CN112437481A

CN112437481A - Monitoring period adjusting method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112437481A
Application number: CN201910792872.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 薛祎凡; 王键; 铁晓磊
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-26
Filing date: 2019-08-26
Publication date: 2021-03-02
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-26
Also published as: CN112437481B; WO2021036763A1

Abstract

The application provides a monitoring period adjusting method and device, relates to the technical field of communication, and reduces power consumption of a terminal. The method comprises the following steps: the network equipment sends first indication information to the terminal, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of a scheduling time interval changes, and the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of the time slot difference between the time slot of the downlink control channel and the time slot of a data channel scheduled by the downlink control channel; and then, the terminal determines whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information. The method and the device are suitable for the scheduling process of the data.

Description

Monitoring period adjusting method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for adjusting a monitoring period.

Background

Compared to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a New Radio (NR) system of the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) needs to support a larger bandwidth and a higher transmission rate, and thus, the power consumption of the NR terminal is larger than that of the LTE terminal. An increase in power consumption of the terminal may result in a decrease in standby time of the terminal, thereby affecting user experience. Therefore, the 5G network needs to adopt a corresponding optimization scheme for reducing the power consumption of the terminal.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a monitoring period adjusting method and device, which are used for reducing power consumption of a terminal.

In a first aspect, a method for adjusting a monitoring period is provided, including: the terminal receives first indication information from the network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of a scheduling time interval changes, and the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and the time slot in which the data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located; and then, the terminal determines whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information.

Based on the technical scheme, the terminal determines whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes according to the first indication information. It should be noted that, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval, so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal. The terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the increase of the transmission delay of data can be avoided. Therefore, the network device flexibly instructs the terminal to adjust/not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel through the first indication information, so as to achieve the purpose of giving consideration to both data transmission delay and terminal power consumption.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the terminal receives second indication information from the network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. When the terminal determines to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information, the method further includes: and the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. Therefore, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can keep a sleep state for a long time, and the power consumption of the terminal is reduced.

In one possible design, the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the same downlink control information.

In one possible design, when the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the same downlink control information, the first indication information and the second indication information are independently encoded respectively; alternatively, the first indication information and the second indication information are jointly encoded.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes: for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal, in the case where the first scheduling time interval minimum value is 0, the terminal sets a monitoring period of the search space to 1; and under the condition that the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval is not 0, the terminal sets the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the monitored offset value for the search space is determined according to the following equation: offset is a% (N). Where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space. Therefore, the plurality of search spaces have the same monitoring offset value, so that the monitoring opportunities of the plurality of search spaces are the same, the terminal can monitor the plurality of search spaces at the same time, the terminal is prevented from monitoring different search spaces at different times, and the terminal is ensured to have longer sleep time so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes: the terminal monitors the first search space and does not monitor the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes: and the terminal monitors one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the value set of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval includes a plurality of values; for any two values of a plurality of values, one value is an integer multiple of the other value.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the terminal sends first capability indication information to the network equipment, wherein the first capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the terminal sends second capability indication information to the network equipment, wherein the second capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the terminal receives capability request information sent by the network equipment, wherein the capability request information is used for requesting the terminal to report first capability indication information; or, the capability request information is used for requesting the terminal to report the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

In a second aspect, a method for adjusting a monitoring period is provided, including: the network equipment generates first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating whether a terminal adjusts a monitoring period of a downlink control channel when a scheduling time interval minimum value changes, and the scheduling time interval minimum value is the minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located; after that, the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal.

It should be noted that, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval, so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal. The terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the increase of the transmission delay of data can be avoided. Therefore, based on the above technical solution, the network device may flexibly instruct the terminal to adjust/not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel through the first indication information, so as to achieve the purpose of considering both data transmission delay and terminal power consumption.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the network equipment sends second indication information to the terminal, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. If the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, the method further includes: and the network equipment adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. Therefore, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can keep a sleep state for a long time, and the power consumption of the terminal is reduced.

In one possible design, the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the same signaling.

In one possible design, the first indication information and the second indication information are independently encoded respectively under the condition that the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the same signaling; alternatively, the first indication information and the second indication information are jointly encoded.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the network device, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes: for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal, the network device sets a monitoring period of the search space to 1 in a case where a minimum value of the scheduling time interval is 0; and under the condition that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, the network equipment sets the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the network device, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes: the network equipment sends the downlink control channel in the first search space and does not send the downlink control channel in the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the network device, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes: and the network equipment sends the downlink control channel in one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the value set of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval includes a plurality of values; for any two values of a plurality of values, one of the two values is an integer multiple of the other value.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the network equipment receives capability indication information sent by the terminal, and the first capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the network equipment receives second capability indication information sent by the terminal, wherein the second capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the network equipment sends capacity request information to the terminal, wherein the capacity request information is used for requesting the terminal to report the first capacity indication information, or the capacity request information is used for requesting the terminal to report the first capacity indication information and the second capacity indication information.

In a third aspect, a method for adjusting a monitoring period is provided, including: the terminal receives third indication information from the network equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes; and the terminal determines the monitoring period of the downlink control channel to be adjusted according to the third indication information.

Based on the above technical solution, the terminal determines that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel needs to be adjusted according to the third indication information. Therefore, the terminal can enable the monitoring period of the downlink control channel to be matched with the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can keep a sleep state for a long time, and the power consumption of the terminal is reduced.

In addition, it can be understood that, if the terminal does not receive the third indication information, the terminal determines that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel does not need to be adjusted, so as to avoid increasing the data transmission delay.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the terminal receives second indication information from the network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. And the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. Therefore, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can keep a sleep state for a long time, and the power consumption of the terminal is reduced.

In a fourth aspect, a method for adjusting a monitoring period is provided, including: the network equipment generates third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes; and the network equipment sends the third indication information to the terminal.

Based on the above technical scheme, the network device sends the third indication information to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, so that it is ensured that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can match the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the terminal can keep a sleep state for a long time to reduce the power consumption of the terminal.

In addition, the network device may further instruct the terminal not to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes by not sending the third indication information, so as to avoid increasing data transmission delay.

It can be understood that, the network device flexibly instructs the terminal to adjust/not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel by sending/not sending the third indication information, so as to achieve the purpose of giving consideration to both data transmission delay and terminal power consumption.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the network equipment sends second indication information to the terminal, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. And the network equipment adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. Therefore, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can keep a sleep state for a long time, and the power consumption of the terminal is reduced.

In a fifth aspect, a method for adjusting a monitoring period is provided, including: the terminal determines the minimum value of a scheduling time interval, wherein the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is positioned and the time slot in which the data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is positioned; and then, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

Based on the technical scheme, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can keep a sleep state for a long time, and the power consumption of the terminal is reduced.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval includes: for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal, the terminal sets a monitoring period of the search space to 1 in a case where a minimum value of a scheduling time interval is 0; and under the condition that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, the terminal sets the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval includes: the terminal monitors the first search space and does not monitor the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval includes: and the terminal monitors one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In a sixth aspect, a method for adjusting a monitoring period is provided, including: the network equipment determines a minimum value of a scheduling time interval, wherein the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which a downlink control channel is positioned and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is positioned; and then, the network equipment adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the network device, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval includes: for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal, the network device sets a monitoring period of the search space to 1 in a case where a minimum value of the scheduling time interval is 0; and under the condition that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, the network equipment sets the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the network device, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval includes: the network equipment sends the downlink control channel in the first search space and does not send the downlink control channel in the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the adjusting, by the network device, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval includes: and the network equipment sends the downlink control channel in one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the value set of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval includes a plurality of values; for any two values of the plurality of values, one of the two values is an integer multiple of the other value.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device may be a terminal or a chip in a terminal or a system on a chip, and the communication device may implement the functions of the terminal in any of the designs in the first aspect, where the functions may be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: a processing module and a communication module.

The communication module is configured to receive first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal adjusts a monitoring period of the downlink control channel when a scheduling time interval minimum value changes, and the scheduling time interval minimum value is a minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located. And the processing module is used for determining whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to receive second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a minimum scheduling time interval. And the processing module is further used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval when the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is determined to be adjusted according to the first indication information.

In one possible design, the processing module is specifically configured to set, for each of a plurality of search spaces configured for the terminal, a monitoring period of the search space to 1 in a case where a minimum value of the first scheduling time interval is 0; and in the case that the first scheduling time interval minimum value is not 0, setting the monitoring period of the search space to the first scheduling time interval minimum value.

In one possible design, the processing module is configured to determine a monitored offset value of the search space according to a formula offset ═ a% (N); where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

In one possible design, the processing module is specifically configured to monitor the first search space and not the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processing module is specifically configured to monitor one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to send, to the network device, first capability indication information, where the first capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In a possible design, the communication module is further configured to send second capability indication information to the network device, where the second capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a capability of adjusting a monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to receive capability request information sent by the network device, where the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report first capability indication information; or, the capability request information is used for requesting the terminal to report the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

In an eighth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus may be a network device or a chip or a system on a chip in the network device, and the communication apparatus may implement the functions of the network device in any design of the second aspect, where the functions may be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: a processing module and a communication module.

