or more terminal devices.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps performed by the network device in the methods as described above in fig. 4-8.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps performed by the terminal device in the methods shown in fig. 4 to 8.

The present application also provides a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps performed by the network device in the methods shown in fig. 4-8.

The present application also provides a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps performed by the terminal device in the methods as shown in fig. 4-8.

The application also provides a chip comprising a processor. The processor is configured to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform corresponding operations and/or procedures performed by the terminal device in the method for determining a timing advance TA reference time provided in the present application. Optionally, the chip further comprises a memory, the memory is connected with the processor through a circuit or a wire, and the processor is used for reading and executing the computer program in the memory. Further optionally, the chip further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used for receiving data and/or information needing to be processed, and the processor acquires the data and/or information from the communication interface and processes the data and/or information. The communication interface may be an input output interface.

The application also provides a chip comprising a processor. The processor is configured to call and execute a computer program stored in the memory to perform corresponding operations and/or procedures performed by the network device in the method for determining a timing advance TA reference time provided in the present application. Optionally, the chip further comprises a memory, the memory is connected with the processor through a circuit or a wire, and the processor is used for reading and executing the computer program in the memory. Further optionally, the chip further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used for receiving data and/or information needing to be processed, and the processor acquires the data and/or information from the communication interface and processes the data and/or information. The communication interface may be an input output interface.

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

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

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

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

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

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

In addition, the term "and/or" in the present application is only one kind of association relationship describing the associated object, and means that three kinds of relationships may exist, for example, 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; the term "at least one", as used herein, may mean "one" and "two or more", e.g., at least one of A, B and C, may mean: a exists alone, B exists alone, C exists alone, A and B exist together, A and C exist together, C and B exist together, A and B exist together, and A, B and C exist together, which are seven cases. Also for example, A, B or C refers to any of A and B and C; A. b and C refer to the 3 possibilities a and B and C.

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 all the changes or substitutions should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, reference time, comprising:

the terminal equipment determines a time difference and an offset, wherein the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, the first downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a first uplink sending time unit, the second downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value;

and the terminal equipment determines the TA, wherein the TA is the duration that the starting time of the second uplink sending time unit is earlier than the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before the terminal device determines the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, the method further comprises:

the terminal device receives first indication information sent by a network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal device to start a first function, and the first function is to determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

and the terminal equipment receives second indication information sent by the network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the moment when the first indication information takes effect.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, further comprising:

and the terminal equipment sends first capability information to network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for reporting the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit which can be determined by the terminal equipment according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset.

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

and the terminal equipment sends second capability information to network equipment, wherein the second capability information is used for reporting that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used for bearing at least one of an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising:

and the terminal equipment receives function indication information sent by network equipment, wherein the function indication information is used for indicating that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used for bearing at least one of an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

7. The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used for carrying a channel Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, further comprising:

and the terminal equipment reports the offset to network equipment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the reporting of the offset to the network device by the terminal device includes periodic reporting, semi-static reporting, or aperiodic reporting.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the terminal device reports the offset value proactively.

11. The method according to any of claims 1-10, wherein the terminal device reports to a network device a length of time for which the offset is in effect.

12. The method according to any of claims 1-11, wherein the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit comprises:

the time length of the difference between the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is the sum of the time difference and the offset.

13. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, reference time, comprising:

the terminal equipment determines a time difference, wherein the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, the first downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a first uplink sending time unit, and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a second uplink sending time unit;

the terminal device determines the TA, where the TA is a duration in which the starting time of the second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than the starting time of the second downlink reception time unit,

wherein the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

14. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, reference time, comprising:

the network equipment sends first indication information to the terminal equipment, the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to start a first function, the first function is to determine the starting time of a second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of a first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference and the offset,

the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, the first downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a first uplink sending time unit, the second downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value;

and the network equipment sends the TA time length to the terminal equipment, and the TA time length and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit are used for determining the TA.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

and the network equipment sends second indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the second indication information is also used for indicating the moment when the first indication information takes effect.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the network device receives first capability information sent by the terminal device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14-16, further comprising:

and the network equipment receives second capability information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the second capability information is used for reporting at least one of the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit for carrying an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14-17, further comprising:

and the network equipment sends function indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the function indication information is used for indicating that the first uplink sending time unit and the second uplink sending time unit are used for bearing at least one of an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

19. The method according to any of claims 14-18, wherein the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used for carrying a channel sounding reference signal, SRS.

20. The method according to any one of claims 14-19, further comprising:

and the network equipment receives the offset reported by the terminal equipment.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

the network equipment sends reporting mode indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the reporting mode indication information is used for indicating the mode of the offset reported by the terminal equipment and comprises periodic reporting, semi-static reporting or non-periodic reporting.

