CN112584468A

CN112584468A - Signal transmission method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112584468A
Application number: CN201910926435.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 薛祎凡; 周涵; 王键
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-27
Filing date: 2019-09-27
Publication date: 2021-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-27
Also published as: CN112584468B; WO2021057147A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a signal transmission method and a signal transmission device, relates to the field of communication, and can perform corresponding processing according to a plurality of power consumption saving signals with different contents, so that data transmission delay can be reduced. The method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment receives Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval. The embodiment of the application is applied to wireless communication systems such as 5G NR.

Description

Signal transmission method and device

Technical Field

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

Background

In Long Term Evolution (LTE) and fifth generation (5)^thgeneration, 5G) mobile communication system a New Radio (NR) defines a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle. As shown in fig. 1, the DRX cycle is composed of "On Duration" and "Opportunity for DRX". Wherein, the On Duration may be referred to as a start Duration, and the Opportunity for DRX may be referred to as a DRX Opportunity. During the "On Duration", the User Equipment (UE) is in an active period, and can monitor and receive the physical downlink controlA channel (PDCCH); during the "Opportunity for DRX" period, the UE is in a sleep period and does not receive the PDCCH to reduce power consumption. To further achieve the purpose of saving power consumption, in the standardized discussion of NR version 16 (release 16, Rel-16), a power saving signal (power saving signal) -based method is proposed: as shown in fig. 2, before the DRX cycles start (i.e., before OnDuration), the network device may send a power saving signal to the UE instructing the UE to enter a sleep state within one or more DRX cycles. Of course, the UE in the sleep state may also be awakened by the power saving signal.

In order to ensure the reliability of the power saving signal, the power saving signal may be repeatedly transmitted multiple times (the information carried inside the power saving signal transmitted multiple times is the same), on one hand, the repeated transmission may enhance the equivalent received power, and on the other hand, in the case of millimeter waves, the signal is transmitted through a directional beam (beam), and the repeated transmission of multiple beams may also improve the directional coverage. The UE may monitor the power saving signal at a monitoring occasion (monitor occasion) of a plurality of power saving signals before the OnDuration of the DRX.

However, during the transmission process, due to reasons such as poor channel status, the content of the plurality of power saving signals received by the UE may be different, or due to decoding error of the UE, the information obtained by the UE analyzing the plurality of power saving signals is different, and at this time, how the UE should process the information is different, and no corresponding provision is given by the standard at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a signal transmission method and a signal transmission device, which are used for carrying out corresponding processing according to a plurality of power consumption saving signals with different contents, and the data transmission time delay can be reduced.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the terminal equipment receives Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval.

It can be understood that, if a network device (e.g., a base station) originally desires that a UE monitors a PDCCH in a first time interval, that is, a terminal device is instructed to monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval by a first signal (a power saving signal), but the UE receives an erroneous power saving signal due to a sudden degradation of channel quality, or the UE decodes incorrectly, so that the UE does not monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval according to the erroneous power saving signal, data sent by the base station to the terminal device fails to be transmitted in a current DRX cycle, and can only be transmitted in a subsequent DRX cycle, which may cause an increase in transmission delay. To avoid this, an error-handling (error-handling) behavior of the terminal device may be defined, that is, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH only if there is a power consumption saving signal indicating that the PDCCH is monitored in the first time interval, which may sacrifice part of power consumption of the terminal device, but may reduce a probability of data transmission failure (i.e., avoid data transmission failure), thereby reducing transmission delay.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group, so as to ensure that the terminal device receives all PDCCHs transmitted from the base station to the terminal device. Wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

In a possible implementation manner, the target serving cell is any one of the configured secondary cells, or the target serving cell is one or more of the activated secondary cells; the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of configured secondary cells, or the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of activated secondary cells.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: if the Y first signals indicate at least one first message, the terminal equipment determines that the first message with the minimum value in the at least one first message is valid; and/or, if the Y first signals indicate at least one second message, the terminal device determines that the second message with the smallest value among the at least one second message is valid; therefore, the terminal equipment can be ensured to correctly receive the data sent by the base station as much as possible. The first information is used to indicate a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used to indicate a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) corresponding to the PDCCH.

In one possible implementation, the receiving, by the terminal device, Y first signals before the first time interval includes: the terminal device receiving the Y first signals at a first bandwidth part (BWP) before a first time interval; if at least two first signals of the Y first signals respectively indicate that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, the terminal device regards the first BWP as an active BWP; wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP. Since the terminal device cannot determine which BWP index of the received BWP indexes is correct, the terminal device may not switch BWPs, i.e. still reside in the currently activated BWP, and after a BWP timer (timer) expires, the terminal device may align with the base station on the default BWP, which may save the alignment time.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: if at least one of the Y first signals includes trigger information, each of the at least one first signals includes trigger information for indicating location information of one or more aperiodic channel state information reference signals (a-CSI-RS), and the terminal device receives the one or more a-CSI-RSs according to the location information of the one or more a-CSI-RSs indicated by the trigger signal included in each first signal. That is, the terminal device may measure all the a-CSI-RSs according to all the received trigger information (it may be considered that "measuring" includes both receiving the a-CSI-RS and processing the a-CSI-RS), and perform corresponding feedback, so as to avoid that the terminal device fails to measure the corresponding a-CSI-RS, and thus cannot perform corresponding feedback.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: if the Y first signals indicate at least one third message, the terminal device determines that the third message with the largest value among the at least one third message is valid; wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of Most Input Multiple Output (MIMO) layers (i.e., Max MIMO layer value).