The processing module is configured to generate first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal adjusts a monitoring period of a downlink control channel when a minimum scheduling time interval value changes, and the minimum scheduling time interval value is a minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located. And the communication module is used for sending the first indication information to the terminal.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to send second indication information to the terminal, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first scheduling time interval minimum value. And the processing module is further configured to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel if the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal to change when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval occurs, and adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the same downlink control information signaling.

In one possible design, when the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the same downlink control information signaling, the first indication information and the second indication information are independently encoded respectively; alternatively, the first indication information and the second indication information are jointly encoded.

In one possible design, the processing module is specifically configured to set a monitoring period of a search space to 1 in a case that a minimum value of a scheduling time interval is 0 for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal; and in the case that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, setting the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processing module is further configured to determine a monitored offset value of the search space according to the formula offset ═ a% (N). Where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

In one possible design, the processing module is further configured to use the first search space to carry the downlink control channel, and not use the second search space to carry the downlink control channel; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processing module is further configured to load the downlink control channel in one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In a possible design, the communication module is further configured to receive capability indication information sent by the terminal, where the first capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In a possible design, the communication module is further configured to receive second capability indication information sent by the terminal, where the second capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a capability of adjusting a monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In a possible design, the communication module is further configured to send capability request information to the terminal, where the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report the first capability indication information, or the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

A ninth aspect provides a communication device, which may be a terminal or a chip in a terminal or a system on a chip, and which may implement the functions of the terminal in any of the designs of the third aspect, where the functions may be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: a processing module and a communication module.

And the communication module is used for receiving third indication information from the network equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. And the processing module is used for determining that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel needs to be adjusted according to the third indication information.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to receive second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first scheduling time interval minimum value. And the processing module is further used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

A tenth aspect provides a communication apparatus, which may be a network device or a chip or a system on a chip in a network device, and may implement the functions of the network device in any of the designs in the fourth aspect, where the functions may be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: a processing module and a communication module.

The processing module is configured to generate third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust a monitoring period of a downlink control channel when a minimum value of a scheduling time interval changes; and the communication module is used for sending the third indication information to the terminal.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to send second indication information to the terminal, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first scheduling time interval minimum value. And the processing module is further used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to send the downlink control channel in the first search space, and not send the downlink control channel in the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the communication module is further configured to send the downlink control channel in one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device may be a terminal or a chip in a terminal or a system on a chip, and the communication device may implement the functions of the terminal in any of the designs of the fifth aspect, and the functions may be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: the device comprises a first processing module and a second processing module. The first processing module and the second processing module may be integrated into one processing module.

The first processing module is used for determining a minimum scheduling time interval value, wherein the minimum scheduling time interval value is the minimum value of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and the time slot in which the data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located. And the second processing module is used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the second processing module is specifically configured to, for each of the plurality of search spaces configured for the terminal, set a monitoring period of the search space to 1 when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is 0; and in the case that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, setting the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the second processing module is configured to determine a monitored offset value of the search space according to the formula offset ═ a% (N); where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

In one possible design, the second processing module is specifically configured to monitor the first search space, and not monitor the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the second processing module is specifically configured to monitor one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In a twelfth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus may be a network device or a chip or a system on a chip in the network device, and the communication apparatus may implement the functions of the network device in any design of the above sixth aspect, where the functions may be implemented by executing corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: the device comprises a first processing module and a second processing module. The first processing module and the second processing module may be integrated into one processing module.

In one possible design, the second processing module is further configured to determine a monitored offset value of the search space according to the formula offset ═ a% (N). Where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

In one possible design, the second processing module is further configured to use the first search space to carry the downlink control channel, and not use the second search space to carry the downlink control channel; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the second processing module is further configured to determine that the downlink control channel is carried in one or more search spaces corresponding to a minimum value in the scheduling time interval.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device may be a terminal or a chip in a terminal or a system on a chip, and the communication device may implement the functions of the terminal in any of the designs of the first aspect, and the functions may be implemented by hardware. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: a processor and a communication interface.

The communication interface is configured to receive first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal adjusts a monitoring period of the downlink control channel when a minimum scheduling time interval value changes, and the minimum scheduling time interval value is a minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located. And the processor is used for determining whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information.

In one possible design, the communication interface is further configured to receive second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a minimum scheduling time interval. And the processor is further used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval when the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is determined to be adjusted according to the first indication information.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to set a monitoring period of a search space to 1 in a case where a minimum value of the first scheduling time interval is 0 for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal; and in the case that the first scheduling time interval minimum value is not 0, setting the monitoring period of the search space to the first scheduling time interval minimum value.

In one possible design, the processor is configured to determine a monitored offset value for the search space according to the formula offset ═ a% (N); where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to monitor the first search space without monitoring the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to monitor one or more search spaces corresponding to a minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the communication interface is further configured to send, to the network device, first capability indication information, where the first capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In a possible design, the communication interface is further configured to send second capability indication information to the network device, where the second capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a capability of adjusting a monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In one possible design, the communication interface is further configured to receive capability request information sent by the network device, where the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report first capability indication information; or, the capability request information is used for requesting the terminal to report the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

In a fourteenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus may be a network device or a chip or a system on a chip in a network device, and the communication apparatus may implement the functions of the network device in any design of the second aspect, where the functions may be implemented by hardware. Such as: the communication apparatus may include: a processor and a communication interface.

The processor is configured to generate first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal adjusts a monitoring period of a downlink control channel when a minimum scheduling time interval value changes, and the minimum scheduling time interval value is a minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located. And the communication interface is used for sending the first indication information to the terminal.

In one possible design, the communication interface is further configured to send second indication information to the terminal, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first scheduling time interval minimum value. And the processor is further configured to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel if the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal to change when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval occurs, and adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to set a monitoring period of a search space to 1 in a case where a minimum value of a scheduling time interval is 0 for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal; and in the case that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, setting the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is further configured to determine a monitored offset value for the search space according to the formula offset ═ a% (N). Where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

In one possible design, the processor is further configured to carry the downlink control channel in the first search space, and not carry the downlink control channel in the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is further configured to carry the downlink control channel in one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In a possible design, the communication interface is further configured to receive capability indication information sent by the terminal, where the first capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In a possible design, the communication interface is further configured to receive second capability indication information sent by the terminal, where the second capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a capability of adjusting a monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In a possible design, the communication interface is further configured to send capability request information to the terminal, where the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report the first capability indication information, or the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

A fifteenth aspect provides a communication device, which may be a terminal or a chip in a terminal or a system on a chip, and which may implement the functions of the terminal in any of the designs of the third aspect, where the functions may be implemented by hardware. For example, the communication device may include: a processor and a communication interface.

And the communication interface is used for receiving third indication information from the network equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. And the processor is used for determining that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel needs to be adjusted according to the third indication information.

In one possible design, the communication interface is further configured to receive second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first scheduling time interval minimum value. And the processor is further used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

In a sixteenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus may be a network device or a chip or a system on a chip in a network device, and the communication apparatus may implement the functions of the network device in any of the designs in the fourth aspect, where the functions may be implemented by hardware. For example, the communication device may include: a processor and a communication interface.

The processor is configured to generate third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust a monitoring period of a downlink control channel when a minimum value of a scheduling time interval changes; and the communication interface is used for sending the third indication information to the terminal.

In one possible design, the communication interface is further configured to send second indication information to the terminal, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first scheduling time interval minimum value. And the processor is further used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

A seventeenth aspect provides a communication device, which may be a terminal or a chip in a terminal or a system on a chip, and which may implement the functions of the terminal in any of the designs of the fifth aspect, where the functions may be implemented by hardware. For example, the communication device may include: a processor.

The processor is used for determining a minimum scheduling time interval, wherein the minimum scheduling time interval is the minimum of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and the time slot in which the data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located; and adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to set a monitoring period of a search space to 1 in a case where a minimum value of a scheduling time interval is 0 for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal; and in the case that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, setting the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to monitor the first search space without monitoring the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to monitor one or more search spaces corresponding to a minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In an eighteenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus may be a network device or a chip or a system on a chip in a network device, and the communication apparatus may implement the functions of the network device in any of the above-mentioned designs in the sixth aspect, and the functions may be implemented by hardware. For example: the communication apparatus may include: a processor.

The processor is used for determining a minimum scheduling time interval, wherein the minimum scheduling time interval is the minimum of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and the time slot in which the data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located. And adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is further configured to carry the downlink control channel in the first search space, and not carry the downlink control channel in the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In one possible design, the processor is further configured to carry the downlink control channel in one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum scheduling time interval.

A nineteenth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, can cause the computer to execute the method for adjusting a monitoring period according to any one of the first to sixth aspects.