22. The method according to any of claims 14-21, wherein the first function is:

and determining the sum of the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset as the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit.

23. A method of determining a timing advance, TA, reference time, comprising:

the network device sends third indication information to the terminal device, the third indication information is used for indicating the terminal device to start a second function, the second function is to determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference,

the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, the first downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a first uplink sending time unit, and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a second uplink sending time unit;

24. An apparatus for determining a Timing Advance (TA) reference time, comprising:

a processor, configured to determine a time difference and an offset, where the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, the first downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a first uplink sending time unit, the second downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a second uplink sending time unit, and the offset is a preset value;

the processor is further configured to determine the TA, where the TA is a duration in which a starting time of the second uplink transmission time unit is earlier than a starting time of the second downlink reception time unit,

wherein the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit is determined based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference and the offset.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein before the processor determines the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit, the apparatus further comprises:

a transceiver, configured to receive first indication information sent by a network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device starts a first function, and the first function is to determine a starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit based on the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit and the time difference.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive second indication information sent by a network device, and wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a time when the first indication information is valid.

27. The apparatus of any one of claims 24-26, further comprising:

a transceiver, configured to report first capability information to a network device, where the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine a start time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the start time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

28. The apparatus according to any one of claims 24-27, further comprising:

a transceiver, configured to report second capability information to a network device, where the second capability information is used to report that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry at least one of an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

29. The apparatus of any one of claims 24-28, further comprising:

a transceiver, configured to receive function indication information sent by a network device, where the function indication information is used to indicate that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry at least one of an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

30. The apparatus according to any of claims 24-29, wherein the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used for carrying a channel sounding reference signal, SRS.

31. The apparatus of any one of claims 24-28, further comprising:

and the transceiver is used for reporting the offset to network equipment.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the manner in which the transceiver reports the offset to the network device comprises periodic reporting, semi-static reporting, or aperiodic reporting.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the transceiver actively reports the offset.

34. The apparatus of any one of claims 24-33, further comprising:

and the transceiver is used for reporting the effective time length of the offset to the network equipment.

35. The apparatus according to any of claims 24-34, wherein the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit comprises:

the time length of the difference between the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit and the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit is the time difference.

36. An apparatus for determining a Timing Advance (TA) reference time, comprising:

a processor configured to determine a time difference, where the time difference is a time difference between a first downlink receiving time unit and a second downlink receiving time unit, the first downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a first uplink sending time unit, and the second downlink receiving time unit corresponds to a second uplink sending time unit;

37. An apparatus for determining a Timing Advance (TA) reference time, comprising:

a transceiver, configured to send first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to enable a first function, where the first function is to determine a starting time of a second downlink receiving time unit based on a starting time of a first downlink receiving time unit and a time difference and an offset,

the transceiver is further configured to send a time length of a TA to a terminal device, where the time length of the TA and the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit are used to determine the TA.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the transceiver is further configured to send second indication information to a terminal device, and wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a time when the first indication information is effective.

39. The apparatus of claim 37 or 38, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive first capability information sent by the terminal device, and the first capability information is used to report that the terminal device can determine the starting time of the second downlink receiving time unit according to the starting time of the first downlink receiving time unit, the time difference, and the offset.

40. The apparatus of any of claims 37-39, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive second capability information sent by the terminal device, and the second capability information is used to report the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit for carrying at least one of an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

41. The apparatus of any of claims 37-40, wherein the transceiver is further configured to send, to the terminal device, function indication information indicating that the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used to carry at least one of an uplink physical channel or a reference signal.

42. The apparatus according to any of claims 37-41, wherein the first uplink transmission time unit and the second uplink transmission time unit are used for carrying a channel Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the transceiver is further configured to send reporting mode indication information to the terminal device, and a mode of the reporting mode indication information for indicating the offset reported by the terminal device includes periodic reporting, semi-static reporting, or aperiodic reporting.

44. The apparatus according to any one of claims 37-43, wherein the first function is:

45. An apparatus for determining a Timing Advance (TA) reference time, comprising:

a transceiver, configured to send third indication information to a terminal device, where the third indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to enable a second function, where the second function is to determine a starting time of a second downlink receiving time unit based on a starting time of a first downlink receiving time unit and a time difference,

46. A chip comprising at least one processor and an interface;

at least one processor configured to invoke and execute a computer program to cause the chip to perform the method of any one of claims 1-23.

47. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: the computer readable medium stores a computer program; the computer program, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-23.

48. A communication system, comprising:

the means for determining a timing advance, TA, reference time according to any of claims 24-35 and the means for determining a timing advance, TA, reference time according to any of claims 36-45.