The Max MIMO layer value is related to the number of antennas used by the terminal device. Generally, when the Max MIMO layer value is N, the terminal device needs to use N or more than N antennas to transmit or receive data, so as to ensure correct data transmission. Therefore, in order to ensure correct data transmission, the terminal device may regard the largest Max MIMO layer value of the received Max MIMO layer values as valid, i.e., determine the number of antennas to be used according to the largest Max MIMO layer value.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the terminal equipment receives Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; if at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in a target serving cell or a target serving cell group, the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the terminal equipment receives Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; if the Y first signals indicate at least one first message, the terminal equipment determines that the first message with the minimum value in the at least one first message is valid; and/or, if the Y first signals indicate at least one second message, the terminal device determines that the second message with the smallest value among the at least one second message is valid; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: in the activation period of DRX, if terminal equipment receives at least two pieces of first information in a time slot, the terminal equipment determines that the first information with the minimum value in the at least two pieces of first information is valid; and/or, if the terminal device receives at least two pieces of second information in a time slot, the terminal device determines that the second information with the minimum value in the at least two pieces of second information is valid; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the terminal equipment receives Y first signals at a first BWP before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer which is greater than or equal to 1; if at least two first signals of the Y first signals respectively indicate that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, the terminal device regards the first BWP as an active BWP; wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the terminal equipment receives Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; if at least one first signal in the Y first signals includes trigger information, the trigger information included in each first signal in the at least one first signal is used to indicate the location information of one or more a-CSI-RSs, and the terminal device receives the one or more a-CSI-RSs according to the location information of the one or more a-CSI-RSs indicated by the trigger signal included in each first signal.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the terminal equipment receives Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; if at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates at least one third information, the terminal equipment determines that the third information with the largest value in the at least one third information is valid; wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of the most MIMO layers.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the terminal equipment receives a second signal, wherein the second signal is used for indicating at least one secondary cell for monitoring the PDCCH; the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the primary cell and monitors the PDCCH in the at least one secondary cell according to the second signal.

Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the terminal device can monitor the PDCCH in the primary cell and monitor the PDCCH in the at least one secondary cell according to the second signal, the second signal can only indicate to monitor the PDCCH in the at least one secondary cell, whether the PDCCH needs to be monitored in the primary cell is not required to be indicated, and bit consumption can be saved.

In one possible implementation, the second signal does not indicate that the PDCCH is monitored in the primary cell.

In one possible implementation, the second signal is a power saving signal.

In a possible implementation manner, the at least one secondary cell is one or more secondary cells in configured secondary cells, or the at least one secondary cell is one or more secondary cells in activated secondary cells.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal monitoring method, including: the terminal device receives configuration information from the network device, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring monitoring resources of a first signal for all BWPs configured by the terminal device; the terminal device monitors for a first signal on an active BWP according to the configuration information, the active BWP being one of all BWPs configured by the terminal device.

Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network device can configure all BWPs configured for the terminal device and need to monitor the power saving signal, thereby avoiding the problem that power cannot be saved on a certain BWP.

In one possible implementation, the receiving, by the terminal device, the configuration information from the network device includes: the terminal device receives a plurality of configuration information of monitoring resources for configuring a first signal for each BWP in the all BWPs respectively; alternatively, the terminal device receives a configuration information for configuring the monitoring resource of the first signal for the entire BWP. That is to say, the configuration information of the monitoring resources for configuring the power saving signals on all BWPs may be issued to the terminal device together, or may be issued to the terminal device separately, which is not limited in this application.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, including: the network equipment sends Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer which is greater than or equal to 1; wherein at least one of the Y first signals instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH during a first time interval.

And/or at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates the terminal equipment to monitor the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells. The target serving cell is any one of the configured secondary cells, or the target serving cell is one or more activated secondary cells; the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of configured secondary cells, or the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of activated secondary cells.

And/or, the Y first signals are indicative of at least one first information; and/or, the Y first signals indicate at least one second information; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

And/or at least two of the Y first signals instruct the terminal device to switch from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, respectively.

And/or at least one of the Y first signals includes trigger information, and each of the at least one first signals includes trigger information for indicating location information of one or more a-CSI-RSs.

And/or, the Y first signals indicate at least one third information; wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of the most MIMO layers.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; a processing unit, configured to monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval, and monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval.