A twentieth aspect provides a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of adjusting a monitoring period as set forth in any of the first to sixth aspects above.

In a twenty-first aspect, a chip is provided, where the chip includes a processor, and the processor is configured to execute the method for adjusting the monitoring period according to any one of the designs of the first aspect to the sixth aspect. In a possible design, the chip further includes a transceiver pin, and the transceiver pin is configured to transmit the received code instruction to the processor, so that the processor is configured to perform the method for adjusting the monitoring period according to any one of the designs of the first aspect to the sixth aspect. Alternatively, the code instructions may come from a memory internal to the chip or from a memory external to the chip.

In a twenty-second aspect, a communication system is provided that includes a network device and a terminal. The terminal is configured to perform the method for adjusting the monitoring period according to any one of the designs of the first aspect, the third aspect, or the fifth aspect. The network device is configured to execute the method for adjusting the monitoring period according to any one of the designs of the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the sixth aspect.

A twenty-third aspect provides a communication system comprising a network device and a terminal.

The terminal is used for sending the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information to the network equipment; the first capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is changed, the second capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, and the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and the time slot in which the data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located. The network equipment is used for receiving the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information from the terminal; judging whether the terminal can adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes according to the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information; and sending first indication information to the terminal according to the judgment result, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. The terminal is also used for receiving the first indication information; and determining whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel or not according to the first indication information. The network equipment is also used for determining a first scheduling time interval minimum value; and sending second indication information to the terminal, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. And the terminal is further used for adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval under the condition that the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. And the network device is further configured to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval when the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In a possible design, the network device is further configured to send capability request information to the terminal, where the capability request information is used to instruct the terminal to send the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

For technical effects brought by any design of the seventh aspect to the twenty-third aspect, reference may be made to the technical effects brought by the above corresponding method, and details are not repeated here.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of a terminal and a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of power consumption of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another terminal power consumption provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5(a) is a schematic diagram of a terminal monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5(b) is a schematic diagram of a terminal monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a method for adjusting a monitoring period according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7(a) is a schematic diagram of a terminal monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7(b) is a schematic diagram of a terminal monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8(a) is a schematic diagram of another terminal monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8(b) is a schematic diagram of another terminal monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of another method for adjusting a monitoring period according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of another method for adjusting a monitoring period according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a flowchart of a capability reporting method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the description of this application, "/" means "or" unless otherwise stated, for example, A/B may mean A or B. "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Further, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. The terms "first", "second", and the like do not necessarily limit the number and execution order, and the terms "first", "second", and the like do not necessarily limit the difference.

It is noted that, in the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean exemplary, illustrative, or descriptive. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

In the description of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. If information indicated by certain information (such as capability indication information described below) is referred to as information to be indicated, there are many ways of indicating the information to be indicated in a specific implementation process. For example, the information to be indicated may be directly indicated, wherein the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated, and the like. For another example, the information to be indicated may also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the information to be indicated have an association relationship. For another example, only a part of the information to be indicated may be indicated, while the other part of the information to be indicated is known or predetermined. In addition, the indication of the specific information can be realized by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, specified by a protocol), so that the indication overhead can be reduced to a certain extent.

In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the present application, the following briefly introduces terms related to the present application.

1. Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)

The PDCCH is used to carry scheduling and other control information, such as Downlink Control Information (DCI). The PDCCH is configured of a Control Channel Element (CCE).

2. Downlink Control Information (DCI)

The DCI may include contents such as Resource Block (RB) allocation information, Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), and the like. The information carried by different DCIs is different, and the functions are also different. In order to classify DCI, a plurality of DCI formats (formats) are defined in the protocol.

For example, the current communication standard defines the following DCI format:

DCI format 0-0: the terminal uplink data scheduling method is used for scheduling terminal uplink data;

DCI format 1-0: the terminal downlink data scheduling method is used for scheduling terminal downlink data;

DCI format 2-0: for indicating the slot format;

DCI format 2-1: for indicating an interrupted transmission;

the above is only an example of DCI format, and the description is not repeated here.

3. Downlink time domain resource allocation

In the process of downlink data transmission, a terminal needs to determine a time domain position of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) according to time domain position information of the PDSCH, so as to receive the PDSCH.

Wherein, the time domain position information of the PDSCH comprises the following parameters:

(1) time of flightGap offset value K₀. The terminal can be according to K₀And the time slot of the PDCCH, and determining the time slot of the PDSCH.

For example, if a terminal receives a PDCCH in a time slot n, a PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH is in the time slot

In medium transmission, where mu_PDSCHConfiguring information, mu, for subcarrier spacing of PDSCH_PDCCHInformation is configured for the subcarrier spacing of the PDCCH.

Wherein, K₀Other names, such as a downlink scheduling time interval, are also possible, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

(2) Start and Length Indicator Value (SLIV). The SLIV is used to indicate an index value S of a starting Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of the PDSCH in a slot, and a time domain length L of the PDSCH. It can be understood that the time domain length of the PDSCH is the number of consecutive OFDM symbols occupied by the PDSCH from the beginning of the OFDM symbol.

Wherein, SLIV is obtained by joint coding of S and L. The SLIV may be determined according to the following equation:

if (L-1) ≦ 7, SLIV ≦ 14 × (L-1) + S;

otherwise, SLIV is 14 × (14-L +1) + (14-1-S), where 0< L ≦ 14-S.

(3) A mapping type of the PDSCH. Wherein the mapping type of the PDSCH comprises: type (type) a and type B. The mapping types of the PDSCH are different, S, L, and the range of S + L values are different, so as to support different types of time domain scheduling.

Illustratively, table 1 shows the value ranges of S, L and S + L for different PDSCH mapping types.

TABLE 1

Note that the terminal is configured with a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) table. The TDRA table may be predefined in the standard, or may be sent to the terminal by the network device in the RRC signaling manner.

The TDRA table includes 4 columns, the first column is an index (index), and the second column is a K corresponding to the index₀The third column is the SLIV corresponding to the index value, and the fourth column is the mapping type of the PDSCH corresponding to the index value.

Exemplarily, the TDRA table may be as shown in table 2.

TABLE 2

Index	K₀	SLIV	Mapping type of PDSCH
				0	0	66	typeA
1	1	27	typeB
				……	……	……	……

Before downlink data transmission, the network device may send a PDCCH for scheduling downlink data to the terminal, where the PDCCH indicates one index. Thus, the terminal can determine the time domain location information of the PDSCH according to the TDRA table and the index indicated by the PDCCH.

4. Uplink time domain resource allocation

In the uplink data transmission process, the terminal needs to determine a time domain position of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) according to time domain position information of the PUSCH, so that the terminal sends the PUSCH at the time domain position of the PUSCH.

The time domain position information of the PUSCH comprises the following parameters:

(1) time slot offset value K₂. The terminal can be according to K₂And determining the time slot of the PUSCH according to the time slot of the PDCCH.

For example, if a terminal receives a PDCCH in a slot n, a PUSCH scheduled by the PDCCH is in the slot

In medium transmission, where mu_PUSCHConfiguring information, mu, for the subcarrier spacing of PUSCH_PDCCHInformation is configured for the subcarrier spacing of the PDCCH.

Wherein, K₂Other names, such as an uplink scheduling time interval, are also possible, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

(2) SLIV. The detailed description of the SLIV can be referred to above and is not repeated here.

(3) Mapping type of PUSCH. Wherein, the mapping type of the PUSCH comprises: type A and type B. For different mapping types of the PUSCH, the value ranges of S, L and S + L are different, and are used to support different types of time domain scheduling.

For example, table 3 shows the value ranges of S, L and S + L for different mapping types of PUSCH.

TABLE 3

Note that the terminal is configured with a TDRA table. The TDRA table may be predefined in the standard, or may be sent to the terminal by the network device in the RRC signaling manner.

The TDRA table includes 4 columns, the first column is an index (index), and the second column is a K corresponding to the index₂The third column is the SLIV corresponding to the index value, and the fourth column is the mapping type of the PUSCH corresponding to the index value.

Exemplarily, the TDRA table may be as shown in table 4.

TABLE 4

Index	K₂	SLIV	Mapping type of PUSCH
				0	2	27	typeB
1	2	91	typeB
				……	……	……	……

Before uplink data transmission, the network device may send a PDCCH for scheduling uplink data to the terminal, where the PDCCH indicates one index. Thus, the terminal can determine the time domain location information of the PUSCH according to the TDRA table and the index indicated by the PDCCH.

5. Cross-slot scheduling, simultaneous slot scheduling

Cross-slot scheduling and simultaneous-slot scheduling are two different data scheduling approaches.

If the data scheduling mode is cross-time-slot scheduling, the downlink control channel and the data channel scheduled by the downlink control channel are not transmitted in the same time slot.

If the data scheduling mode is the same time slot scheduling, the downlink control channel and the data channel scheduled by the downlink control channel are transmitted in the same time slot.