In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to: monitoring the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group if at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

In one possible design, the target serving cell is any one of the configured secondary cells, or one or more of the activated secondary cells; the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of configured secondary cells, or the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of activated secondary cells.

In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to: if the Y first signals indicate at least one first message, determining that the first message with the minimum value in the at least one first message is valid; and/or, if the Y first signals indicate at least one second message, determining that a smallest second message among the at least one second message is valid; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

In one possible design, the receiving unit is configured to: receiving the Y first signals at a first BWP before a first time interval; the processing unit is further configured to, if at least two of the Y first signals respectively indicate that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, take the first BWP as an active BWP; wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP.

In one possible design, the receiving unit is further configured to: if at least one of the Y first signals includes trigger information, each of the at least one first signals includes trigger information for indicating location information of one or more aperiodic channel state information reference signals, a-CSI-RSs, and the one or more a-CSI-RSs are received according to the location information of the one or more a-CSI-RSs indicated by the trigger signal included in each first signal.

In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to: if the Y first signals indicate at least one third message, determining that the third message with the largest value in the at least one third message is valid; wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of the most MIMO layers.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; a processing unit, configured to monitor a PDCCH in a target serving cell or a target serving cell group if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; a processing unit, configured to determine that a first information with a smallest value among the at least one first information is valid if the Y first signals indicate the at least one first information; and/or, if the Y first signals indicate at least one second message, determining that a smallest second message among the at least one second message is valid; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a processing unit, configured to determine, in an active period of DRX, that a first information with a smallest value among at least two first information is valid if the receiving unit receives the at least two first information in a time slot; and/or, if at least two pieces of second information are received in a time slot through the receiving unit, determining that the second information with the minimum value in the at least two pieces of second information is valid; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit configured to receive Y first signals at a first BWP before a first time interval, Y being an integer greater than or equal to 1; a processing unit, configured to take the first BWP as an active BWP if at least two first signals of the Y first signals respectively indicate that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP; wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP.

In a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and if at least one of the Y first signals includes trigger information, the trigger information included in each of the at least one first signal is used to indicate location information of one or more a-CSI-RSs, and the one or more a-CSI-RSs are received according to the location information of the one or more a-CSI-RSs indicated by the trigger signal included in each first signal.

In a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; a processing unit, configured to determine that a third information with a largest value among the at least one third information is valid if at least one of the Y first signals indicates the at least one third information; wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of the most MIMO layers.

In an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive a second signal, where the second signal is used to indicate at least one secondary cell monitoring a PDCCH; and the processing unit is used for monitoring the PDCCH in the primary cell and monitoring the PDCCH in the at least one secondary cell according to the second signal.

In one possible implementation, the second signal is a power saving signal.

In a nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive configuration information from a network device, where the configuration information is used to configure monitoring resources of a first signal for all BWPs configured by the terminal device; a processing unit configured to monitor a first signal on an active BWP according to the configuration information, the active BWP being one of all BWPs configured by the terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the receiving unit is configured to: receiving a plurality of configuration information of a monitoring resource for configuring a first signal for each BWP of the entire BWPs, respectively; alternatively, one configuration information of the monitoring resource for configuring the first signal for the entire BWP is received. That is to say, the configuration information of the monitoring resources for configuring the power saving signals on all BWPs may be issued to the terminal device together, or may be issued to the terminal device separately, which is not limited in this application.

In a twentieth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including: a transmitting unit for transmitting Y first signals before a first time interval, Y being an integer greater than or equal to 1; wherein at least one of the Y first signals instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH in a first time interval;

and/or at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates the terminal equipment to monitor the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group comprises a plurality of serving cells; the target serving cell is any one of the configured secondary cells, or the target serving cell is one or more of the activated secondary cells; the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of configured secondary cells, or the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of activated secondary cells;

and/or, the Y first signals are indicative of at least one first information; and/or, the Y first signals indicate at least one second information; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH;

and/or at least two of the Y first signals instruct the terminal device to switch from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, respectively;

and/or at least one of the Y first signals comprises trigger information, each of the at least one first signals comprises trigger information for indicating location information of one or more aperiodic channel state information reference signals, a-CSI-RS;

In a twenty-first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, which includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the methods provided in any one of the above aspects.

In a twenty-second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the methods provided in any one of the above aspects.

In a twenty-third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor and may further include a memory, and is configured to implement any one of the methods provided in any one of the foregoing aspects. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

In a twenty-fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an apparatus, where the apparatus may be a terminal device or a chip. The apparatus comprises a processor configured to implement any one of the methods provided by the first aspect. The apparatus may also include a memory for storing program instructions and data, which may be memory integrated within the apparatus or off-chip memory disposed external to the apparatus. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor can call and execute the program instructions stored in the memory for implementing any one of the methods provided by any one of the above aspects. The apparatus may also include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices.