6. Search space

The search space is a set of candidate PDCCHs. The search space can be divided into: a common search space (common search space) and a UE-specific search space (UE-specific search space). The common search space is used for transmitting Paging (Paging) messages, system information, and the like, related control information. The UE-specific search space is used for control information related to a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH), an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), and the like. Of course, the common search space may also be used to transmit control information belonging to a specific UE, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

It is to be understood that the network device may configure one or more search spaces for the terminal, and the network device may delete a search space previously configured for the terminal.

Optionally, for a search space, the configuration parameters of the search space may include: monitoring period, monitoring offset value, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. The granularity of the monitoring period and the monitoring offset value are time slots. The monitoring offset value is used to determine that the terminal starts to monitor the search space at the next time slot in the monitoring period. For example, if the monitoring period includes 4 slots and the monitoring offset value is 2, it indicates that the terminal starts monitoring the search space in the third slot of the monitoring period.

7. Power saving signal (Power saving signal)

The power saving signal is used to indicate power saving information. The power saving signal may be used to achieve the purpose of reducing the power consumption of the terminal.

Optionally, the power saving signal is located before an On Duration (sleep Duration) of a discontinuous reception (discontinuous reception) DRX cycle, and is used to indicate that the terminal is in a sleep state or a normal operating state in the On Duration of the DRX cycle associated with the power saving signal. Alternatively, the terminal may be indicated in the form of bit information in the power saving signal to be in a sleep state or a normal operation state in the On Duration of the DRX cycle associated with the power saving signal. For example, 1 bit is used in the power saving signal to indicate that the terminal is to be in the sleep state when the bit is '0', and that the terminal is to be in the normal operation state when the bit is '1'. In addition, the power consumption saving signal may also be used to instruct other functions, such as instructing the terminal to skip PDCCH monitoring (blanking PDCCH monitoring), instructing the terminal to handover BWP (bandwidth part), instructing the secondary cell to activate or deactivate, triggering channel state measurements, and so on.

Optionally, the power saving signal may also be located in an Active Time (Active Time) of the DRX cycle, or used in a case where DRX is not configured. The power saving signal may then be used at least to indicate the relevant parameters for cross-slot scheduling.

Optionally, the power saving signal may be implemented based on PDCCH, or the power saving signal may be implemented based on DCI. Note that, in the case where the power consumption saving signal is implemented based on DCI, the power consumption saving signal may be expressed in a specific DCI format.

The above is an introduction of technical terms related to the present application, and the detailed description is omitted hereinafter.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as an NR communication system adopting a 5G communication technology, a future evolution system or a plurality of communication convergence systems and the like. The technical scheme provided by the application can be applied to various application scenarios, for example, scenarios such as machine-to-machine (M2M), macro-micro communication, enhanced mobile internet (eMBB), ultra-reliable and ultra-low latency communication (urlcc), and mass internet of things communication (mtc). These scenarios may include, but are not limited to: the communication scene between the terminals, the communication scene between the network equipment and the network equipment, the communication scene between the network equipment and the terminals and the like. The following description is given by way of example as applied to a communication scenario between a network device and a terminal.

In addition, the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario.

Fig. 1 shows an architecture diagram of a communication system to which the technical solution provided by the present application is applicable, and the communication system may include one or more network devices (only 1 is shown in fig. 1) and one or more terminals (only one is shown in fig. 1).

The network device may be a base station or base station controller for wireless communication, etc. For example, the base station may include various types of base stations, such as: a micro base station (also referred to as a small station), a macro base station, a relay station, an access point, and the like, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, the base station may be a base station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communication (GSM), a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a base station (node B) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), an evolved base station (eNB or e-NodeB) in a Long Term Evolution (LTE), an internet of things (IoT) or a narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), a base station in a future 5G mobile communication network or a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) in a future evolution, which is not limited in this embodiment. In this embodiment of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, for example, a chip system. In this embodiment of the present application, a device for implementing a function of a network device is taken as an example of a network device, and a technical solution provided in this embodiment of the present application is described.

A network device, such as a base station, generally includes a Base Band Unit (BBU), a Radio Remote Unit (RRU), an antenna, and a feeder for connecting the RRU and the antenna. Wherein, the BBU is used for being responsible for signal modulation. The RRU is responsible for radio frequency processing. The antenna is responsible for the conversion between guided waves on the cable and space waves in the air. On one hand, the length of a feeder line between the RRU and the antenna is greatly shortened by the distributed base station, so that the signal loss can be reduced, and the cost of the feeder line can also be reduced. On the other hand, the RRU and the antenna are smaller, so that the RRU can be installed anywhere, and the network planning is more flexible. Besides RRU remote, BBUs can be centralized and placed in a Central Office (CO), and the centralized mode can greatly reduce the number of base station rooms, reduce the energy consumption of supporting equipment, particularly air conditioners, and reduce a large amount of carbon emission. In addition, after the scattered BBUs are collected and become the BBU baseband pool, unified management and scheduling can be realized, and resource allocation is more flexible. In this mode, all physical base stations evolve into virtual base stations. All virtual base stations share information of data receiving and sending, channel quality and the like of users in a BBU baseband pool, and cooperate with each other to realize joint scheduling.

In some deployments, a base station may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU). The base station may also include an Active Antenna Unit (AAU). The CU realizes part of the functions of the base station and the DU realizes part of the functions of the base station. 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), a Medium Access Control (MAC), 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 or PDCP layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU or from 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, a CU may be divided into network devices in the RAN, and may also be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited herein.

The terminal is a device with wireless transceiving function. The terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship and the like); and may also be deployed in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, satellites, etc.). The terminal device may be a User Equipment (UE). Wherein the UE comprises a handheld device, a vehicle, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, or a computing device with wireless communication capabilities. Illustratively, the UE may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer, or a computer with wireless transceiving function. The terminal device may also be a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), and so on. In the embodiment of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal may be the terminal, or may be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal to implement the function, such as a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices. In the embodiment of the present application, a device for implementing a function of a terminal is taken as an example, and a technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of hardware structures of a network device and a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application.

The terminal comprises at least one processor 101 and at least one communication interface 103. Optionally, the terminal may also include an output device 104, an input device 105, and at least one memory 102.

The processor 101, the memory 102 and the communication interface 103 are connected by a bus. The processor 101 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure. The processor 101 may also include multiple CPUs, and the processor 101 may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, or processing cores that process data (e.g., computer program instructions).

Memory 102 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, but is not limited to, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disk, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 102 may be a separate device and is connected to the processor 101 via a bus. The memory 102 may also be integrated with the processor 101. The memory 102 is used for storing application program codes for executing the scheme of the application, and the processor 101 controls the execution. The processor 101 is configured to execute the computer program code stored in the memory 102, thereby implementing the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application.

The communication interface 103 may use any device, such as a communication interface, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), and so on. The communication interface 103 comprises a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx.

The output device 104 is in communication with the processor 101 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 104 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 105 is in communication with the processor 101 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 105 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The network device comprises at least one processor 201, at least one memory 202, at least one communication interface 203 and at least one network interface 204. The processor 201, memory 202, communication interface 203, and network interface 204 are connected by a bus. The network interface 204 is configured to connect with a core network device through a link (e.g., an S1 interface), or connect with a network interface of another network device through a wired or wireless link (e.g., an X2 interface) (not shown in the drawings), which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the descriptions of the processor 201, the memory 202 and the communication interface 203 may refer to the descriptions of the processor 101, the memory 102 and the communication interface 103 in the terminal, and are not repeated herein.

Currently, when a terminal receives a PDCCH, the terminal cannot determine whether a data scheduling mode is a simultaneous slot scheduling or a cross slot scheduling. Therefore, the terminal buffers the downlink signal in the process of decoding the PDCCH, so as to avoid data loss of the same-time-slot scheduling caused by not receiving the downlink signal. For example, in this case, the power consumption of the terminal may be as shown in fig. 3.

If the terminal can predict in advance that the data scheduling mode is cross-slot scheduling, the terminal can close the radio frequency module in the process of decoding the PDCCH and does not buffer any signal. For example, in this case, the power consumption of the terminal may be as shown in fig. 4.

As can be known by combining fig. 3 and fig. 4, for the cross-slot scheduling, the terminal can predict in advance that the data scheduling mode is the cross-slot scheduling, which is beneficial to reducing the power consumption of the terminal. Based on this, the network device may indicate a minimum scheduling time interval to the terminal, so that the terminal knows whether the data scheduling manner is cross-slot scheduling. Specifically, if the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is 0, it indicates that the data scheduling manner may not be cross-slot scheduling, and therefore the terminal needs to buffer the downlink signal in the process of decoding the PDCCH. If the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is greater than 0, the data scheduling mode is definitely cross-time-slot scheduling, so that the terminal can close the radio frequency module in the process of decoding the PDCCH.