In a twenty-fifth aspect, the present application provides a system, which includes the terminal device in any one of the eleventh to nineteenth aspects, and the network device in the twentieth aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a DRX cycle in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a prior art method of sending a power saving signal;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for a signal transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic signal interaction diagram suitable for a signal transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic view of a scenario applicable to a signal transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic signal interaction diagram of another method for signal transmission according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

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

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For clarity and conciseness of the following description of the various embodiments, a brief introduction to related concepts or technologies is first presented:

as the new generation of 5G technologies enter the discussion phase, it is a problem whether the system architecture and access procedures that have been achieved in the original 4G LTE are continuously adopted. On the one hand, since communication systems are latter-compatible, new technologies developed later tend to be compatible with technologies that have been previously standardized; on the other hand, since 4G LTE already has a lot of existing designs, if compatibility is achieved, much of the flexibility of 5G must be sacrificed, thereby reducing performance. Therefore, currently, in the 3rd generation partnership project (3 GPP) organization, two directions are studied in parallel, of which the technology discussion group without regard to backward compatibility, called 5G NR, is located in release 14.

DRX cycle: in 5G NR, a DRX cycle is defined. As shown in fig. 1, one DRX cycle includes On Duration and Opportunity for DRX. At the On Duration start time (or DRX Cycle start time), a DRX On Duration timer (DRX-onDurationTimer, which may also be referred to as onDurationTimer) may be started. The Duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer is the Duration of the On Duration, i.e. the Duration of the DRX-onDurationTimer comprises a Duration of the start of one DRX cycle. The UE may monitor the PDCCH during the On Duration, i.e., the UE may monitor the PDCCH during the drx-On Duration timer run-time. The inactivity timer (drx-inactivity timer) may be started (or restarted) when the UE receives a PDCCH that schedules a new transmission of Uplink (UL) or Downlink (DL) (i.e., receives a newly transmitted PDCCH) during the drx-onDurationTimer operation period. The UE may continue to monitor the PDCCH during the drx-inactivity timer operation until the drx-inactivity timer times out. The "monitoring" PDCCH refers to the UE performing blind detection on a series of PDCCH candidate locations (candidates) to check whether there is a PDCCH addressed to the UE.

It should be understood that a set (one or more) of PDCCH candidates may constitute a search space set. The time-frequency resource location occupied by one or more search space sets is called a control resource set (CORESET). Wherein different search space sets have different monitoring periods. The search space set may be divided into a common search space set and a UE-specific search space set, and the different types of search space sets may detect PDCCHs carrying Downlink Control Information (DCI) of different formats (formats). The network side can configure the format of the PDCCH that the UE needs to monitor when configuring the search space set for the UE.

Carrier Aggregation (CA): in the initial stage of LTE standard development, a maximum bandwidth of 20MHz for one carrier is specified. In a later standardization process, LTE is further improved, referred to as evolved LTE (LTE-Advanced, LTE-a). In order to meet the requirements of 1Gbps downlink peak speed and 500Mbps uplink peak speed specified in LTE-A, the maximum transmission bandwidth of 100MHz needs to be provided. Due to the scarcity of continuous spectrum with large bandwidth, LTE-a proposes a solution for carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation is to aggregate 2 or more Component Carriers (CCs) together to support a larger transmission bandwidth (up to 100 MHz). Each CC may correspond to an independent cell (cell), or 1 CC is equivalent to 1 cell. The maximum bandwidth per CC may be 20 MHz.

Starting from version 10 (Release 10, Rel-10), CA was introduced into the standard. One UE may configure 5 CCs at most, where one CC corresponds to a primary cell (PCell) and the remaining CCs correspond to secondary cells (scells). Among them, the PCell is responsible for Radio Resource Control (RRC) communication with the UE, and a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) can only be transmitted on the PCell. The Pcell may be a cell where the UE performs initial connection establishment, or a cell where RRC connection reestablishment is performed, or a cell designated in a handover (handover) procedure. SCell is a cell added at RRC reconfiguration to provide additional radio resources.

Starting from Release 13 (Rel-13), enhanced CA (eCA) was introduced into the standard, and a UE can be configured with up to 32 CCs. In NR, ecas may also be used, where uplink and downlink may support 16 CCs at most, respectively. Meanwhile, when the base station bandwidth is large and the UE capability is insufficient and cannot support such a large bandwidth through a single carrier, the UE may support the large bandwidth through an intra-band continuous ca (intra-band connectivity ca). For example, when the bandwidth of the base station is 400MHz, and the maximum continuous bandwidth that can be supported by the UE is 100MHz, the UE may regard the bandwidth of the base station as an aggregation of 4 bandwidths of 100MHz, and communicate with the base station in a CA manner.

In the CA scenario, each CC may follow the same DRX cycle, length of active and dormant periods, i.e. the UE is awake and asleep on each CC. Alternatively, different CCs may be configured with different DRX cycles, i.e. DRX cycles of different CCs may be different.