At present, the relationship between the minimum value of the scheduling time interval and the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is not defined in the prior art. Thus, a simple implementation is: there is no relation between the minimum value of the scheduling time interval and the monitoring period of the downlink control channel. That is, the terminal and the network device do not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Based on the implementation manner, under the condition that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is smaller than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the time length (namely the sleep time length) for the terminal to close the radio frequency module is smaller than the time length corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, so that the sleep time length of the terminal is shorter, and the power consumption of the terminal cannot be well reduced. For example, with reference to FIG. 5(a), assume that K₀The minimum value is 2, and the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is 1. After the terminal receives the downlink control channel from the time slot #1, the terminal turns off the radio frequency module in the process of decoding the PDCCH of the time slot #1 so as to save power consumption. However, in the time slot #2, the terminal needs to monitor the PDCCH again, so the terminal needs to turn on the radio frequency module again, resulting in the terminal having to monitor the PDCCH againThe time length for turning off the radio frequency module is less than K₀The duration for which the minimum corresponds (i.e., 2 slots).

In order to solve the technical problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for adjusting a monitoring period, and the technical principle of the method is as follows: and the terminal and the network equipment adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is matched with the minimum scheduling time interval (namely the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is greater than or equal to the minimum scheduling time interval).

For example, in connection with FIG. 5(b), assume K₀The minimum value is 2, and the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is adjusted from 1 to 2. In this way, after the terminal receives the downlink control channel from the slot #1, the terminal turns off the radio frequency module in the process of decoding the PDCCH of the slot #1, so as to save power consumption. In addition, since the terminal does not need to monitor the downlink control channel in the timeslot #2, the terminal may also continue to turn off the radio frequency module in the timeslot #2, so as to reduce power consumption of the terminal.

Based on the technical scheme of the application, after the terminal receives the downlink control channel, the terminal does not need to perform unnecessary monitoring operation within a certain time (namely, the time corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval), so that frequent sleep/wake-up switching of the terminal is avoided, and the power consumption of the terminal is saved.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal entering the "sleep" state means that the terminal closes the radio frequency module, and the terminal entering the "wake-up" state means that the terminal opens the radio frequency module. It can be understood that if the rf module of the terminal is turned off, it is beneficial to reduce the power consumption of the terminal.

It should be noted that, when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, the network device/terminal may define in the standard, or be determined by the network device, or be determined by negotiation between the network device and the terminal, whether it is necessary to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel. For example, the network device may send the first indication information to the terminal to indicate whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. For another example, the network device may send the third indication information to the terminal to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

As shown in fig. 6, a method for adjusting a monitoring period according to an embodiment of the present application is applied to a communication device, where the communication device is a terminal or a network device. The monitoring period adjusting method comprises the following steps:

s101, the communication device determines the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

And the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is positioned and the time slot in which the data channel scheduled by the downlink control channel is positioned.

Illustratively, the downlink control channel may be a PDCCH. The data channel may be PDSCH or PUSCH. The embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

In this embodiment of the present application, the minimum scheduling time interval includes a minimum downlink scheduling time interval or a minimum uplink scheduling time interval. It can be understood that, in the case that the data channel scheduled by the downlink control channel is a downlink data channel (e.g. PDSCH), the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval. When the data channel scheduled by the downlink control channel is an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH), the minimum scheduling time interval is the minimum uplink scheduling time interval.

Optionally, the downlink scheduling time interval may be denoted as K₀Therefore, the minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval can be recorded as K₀Minimum value, or K₀Minimum applicable value (minimum application value). The uplink scheduling time interval may be denoted as K₂Therefore, the minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval can be recorded as K₂Minimum value, or K₂Is the minimum usable value of.

As an implementation manner, in the case that the communication device is a network device, the network device may determine the minimum value of the scheduling time interval according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval supported by the terminal. Alternatively, the network device may determine the minimum value of the scheduling time interval according to the service type of the terminal.

As another implementation manner, in the case that the communication device is a terminal, the terminal determines the minimum value of the scheduling time interval according to the second indication information sent by the network equipment.

S102, the communication device adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

As an implementation manner, the communication device adjusts a monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval. Or the communication device adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval.

In the embodiment of the present application, whether the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is adjusted may be determined by whether the minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval and/or the minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval is changed.

For example, when the minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval of the terminal is changed, the communication apparatus may adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the changed minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval. And under the condition that the minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval of the terminal is changed, the communication device does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

For another example, when the minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval of the terminal is changed, the communication device may adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the changed minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval. And under the condition that the minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval of the terminal is changed, the communication device does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

For another example, when the minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval/the minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval of the terminal is changed, the communication device may adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the changed minimum value of the uplink scheduling time interval/the changed minimum value of the downlink scheduling time interval.

It should be noted that, the terminal actually monitors the downlink control channel by monitoring the search space. Therefore, adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can be achieved by adjusting the monitoring period of the search space or adjusting the search space to be monitored.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal and the network device may adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the same scheduling time interval minimum value. Therefore, the terminal and the network device are ensured to adopt the same monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the terminal can monitor the downlink control channel sent by the network device, and normal communication between the terminal and the network device is ensured.

Optionally, the network device may indicate the minimum scheduling time interval to the terminal, so as to trigger the terminal to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval. And the network device also adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

Optionally, the terminal may adjust a monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval. And then, the terminal sends indication information to the network equipment to indicate the network equipment to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

The following describes how the communication apparatus adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel in detail for different situations of the communication apparatus.

(1) In the case that the communication device is a terminal, the terminal adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel may include the following implementation manners:

in the first implementation manner, for each search space in a plurality of search spaces configured for a terminal, the terminal sets a monitoring period of the search space to 1 when a minimum value of a scheduling time interval is 0; and under the condition that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, the terminal sets the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

Based on the first implementation, the monitored offset value of the search space is determined according to the formula offset ═ a% (N). Where, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value of a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents modulo operation or remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

It can be understood that, compared with the prior art that the configuration parameters (e.g., the monitoring period) of the search space are not changeable, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal changes the monitoring period of the downlink control channel by changing the monitoring period of the search space, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can match the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, based on the first implementation manner, the plurality of search spaces configured for the terminal have the same monitoring period and the same monitoring offset value, so that the terminal can monitor the plurality of search spaces in the same time period, frequent sleep/wake-up switching of the terminal is avoided, and the purpose of reducing the power consumption of the terminal is achieved. In addition, in the case where the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, the monitoring periods of the plurality of search spaces allocated to the terminal are equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, after the terminal receives the downlink control channel from one search space, the terminal does not need to monitor the search space again within the time length corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and the terminal can close the radio frequency module so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal.

In the second implementation manner, the terminal monitors the downlink control channel in the first search space and does not monitor the downlink control channel in the second search space. That is, the first search space may be used to carry a downlink control channel. The second search space may not be used to carry downlink control channels.

In one possible design, the first search space and the second search space are both search spaces that the network device pre-configures to the terminal. The monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. The monitoring period of the second search space is less than the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

This will be exemplified with reference to fig. 7(a) and 7 (b). As shown in fig. 7(a), the network device configures three search spaces for the terminal. The monitoring period of the search space #1 is 1 time slot, the monitoring period of the search space #2 is 2 time slots, and the monitoring period of the search space #3 is 4 time slots. As shown in fig. 7(b), the minimum value of the scheduling interval is changed from 0 to 2 from the time slot #5, and the terminal only needs to monitor the search spaces #2 and #3 and the terminal does not need to monitor the search space #1 in the time slot after the time slot # 5.

It can be understood that, compared with the prior art in which the terminal needs to monitor each search space configured for the terminal, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal changes the period in which the terminal monitors the downlink control channel by selectively monitoring a part of the search spaces (i.e., the first search space) and not monitoring another part of the search spaces (i.e., the second search space). In addition, because the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the terminal only monitors the first search space, and can ensure that the monitoring time of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, after the terminal receives the downlink control channel from one search space, the terminal does not need to monitor the search space again within the time length corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can close the radio frequency module to reduce power consumption.

And the terminal monitors the downlink control channel in a group of search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. It is to be understood that a set of search spaces contains one or more search spaces.

It should be noted that, the network device may configure multiple sets of search spaces for the terminal in advance, where each set of search spaces corresponds to a minimum value of a scheduling time interval.

Optionally, for each search space in a set of search spaces, the monitoring period of the search space may be equal to the corresponding scheduling time interval minimum.

For example, the network device configures three groups of search spaces for the terminal, where a minimum value of a scheduling time interval corresponding to a first group of search spaces is 3, a minimum value of a scheduling time interval corresponding to a second group of search spaces is 4, and a minimum value of a scheduling time interval corresponding to a third group of search spaces is 5. And under the condition that the network equipment indicates that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is 4 to the terminal, the terminal monitors the downlink control channel in the second group of search spaces and does not monitor the downlink control channel in the first group of search spaces and the third group of search spaces.

It can be understood that, compared with the prior art in which the terminal needs to monitor each search space configured for the terminal, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal changes the period in which the terminal monitors the downlink control channel by monitoring a part of the search spaces (i.e., a group of search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval) and not monitoring another part of the search spaces (i.e., other groups of search spaces not corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval). In addition, since a group of search spaces to be monitored by the terminal corresponds to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, it can be ensured that the monitoring time of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, after the terminal receives the downlink control channel from one search space, the terminal does not need to monitor the search space again within the time length corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can close the radio frequency module to reduce power consumption.

The first to third implementation manners are only examples of adjusting manners of the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

(2) In the case that the communication device is a network device, the network device adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel may include the following implementation manners:

in a first implementation manner, for each search space in a plurality of search spaces configured for a terminal, a network device sets a monitoring period of the search space to 1 when a minimum value of a scheduling time interval is 0; and under the condition that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, the network equipment sets the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

It can be understood that, compared with the configuration parameters of the search space in the prior art (for example, the monitoring period is not changeable), in the embodiment of the present application, the network device changes the monitoring period of the search space, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can match the minimum scheduling time interval. Specifically, in the case where the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is not 0, the monitoring periods of the plurality of search spaces allocated to the terminal are equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, after the network equipment sends the downlink control channel in a search space, the network equipment does not send the downlink control channel again within the time length corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, so that the terminal does not need to monitor the search space, the radio frequency module can be closed by the terminal, and the purpose of reducing power consumption is achieved.

In a second implementation manner, the network device sends the downlink control channel in the first search space, but does not send the downlink control channel in the second search space. That is, the first search space may be used to carry a downlink control channel. The second search space may not be used to carry downlink control channels.

This will be exemplified with reference to fig. 7(a) and 7 (b). As shown in fig. 7(a), the network device configures three search spaces for the terminal. The monitoring period of the search space #1 is 1 time slot, the monitoring period of the search space #2 is 2 time slots, and the monitoring period of the search space #3 is 4 time slots. As shown in fig. 7(b), when the minimum scheduling time interval is changed from 0 to 2 from the time slot #5, the network device carries the downlink control channels only in the search spaces #2 and #3 and does not carry the downlink control channels in the search space #1 in the time slots subsequent to the time slot # 5.

It can be understood that, compared with the prior art in which the network device may send the downlink control channel in each search space configured to the terminal, in the embodiment of the present application, the network device selects to send the downlink control channel in a part of the search spaces (i.e., the first search space) and does not send the downlink control channel in another search space (i.e., the second search space), so that the terminal may monitor only a part of the search spaces (i.e., the first search space) without monitoring all the search spaces, thereby achieving the purpose of changing the monitoring period of the terminal for the downlink control channel. In addition, because the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the terminal only monitors the first search space, and can ensure that the monitoring time of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, after the terminal receives the downlink control channel from one search space, the terminal does not need to monitor the search space again within the time length corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can close the radio frequency module to reduce power consumption.

And the network equipment sends the downlink control channel in a group of search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. It is to be understood that a set of search spaces includes one or more search spaces.

For example, the network device configures three groups of search spaces for the terminal, where a minimum value of a scheduling time interval corresponding to a first group of search spaces is 3, a minimum value of a scheduling time interval corresponding to a second group of search spaces is 4, and a minimum value of a scheduling time interval corresponding to a third group of search spaces is 5. In a case where the network device indicates to the terminal that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is 4, the network device may transmit the downlink control channel in the second group of search spaces and not transmit the downlink control channel in the first group of search spaces and the third group of search spaces.

It can be understood that, compared with the prior art in which the network device may send the downlink control channel in each search space configured to the terminal, in the embodiment of the present application, the network device selects to send the downlink control channel in a part of the search spaces (i.e., a group of search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval) and does not send the downlink control channel in another part of the search spaces (i.e., a group of search spaces not corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval), so that the terminal may monitor only a part of the search spaces (i.e., a group of search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval) without monitoring all the search spaces, thereby achieving the purpose of changing the monitoring period of the terminal for the downlink control channel. In addition, because the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the terminal only monitors the first search space, and can ensure that the monitoring time of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, after the terminal receives the downlink control channel from one search space, the terminal does not need to monitor the search space again within the time length corresponding to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, so that the terminal can close the radio frequency module to reduce power consumption.

In the embodiment of the present application, for the adjustment manner of the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, the implementation manner adopted by the terminal and the network device is the same, so as to ensure that the terminal can normally receive the downlink control channel. It should be noted that, which implementation manner is specifically adopted for the adjustment manner of the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is defined by a standard or determined by negotiation between the terminal and the network device.

It should be noted that, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, and correspondingly, the network device also needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the network device and the terminal can be matched in the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, and the terminal can normally receive the downlink control channel. If the terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel because the terminal does not receive the second indication information, but the network device adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, the terminal and the network device cannot be matched on the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the terminal cannot normally receive the downlink control channel, and normal communication between the network side and the terminal is affected. Therefore, the minimum value of the scheduling time interval needs to be limited to reduce the adverse effect caused by the terminal not receiving the second indication information.

Optionally, the value set of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval includes a plurality of values, and the plurality of values are different. And, for any two values of the plurality of values, one of the two values is an integer multiple of the other value. For example, the minimum value of the scheduling time interval may be set to {0,2,4,8 }.

In this way, even if the terminal cannot adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the latest scheduling time interval minimum value because the terminal does not receive the second indication information, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel corresponding to the terminal and the monitoring period of the downlink control channel corresponding to the network device are also in integral multiple relationship. Therefore, the timing of monitoring the downlink control channel by the terminal and the timing of sending the downlink control channel by the network equipment are not completely staggered, and the terminal can also receive a part of the downlink control channel.

Based on the technical solution shown in fig. 6, the communication device adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum scheduling time interval. Therefore, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can be matched with the minimum value of the scheduling time interval to avoid unnecessary monitoring operation of the terminal, thereby avoiding frequent 'sleep/wake-up' switching of the terminal and achieving the purpose of reducing the power consumption of the terminal. If the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is adjusted along with the change of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is larger, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is also larger. For some application scenarios or service types of terminals, a larger monitoring period of the downlink control channel reduces the data scheduling opportunity, so that data cannot be scheduled in time, resulting in an increase in data transmission delay. This will be exemplified with reference to fig. 8(a) and 8 (b). Assuming that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel before the adjustment is 2, the minimum value of the scheduling time interval indicated by the network device is 3. As shown in fig. 8(a), when the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is not adjusted according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is still 2. If the average 2 time slots of the data of the terminal arrive at one time, the network device may schedule the terminal to receive the data in time, so that the transmission delay of the data is kept in a stable state (that is, the transmission delay of the data is kept at2 time slots). As shown in fig. 8(b), when the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is adjusted according to the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is adjusted from 2 to 3. If the average 2 time slots of the data of the terminal arrive at one time, the network device cannot schedule the terminal to receive the data in time due to a larger monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that more and more data to be sent are accumulated, and the transmission delay of the data is increased. Referring to fig. 8(b), data arriving in slot #1 needs to be transmitted to the terminal in slot #4, and data arriving in slot #3 needs to be transmitted to the terminal in slot # 7. As can be seen, the transmission delay of data gradually increases.

When the monitoring period of the downlink control channel does not change along with the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the purpose of effectively reducing the power consumption of the terminal cannot be achieved. However, when the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is always changed with the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, the transmission delay of data may be increased. Therefore, how to consider both the data transmission delay and the power consumption of the terminal is a technical problem to be solved urgently.

In order to solve the foregoing technical problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for adjusting a monitoring period, and the technical principle of the method is as follows: the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal according to the actual situation (such as the service type and the application scene of the terminal) to indicate whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the purpose of considering both the data transmission delay and the power consumption of the terminal is achieved.

As shown in fig. 9, a method for adjusting a monitoring period according to an embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s201, the network equipment sends first indication information to the terminal, so that the terminal receives the first indication information from the network equipment.

The first indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

That is to say, the first indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. Or, the first indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal does not need to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

Optionally, the first indication information may be carried in RRC signaling or DCI. The first indication information may be newly added signaling. Alternatively, the first indication information may multiplex existing signaling to save signaling overhead.

It should be noted that the first indication information may be implemented in various ways, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

For example, if the first indication information carries a first code point (code point), the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust a monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. And if the first indication information carries the second code point, the first indication information is used for indicating that the terminal does not need to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

It will be appreciated that the first codepoint is different from the second codepoint. The first code point and the second code point may be defined in a standard, or may be pre-configured to the terminal by the network device.

In the case where the first indication information multiplexes existing signaling, the first code point and the second code point may multiplex code points in the existing signaling.

For example, if the first indication information includes a first preset field, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. If the first indication information does not include the first preset field, the first indication information is used for indicating that the terminal does not need to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

In case that the first indication information multiplexes existing signaling, the first preset field may multiplex a field in the existing signaling.

In the embodiment of the application, the network device determines whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes according to the service type of the terminal or the application scenario and other factors.