BWP: the 5G NR supports transmission between the network device and the UE by occupying a part of Bandwidth (BWP), because the system bandwidth of 5G (the system bandwidth may refer to the bandwidth of one carrier, and in a CA or DC scenario, the bandwidth of each CC) may be 200MHz or 400MHz, and some UEs cannot support such a large bandwidth, so the network device may configure the UE with BWP (part of the system bandwidth), for example, 20MHz, and the UE may communicate with the network device at 20 MHz.

BWP may be supported in either Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) or Time Division Duplexing (TDD) systems. BWPs can be divided into Downlink BWPs (DL BWPs) and Uplink BWPs (UL BWPs). The network device may configure multiple DL BWPs and multiple UL BWPs for the UE, and activate one DL BWP and one UL BWP. The UE receives a downlink signal sent by the base station on an activated DL BWP (i.e., active DL BWP), including but not limited to receiving downlink control signaling and downlink data, etc.; the UE transmits an uplink signal on an activated UL BWP (i.e., active UL BWP), including but not limited to transmitting uplink control signaling, uplink data, Scheduling Request (SR), uplink Sounding Reference Signal (SRs), Channel State Information (CSI), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and the like.

When a base station communicates with a UE on an active BWP (DL BWP or UL BWP), the base station may activate another BWP, thereby causing the UE to switch (switch) to receive or transmit data on the newly activated BWP. For example, the method for switching and activating BWP by UE may include: 1) the base station sends PDCCH to UE and indicates the UE to switch BWP; 2) the base station sends RRC signaling for the UE to indicate the UE to switch BWP; 3) both the base station and the UE maintain a timer, and when the timer expires, the UE switches from the non-default BWP to the default BWP (default BWP).

The multiple BWPs configured by the UE may follow the same DRX cycle and the length of the active and dormant periods, i.e. the UE is awake and asleep at each BWP. Alternatively, different BWPs may configure different DRX cycles.

Cross-slot scheduling and simultaneous slot scheduling: in the 5G NR, a time interval between a PDCCH for carrying scheduling information and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH for carrying downlink data is dynamically indicated by a base station, the time interval between the PDCCH and the corresponding PDSCH may be represented by a value K0 (in a slot unit), and the value K0 may correspond to a value set, where the value set is configured by the base station through RRC signaling. In one scheduling, the base station may indicate one value in the value set of the K0 value in the PDCCH. If the value of K0 is 0, it means that the PDCCH and the PDSCH are in the same time slot, which is called "simultaneous slot scheduling". If the value of K0 is >0, it indicates that the PDCCH and the PDSCH are not in the same time slot, and is called "cross-slot scheduling".

Generally, when scheduling across time slots, the UE may avoid buffering some useless data, so as to achieve the purpose of saving energy. When the UE knows that its indicated K0 values are all greater than 0, the UE must be scheduled across timeslots. If the value set of the K0 value of the UE includes 0, the UE may be scheduled by the same timeslot, and the UE cannot achieve the purpose of saving energy.

Similarly, there is a similar rule for the time interval between the PDCCH and the corresponding PUSCH for carrying uplink data, and the time interval between the PDCCH and the corresponding PUSCH can be represented by a value K2. Therefore, the base station may indicate the scheduling manner of the UE through the K0/K2 value.

In addition, the base station can also indicate a minimum K0/K2 value to the UE for limiting the indication range of the K0/K2 values indicated by the base station to the UE, and the minimum K0/K2 value can be selected from a value set of K0/K2 values. For example, the value set of the K0 value configured by the base station to the UE through RRC signaling is {0,1,2,3}, that is, in one scheduling, the base station may indicate to the UE that the K0 value is any one of {0,1,2,3 }. The base station then indicates to the UE that the minimum K0 value is 1, after which the base station may indicate to the UE that the K0 value is any one of {1,2,3}, and cannot indicate to the UE that the K0 value is 0. In this way, the UE may know in advance that its indicated K0 values are all greater than 0, and the UE must be scheduled across time slots. At this time, the UE can avoid buffering some useless data, so that the purpose of saving energy can be achieved.

Power consumption saving signal: i.e., power saving signal, may also be referred to as a power save signal, or may be referred to as a Wake Up Signal (WUS), hereinafter collectively referred to as a power save signal. The network device may send a power consumption saving signal to the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in a sleep state for one or more DRX cycles, i.e. does not monitor the PDCCH for one or more DRX cycles, to save power consumption of the terminal device. The network device may also send a power saving signal to the terminal device to wake up the terminal device in a sleep state, i.e. instruct the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH for one or more DRX cycles. Optionally, the power saving signal may also be used to indicate one or more of the following information:

1) when the UE is configured with CA, the power saving signal is sent on only one CC, but may indicate the behavior of the UE on multiple CCs. For example, the power saving signal may further indicate on which CCs the PDCCH needs to be monitored, corresponding to a finer grained indication. 2) The power saving signal may indicate a minimum K0/K2 value. 3) And the power consumption saving signal can indicate the index of the BWP to be switched, and the UE can work On the indicated BWP after entering the On Duration. 4) The power saving signal can indicate the maximum number of MIMO layers (uplink or downlink), and the UE can work according to the number of antennas corresponding to the maximum number of MIMO layers after entering the On Duration. 5) The power consumption saving signal may trigger CSI measurement, and the UE may receive a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) according to the power consumption saving signal and report CSI feedback information.

In order to ensure the reliability of the power consumption saving signal, the power consumption saving signal may be repeatedly transmitted a plurality of times. However, during the transmission process, due to reasons such as poor channel status, the content of the plurality of power saving signals received by the UE may be different, or due to decoding error of the UE, the information obtained by the UE analyzing the plurality of power saving signals is different, and at this time, how the UE should process the information is different, and no corresponding provision is given by the standard at present.

In order to solve the foregoing problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, where if there is at least one first signal among Y first signals (power saving signals) received by a terminal device before a first time interval, the terminal device is instructed to monitor a PDCCH in the first time interval, and the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval. Therefore, the time delay can be reduced, because if the base station expects the UE to monitor the PDCCH, but the UE receives the wrong first signal due to sudden degradation of the channel quality, and the UE does not monitor the PDCCH according to the wrong first signal, the data sent by the base station to the UE fails to be transmitted in the current DRX cycle, and can only be transmitted in the subsequent DRX cycle, which results in an increase in the data transmission time delay. In order to avoid this situation, part of the power consumption of the UE may be sacrificed to allow the UE to monitor the PDCCH as much as possible, so as to reduce the probability of data transmission failure, thereby reducing the transmission delay.

The embodiment of the application can be applied to various wireless communication systems such as an LTE system, a 5G NR system, a next generation wireless local area network system and the like.

As shown in fig. 3, a communication system suitable for a signal transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application may include a network device 100 (e.g., a base station) and one or more terminal devices 200 (only 1 is shown in fig. 3) connected to the network device 100. The terminal device may receive Y first signals sent by the network device before the first time interval, and if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. In addition, in order to facilitate clear description of technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items having substantially the same functions and actions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance.

For the sake of understanding, the signal transmission method provided by the embodiments of the present application is specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 4, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission method, which takes a first signal as a power saving signal for explanation, and includes:

401. the network device transmits Y power saving signals before a first time interval, Y being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

402. The terminal device receives Y power saving signals before a first time interval, Y being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

Wherein the first time interval may include one or more DRX cycles, or the first time interval may include one or more On durations. For example, the power saving signal may instruct the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH (i.e., in a sleep state) for the next 3 DRX cycles, i.e., 3 DRX cycles that come after the network device sends the power saving signal. For another example, the power saving signal may instruct the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH for the next 2 On durations.

Before the first time interval, there may be X (X ≧ 1) occasions (ocseeds) for monitoring the power saving signal, and the X ocseeds have different time intervals respectively from the start time of the first time interval, and the time intervals may also be referred to as time offsets or as offsets. The time interval between each occasion and the first time interval may be used for processing (for example, analyzing) the power saving signal by the UE, time-frequency synchronization, Channel State Information (CSI) measurement, beam management (beam management), and other processing operations.

For example, assuming that X is 3, the time interval between the first occase and the start time of the first time interval may be 3ms (i.e. the first occase is located 3ms before the start time of the first time interval); the second occase may be located 2ms before the start time of the first time interval; the third occase may be located 1ms before the start time of the first time interval.

The network device may send a power saving signal for each occase of the above X occases, but due to poor channel quality, the UE may receive only Y (Y is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to X) power saving signals or may not receive the power saving signals (i.e. receive 0 power saving signals). Or, the network device may send power saving signals to Y occases among the X occases, and the UE may receive Y (Y is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to X) power saving signals.

The content of the power saving signal sent by each occase in the above X occases by the network device may be the same or different, and when the content is the same, it is equivalent to repeatedly sending the power saving signal, and when the content is different, it may be that the network device (for example, the base station) temporarily changes the scheduling policy, and wants to change the indication content.

403. If at least one power saving signal of the Y power saving signals indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in a first time interval, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval.

For example, assume that Y is 2, where one power saving signal indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval, and another power saving signal indicates that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval, and the terminal device still monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval. The UE may not monitor the PDCCH for the first time interval only if Y (e.g., 2) power saving signals received by the UE all indicate that the UE does not monitor the PDCCH for the first time interval.

Thus, if the base station originally expects the UE to monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval, that is, the UE is instructed by the power consumption saving signal to monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval, but the UE receives an erroneous power consumption saving signal due to sudden degradation of channel quality, or the UE decodes incorrectly, so that the UE does not monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval according to the erroneous power consumption saving signal, then the data sent by the base station to the terminal device will fail to be transmitted in the current DRX cycle, and can only be transmitted in the subsequent DRX cycle, which may cause an increase in transmission delay. To avoid this, the error handling behavior of the terminal device may be defined, that is, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH only when there is a power consumption saving signal indicating that the PDCCH is monitored in the first time interval, so that part of the power consumption of the terminal device may be sacrificed, but the probability of data transmission failure may be reduced (i.e., data transmission failure is avoided), thereby reducing the transmission delay.