For example, if the current application scenario is a low latency scenario, such as a vehicle to X (V2X) scenario or a urlllc scenario, the network device may prioritize the data transmission latency, so that the network device may determine that the terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

For another example, if the current application scenario is a low power consumption scenario, the network device may prioritize the power consumption of the terminal, so that the network device may determine that the terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

For another example, when the network device predicts that the data size of the terminal is large, the network device may give priority to data transmission delay, so that the network device may determine that the terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

For another example, when the network device predicts that the data amount of the terminal is small, the network device may give priority to the power consumption of the terminal, so that the network device may determine that the terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

S202, the terminal determines whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information.

It can be understood that, if the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, the terminal determines that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel needs to be adjusted; and if the first indication information is used for indicating that the terminal does not need to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, the terminal determines that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel does not need to be adjusted.

Based on steps S201-S202, the network device may determine, according to the service type of the terminal, or the application scenario, and other factors, whether the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, so that the network device sends corresponding first indication information to the terminal, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel may be applicable to the service type or the application scenario of the terminal, thereby achieving the purpose of considering both the data transmission delay and the terminal power consumption.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 9, the method for adjusting the monitoring period may further include the following steps:

s203, the network equipment sends second indication information to the terminal, so that the terminal receives the second indication information from the network equipment.

Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval. It is to be understood that the first scheduling time interval minimum is one of a set of values of the scheduling time interval minimum.

Optionally, the second indication information may be carried in DCI. For example, the second indication information may be carried in the power saving signal.

In one possible design, the second indication information and the first indication information may be carried in different signaling. For example, the first indication information is carried in RRC signaling, and the second indication information is carried in DCI.

It can be understood that, if the second indication information and the first indication information are carried in different signaling, the network device does not need to send the first indication information to the terminal when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes each time; correspondingly, the terminal may determine whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information sent by the network device before. That is, the network device may send only one piece of first indication information in a longer time to indicate whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel. This is advantageous in saving signalling overhead.

In another possible design, the second indication information and the first indication information may be carried in the same signaling. For example, the first indication information and the second indication information are both carried in DCI. For example, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in the power saving signal.

It can be understood that the second indication information and the first indication information are carried in the same signaling, so that the network device can pertinently indicate whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when changing the minimum value of the scheduling time interval each time, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can better adapt to the service type of the terminal.

When the second indication information and the first indication information are carried in the same signaling, the first indication information and the second indication information may be separately encoded or jointly encoded, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Illustratively, table 5 shows a scheme for jointly encoding the first indication information and the second indication information.

TABLE 5

Of course, other joint coding schemes may be used for the first indication information and the second indication information, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

In this embodiment of the application, if the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, after receiving the second indication information, the terminal may perform the following step S204; before the network device transmits the second indication information, or after the network device transmits the second indication information, the network device may perform step S205 described below.

And S204, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

S205, the network equipment adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

The implementation manner of step S204 and step S205 may refer to the description in step S102, and is not described herein again.

Based on steps S203-S205, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can match the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, frequent sleep/wake-up switching of the terminal is avoided, and power consumption of the terminal is saved.

As shown in fig. 10, a method for adjusting a monitoring period according to an embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s301, the network device sends third indication information to the terminal, so that the terminal receives the third indication information sent by the network device.

And the third indication information is used for indicating that the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

Optionally, the third indication information is carried in RRC signaling.

It can be understood that, if the network device does not send the third indication information to the terminal, or the terminal does not receive the third indication information, it indicates that the terminal does not need to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

And S302, the terminal determines that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel needs to be adjusted according to the third indication information.

Based on steps S301-S302, the network device may determine, according to the service type of the terminal, or the application scenario, and other factors, whether the terminal needs to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, so that the network device sends/does not send the third indication information to the terminal, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel may be applicable to the service type or the application scenario of the terminal, thereby achieving the purpose of considering both the data transmission delay and the terminal power consumption.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 10, the method for adjusting the monitoring period may further include the following steps:

s303, the network device sends the second indication information to the terminal, so that the terminal receives the second indication information from the network device.

It is understood that, on the premise that the network device sends the third indication information to the terminal, after the terminal receives the second indication information, the terminal may perform the following step S304; before the network device transmits the second indication information, or after the network device transmits the second indication information, the network device may perform step S305 described below.

S304, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

S305, the network equipment adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

The implementation manner of step S304 and step S305 may refer to the description in step S102, and is not described herein again.

Based on the technical scheme shown in fig. 10, the network device sends the third indication information and the second indication information, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel of the terminal can be applicable to the service type of the terminal, thereby achieving the purpose of considering both data transmission delay and terminal power consumption.

Based on steps S303 to S305, the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, so that the monitoring period of the downlink control channel can match the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Therefore, frequent sleep/wake-up switching of the terminal is avoided, and power consumption of the terminal is saved.

As shown in fig. 11, a capability reporting method provided in this embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s401, the network equipment sends the capability request information to the terminal, so that the terminal receives the capability request information from the network equipment.

The capability request information is used for requesting the terminal to report capability indication information.

For example, the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report the first capability indication information. Further, the capability request information is also used for requesting the terminal to report the second capability indication information.

It should be noted that step S401 is an optional execution step.

S402, the terminal sends first capability indication information to the network equipment, so that the network equipment receives the first capability indication information from the terminal.

The first capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal supports the change of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. That is, the first capability indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal supports a change in the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. Alternatively, the first capability indication information may be used to indicate that the terminal does not support the change of the scheduling time interval minimum.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal can actively send the first capability indication information to the network equipment; or after receiving the capability request information sent by the network device, the terminal sends the first capability indication information to the network device.

Optionally, the first capability indication information is carried in uplink control information.

Optionally, the first capability indication information may reuse signaling in the existing capability reporting flow, so as to save signaling overhead.

In one possible design, the first capability indication information may explicitly indicate whether the terminal supports the change of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

For example, if the first capability indication information carries the third code point, the first capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. And if the first capability indication information carries the fourth code point, the first capability indication information is used for indicating that the terminal does not support the change of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval. It is to be understood that the fifth codepoint is different from the sixth codepoint. The fifth code point and the sixth code point may be defined in a standard, or may be pre-configured to the terminal by the network device. It is to be understood that the third code point is different from the fourth code point. The third code point and the fourth code point may be defined in a standard, or may be pre-configured to the terminal by the network device.

In the case where the first capability indication information multiplexes existing signaling, the third code point and the fourth code point may multiplex code points in the existing signaling.

For another example, if the first capability indication information includes the second preset field, the first capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is changed. If the first capability indication information does not include the second preset field, the first capability indication information is used for indicating that the terminal does not support the change of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

In case that the first capability indication information multiplexes existing signaling, the second preset field may multiplex a field in the existing signaling.

In another possible design, the first capability indication information may implicitly indicate whether the terminal supports the change of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval.

For example, the first capability indication information is used to indicate a minimum value of a scheduling time interval supported by the terminal. For example, the first capability indication information is used to indicate that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval supported by the terminal is {0,2,4,8 }. For another example, the first capability indication information is used to indicate that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval supported by the terminal is 2.

In the case that the number of the minimum values of the scheduling time intervals supported by the terminal is greater than 1, the first capability indication information may indicate that the minimum values of the scheduling time intervals supported by the terminal are changed. In the case that the number of the scheduling time interval minimum values supported by the terminal is 1, the first capability indication information may indicate that the terminal does not support the change of the scheduling time interval minimum value.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 11, the capability reporting method may further include step S403.

S403, the terminal sends the second capability indication information to the network device, so that the network device receives the second capability indication information from the terminal.

The second capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel. That is, the second capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel. Or, the second capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal does not have the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal may actively send the second capability indication information to the network device; or after receiving the capability request information sent by the network device, the terminal sends the second capability indication information to the network device.

Optionally, the second capability indication information may be carried in the uplink control information.

Optionally, the second capability indication information may reuse signaling in the existing capability reporting flow, so as to save signaling overhead.

In this embodiment of the present application, the second capability indication information and the first capability indication information may be carried in the same signaling. Alternatively, the second capability indication information and the first capability indication information may be carried in different signaling.

It can be understood that, if the second capability indication information and the first capability indication information are carried in the same signaling, the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information may be independently encoded respectively; alternatively, the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information may be jointly encoded.

Illustratively, table 6 shows a joint coding scheme of the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

TABLE 6

It should be noted that the second capability indication information may be implemented in various ways, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

For example, if the second capability indication information carries the fifth code point, the second capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel. And if the second capability indication information carries the sixth code point, the second capability indication information is used for indicating that the terminal does not have the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

It is to be understood that the fifth codepoint is different from the sixth codepoint. The fifth code point and the sixth code point may be defined in a standard, or may be pre-configured to the terminal by the network device.

In the case where the second capability indication information multiplexes existing signaling, the fifth code point and the sixth code point may multiplex code points in the existing signaling.