In addition, if the terminal device detects 0 power saving signals in X occases before the first time interval, that is, the terminal device does not monitor the power saving signals before the first time interval, it is likely that the power saving signals sent by the base station are not successfully received by the terminal device due to poor channel quality. At this time, in order to reduce the delay, the terminal device may also monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval.

In one possible design, if at least one power saving signal of the Y power saving signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group, so as to ensure that the terminal device receives all PDCCHs transmitted from the base station to the terminal device.

The target serving cell may be any one of the configured secondary cells, or the target serving cell may be one or more of the activated secondary cells. The target serving cell group may include a plurality of serving cells, which may be a plurality of secondary cells of the configured secondary cells, or which may be a plurality of secondary cells of the activated secondary cells.

Illustratively, 5 bits (bits) may be used in the power saving signal to indicate whether the cells 1 to 5 need to monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval, respectively. A 1 may indicate that monitoring is required and a 0 may indicate that monitoring is not required. If the terminal device receives two power saving signals, which indicate 11000 and 10010, respectively, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on cell 1, cell 2, and cell 4 in the first time interval.

For another example, 3 bits may be used in the power saving signal to indicate whether the cell group 1 to the cell group 3 need to monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval, respectively. A 1 may indicate that monitoring is required and a 0 may indicate that monitoring is not required. If the terminal device receives two power saving signals, indicating 100 and 001 respectively, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on all cells in cell group 1 and all cells in cell group 3 during the first time interval.

In one possible design, if the Y power saving signals indicate at least one first information, the terminal device determines that a first information having a smallest value among the at least one first information is valid; and/or if the Y power saving signals indicate at least one piece of second information, the terminal device determines that the second information with the minimum value in the at least one piece of second information is valid. The first information is used to indicate a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, for example, the first information may be a minimum K0 value. The second information is used to indicate a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and for example, the second information may be a minimum K2 value.

It can be understood that, if the minimum K0/K2 value originally indicated by the power saving signal by the base station is equal to 0, that is, the base station may schedule the terminal device in a slotted scheduling manner, but the terminal device receives an erroneous power saving signal due to sudden deterioration of channel quality, or the UE decodes incorrectly, so that the minimum K0/K2 value obtained by the terminal device according to the erroneous power saving signal is greater than 0, and thus the terminal device considers that it is scheduled across slots, and the terminal device cannot correctly receive data transmitted by the base station in a slotted scheduling manner. To avoid data transmission failures, the terminal device may consider the smallest of the plurality of minimum K0/K2 values to be valid when a plurality of minimum K0/K2 values occur (i.e., the terminal device considers the plurality of power saving signals to indicate different minimum K0/K2 values). In this way, if the base station wishes to schedule the terminal device in a manner of scheduling across time slots, the terminal device can correctly receive the data transmitted by the base station, even if the base station wishes to schedule the terminal device in a manner of scheduling across time slots, the terminal device considers that the terminal device is scheduled across time slots, and the terminal device may need to buffer some useless data additionally, but still can correctly receive the data transmitted by the base station.

In addition, during an active period of DRX (including an OnDuration period (OnDuration Timer running period) of DRX and/or an Inactivity Timer running period), if the terminal device receives at least two first messages (for example, a minimum K0 value) within one time slot, the terminal device determines that a first message with a minimum value among the at least two first messages is valid; and/or if the terminal device receives at least two pieces of second information (for example, the minimum value of K2) in one time slot, the terminal device determines that the second information with the minimum value of the at least two pieces of second information is valid. The first information and the second information may be included in DCI for scheduling uplink and/or downlink data.

That is, in the active period of DRX, if the terminal device receives 2 or more than 2 minimum K0/K2 values in the same timeslot, the terminal device may consider the minimum one of the minimum K0/K2 values as valid, i.e., determine whether to be scheduled simultaneously or across timeslots according to the minimum K0/K2 value, so as to ensure that the data transmitted by the base station can be correctly received.

In one possible design, if the terminal device receives Y power saving signals at the first BWP, at least two of the Y power saving signals respectively instruct the terminal device to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP and the third BWP, the terminal device still has the first BWP as the active BWP, i.e., does not switch the current BWP. Wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP.

For example, if Y is 1, i.e. the end device has received only 1 power-saving signal indicating BWP index1, the end device may switch to the corresponding BWP according to BWP index 1. If Y ≧ 2, that is, the terminal device receives 2 or more power consumption saving signals, if the BWP index indicated by each power consumption saving signal is the same, the terminal device may switch to the corresponding BWP. If at least two of the power-saving signals indicate two different BWP indexes (e.g., BWP index2 and BWP index3, respectively), the end device does not switch BWP, i.e., still has the first BWP as the active BWP.