For another example, if the second capability indication information includes the third preset field, the second capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel. And if the second capability indication information does not contain the third preset field, the second capability indication information is used for indicating that the terminal does not have the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

In case that the second capability indication information multiplexes existing signaling, the third preset field may multiplex a field in the existing signaling.

Based on the technical solution shown in fig. 11, the terminal sends capability indication information (that is, the first capability indication information, or the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information) to the network device, so that the network device learns the capability of the terminal, so that the network device can determine whether to adopt the technical solution shown in fig. 9 or fig. 10.

Specifically, the network device determines, according to the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information, whether the terminal can adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. Then, the network equipment determines first indication information to be sent according to the judgment result; or, the network device determines whether to send the third indication information according to the judgment result.

It can be understood that, if the first capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal does not support the change of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval, and/or the second capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal does not have the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, the determination result of the network device is: the terminal cannot adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. Therefore, the first indication information sent by the network device is used for indicating that the terminal does not adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. Alternatively, the network device does not transmit the third indication information.

It can be understood that, if the first capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes, and/or the second capability indication information is used to indicate that the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, the determination result of the network device is that the terminal can adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. Therefore, the first indication information sent by the network device is used for the terminal to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes. Alternatively, the network device may transmit/not transmit the third indication information.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is mainly introduced from the perspective of interaction between each network element. It is understood that each network element, such as the terminal and the network device, includes corresponding hardware structures or software modules for performing each function or a combination of both, in order to implement the functions described above. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. 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.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal and the network device may be divided into the functional modules according to the above method example, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation. The following description will be given by taking the case of dividing each function module corresponding to each function:

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal comprises a processing module 301 and a communication module 302. Among them, the processing module 301 is used to support the terminal to execute steps S101 and S102 in fig. 6, steps S202 and S204 in fig. 9, steps S302 and S304 in fig. 10, and so on. The communication module 302 is used to support the terminal to perform steps S201 and S203 in fig. 9, steps S301 and S303 in fig. 10, and steps S401 and S403 in fig. 11.

As an example, the processing module 301 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the processor 101 in fig. 2, and the communication module 302 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the communication interface 103 in fig. 2, which is not limited to this embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device includes a processing module 401 and a communication module 402. Among other things, the processing module 401 is used to support the network device to execute steps S101 and S102 in fig. 6, step S205 in fig. 9, step S305 in fig. 10, and so on. The communication module 402 is used to support the network device to perform steps S201 and S203 in fig. 9, steps S301 and S303 in fig. 10, and steps S401 to S403 in fig. 11.

As an example, the processing module 401 in fig. 13 may be implemented by the processor 201 in fig. 2, and the communication module 402 in fig. 13 may be implemented by the communication interface 203 in fig. 2, which is not limited to this embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer readable storage medium stores computer instructions; when the computer readable storage medium runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method provided by the embodiment of the application.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing computer instructions, which when run on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

The embodiment of the present application provides a chip, where the chip includes a processor, and when the processor executes an instruction, the chip may execute the method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: in the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device.

The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

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 manners. 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 of some interfaces, devices or units, and may be an electric 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 devices. 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 functional unit may exist independently, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the present application can be implemented by software plus necessary general hardware, and certainly, the present application can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better implementation. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application may be substantially implemented or a part of the technical solutions contributing to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product, where the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or an optical disk of a computer, and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the methods described in the embodiments of the present application.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and all changes and substitutions within the technical scope of the present application 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 for adjusting a monitoring period is characterized by comprising the following steps:

a terminal receives first indication information from network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal adjusts a monitoring period of a downlink control channel when a scheduling time interval minimum value changes, and the scheduling time interval minimum value is the minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located;

and the terminal determines whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel or not according to the first indication information.

2. The method for adjusting a monitoring period according to claim 1, further comprising:

the terminal receives second indication information from the network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating a minimum value of a first scheduling time interval;

when the terminal determines to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information, the method further includes:

and the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a same signaling.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are independently encoded; or, the first indication information and the second indication information are jointly encoded.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes:

for each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal, in the case where the first scheduling time interval minimum value is 0, the terminal sets a monitoring period of the search space to 1; and under the condition that the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval is not 0, the terminal sets the monitoring period of the search space to be the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

6. The method of adjusting a monitoring period according to claim 5, wherein the monitoring offset value of the search space is determined according to the following formula:

offset＝a％(N)

wherein, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes:

the terminal monitors the first search space and does not monitor the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the adjusting, by the terminal, the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval includes:

and the terminal monitors one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the value set of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval includes a plurality of values; for any two values of the plurality of values, one of the two values is an integer multiple of the other value.

10. The method for adjusting a monitoring period according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising:

and the terminal sends first capability indication information to the network equipment, wherein the first capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is changed.

11. The method for adjusting a monitoring period according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising:

and the terminal sends second capability indication information to the network equipment, wherein the second capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel.

12. The method for adjusting a monitoring period according to claim 10 or 11, further comprising:

the terminal receives capability request information sent by the network equipment, wherein the capability request information is used for requesting the terminal to report first capability indication information, or the capability request information is used for requesting the terminal to report the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

13. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a communication module, configured to receive first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether a terminal adjusts a monitoring period of a downlink control channel when a minimum scheduling time interval value changes, where the minimum scheduling time interval value is a minimum value of a time slot difference between a time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and a time slot in which a data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located;

and the processing module is used for determining whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information.

14. The communication device of claim 13,

the communication module is further configured to receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate a minimum value of a first scheduling time interval;

the processing module is further configured to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval under the condition that the adjustment of the monitoring period of the downlink control channel is determined according to the first indication information.

15. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a same signaling.

16. The communications apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are each independently encoded; or, the first indication information and the second indication information are jointly encoded.

17. The communication device according to any one of claims 14 to 16,

the processing module is configured to set a monitoring period of each of a plurality of search spaces configured to the terminal to 1 when the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval is 0; and setting the monitoring period of the search space to be the first scheduling time interval minimum value under the condition that the first scheduling time interval minimum value is not 0.

18. The communication device of claim 17,

the processing module is configured to determine a monitoring offset value of the search space according to a formula offset ═ a% (N); wherein, offset represents a monitoring offset value of the search space, a represents an index value indicating a slot in which the second indication information is located,% represents a modulo operation or a remainder operation, and N represents a monitoring period of the search space.

19. The communication device according to any one of claims 14 to 16,

the processing module is used for monitoring the first search space and not monitoring the second search space; the monitoring period of the first search space is greater than or equal to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval, and the monitoring period of the second search space is smaller than the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

20. The communication device according to any one of claims 14 to 16,

the processing module is configured to monitor one or more search spaces corresponding to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval.

21. The communication apparatus according to any of claims 13 to 20, wherein the set of values of the minimum value of the scheduling time interval comprises a plurality of values; for any two values of the plurality of values, one of the two values is an integer multiple of the other value.

22. The communication device according to any one of claims 13 to 21,

the communication module is further configured to send first capability indication information to the network device, where the first capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

23. The communication device according to any one of claims 13 to 22,

the communication module is further configured to send second capability indication information to the network device, where the second capability indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a capability of adjusting a monitoring period of a downlink control channel.

24. The communication device according to any one of claims 22 or 23,

the communication module is further configured to receive capability request information sent by a network device, where the capability request information is used to request a terminal to report first capability indication information, or the capability request information is used to request the terminal to report the first capability indication information and second capability indication information.

25. A communication device comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor being configured to execute computer program instructions to cause the communication device to perform the method of adjusting a monitoring period of any one of claims 1 to 12.

26. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of adjusting a monitoring period of any one of claims 1 to 12.

27. A chip, characterized in that the chip comprises a processor for performing the method of adjusting a monitoring period according to any one of claims 1 to 12 when the processor executes instructions.

28. A communication system comprising a network device and a terminal;

the terminal is used for sending first capability indication information and second capability indication information to the network equipment; the first capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal supports that the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is changed, the second capability indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal has the capability of adjusting the monitoring period of the downlink control channel, and the minimum value of the scheduling time interval is the minimum value of the time slot difference between the time slot in which the downlink control channel is located and the time slot in which the data channel corresponding to the downlink control channel is located;

the network device is configured to receive the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information from the terminal; judging whether the terminal can adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes according to the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information; sending first indication information to the terminal according to the judgment result, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating whether the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes;

the terminal is further used for receiving the first indication information; determining whether to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the first indication information;

the network device is further configured to determine a first scheduling time interval minimum; sending second indication information to the terminal, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval;

the terminal is further configured to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval when the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal adjusts the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes;

the network device is further configured to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel according to the minimum value of the first scheduling time interval when the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal to adjust the monitoring period of the downlink control channel when the minimum value of the scheduling time interval changes.

29. The communication system of claim 28,

the network device is further configured to send capability request information to the terminal, where the capability request information is used to instruct the terminal to send the first capability indication information and the second capability indication information.

30. The communication system according to claim 28 or 29, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the same signaling.