Since the terminal device cannot determine which BWP index of the received BWP indexes is correct, the terminal device may not switch BWPs, i.e. still reside in the currently active BWP, and after the timeout of the BWP timer (timer), the terminal device may align with the base station on the default BWP.

For example, if the base station repeatedly sends two power consumption saving signals indicating BWP index2 to the terminal device, that is, it is desirable to switch the terminal device to the BWP corresponding to BWP index2, but due to the channel quality degradation, the two BWP indexes received by the terminal device are BWP index2 and BWP index3, respectively. If the currently active BWP is BWP1, the duration of BWP timer is 200 ms. When the terminal device receives the second power saving signal, it is assumed that the BWP timer has been running for 120 ms. If the terminal device chooses to switch to the BWP corresponding to the BWP index3, the BWP timer is restarted, so that the terminal device needs to align with the base station after 200ms, and if the terminal device keeps the currently activated BWP unchanged, after 80ms of non-scheduling time (i.e. the terminal device is not scheduled again within the 80 ms), the terminal device can switch to default BWP, and can align with the base station, so that the alignment time can be saved.

It should be noted that the terminal device may monitor the power saving signal on the active BWP (first BWP) according to the configuration information, where the configuration information is used to configure monitoring resources of the power saving signal for all BWPs configured by the terminal device (the monitoring resources of the power saving signal are resources used for monitoring the power saving signal). Wherein the currently active BWP is one of all BWPs configured by the terminal device. In this way, the base station can avoid missing the monitoring resource of the power consumption saving signal on a certain BWP, thereby avoiding the problem that the energy saving on the active BWP is not possible when the BWP is switched to the BWP.

For example, if the network device configures 2 BWPs, which are BWP1 and BWP2, for the terminal device, where only the power consumption saving signal to be monitored is configured on BWP1, and the power consumption saving signal to be monitored is not configured on BWP2, the power consumption saving signal cannot be monitored when active BWP of the terminal device is switched to BWP2, and thus power saving cannot be achieved. Based on the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network device can configure all BWPs configured for the terminal device and need to monitor the power saving signal, thereby avoiding the problem that power cannot be saved on a certain BWP.

It should be noted that the terminal device may receive a plurality of configuration information for configuring the monitoring resource of the power saving signal for each BWP in the entire BWPs; for example, assuming that all BWPs configured by the terminal device include BWP1-BWP3, the network device may configure monitoring resources of the power saving signal for BWP1 in configuration information 1, configure monitoring resources of the power saving signal for BWP2 in configuration information 2, configure monitoring resources of the power saving signal for BWP3 in configuration information 3, and transmit configuration information 1, configuration information 2, and configuration information 3 in three times. Alternatively, the terminal device receives one configuration information for configuring the monitoring resources of the power saving signal for all BWPs, which configuration information may configure the monitoring resources of the power saving signal for all BWPs. That is to say, the configuration information of the monitoring resources for configuring the power saving signals on all BWPs may be issued to the terminal device together, or may be issued to the terminal device separately, which is not limited in this application.

It can be understood that, during the communication between the terminal device and the network device, the terminal device may receive or transmit a Reference Signal (RS) in addition to data transmission and reception, and perform corresponding processing according to the RS. For example, the terminal device may receive an a-CSI-RS sent by the network device, then perform channel state measurement using the a-CSI-RS, and may feed back the measurement result to the network device, so that the network device performs data scheduling better, such as adjusting a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), determining a precoding matrix of MIMO, and the like. When the terminal equipment receives the A-CSI-RS sent by the network equipment, the position information of the A-CSI-RS needs to be acquired, and the network equipment can indicate the position information of the A-CSI-RS through the power consumption saving signal. For example, the power saving signal may include trigger information indicating location information of one or more a-CSI-RSs (the location information of each a-CSI-RS may be represented by an offset of each a-CSI-RS with respect to the On Duration, which may be pre-configured).

In one possible design, if at least one of the Y power saving signals includes trigger information (e.g., trigger state), the terminal device may receive one or more a-CSI-RSs according to the position information of the one or more a-CSI-RSs indicated by each trigger signal, so as to avoid missing detection of the corresponding a-CSI-RSs. The terminal device may then generate channel feedback based on the one or more a-CSI-RSs and send the generated feedback to the network and the device. That is, the terminal device may measure all the a-CSI-RSs according to all the received trigger information (it may be considered that "measuring" includes both receiving the a-CSI-RS and processing the a-CSI-RS), and perform corresponding feedback, so as to avoid that the terminal device fails to measure the corresponding a-CSI-RS, and thus cannot perform corresponding feedback.

In one possible design, if the Y power saving signals indicate the at least one third information (i.e., of the Y power saving signals, at least one power saving signal indicates the third information), the terminal device determines that the third information with the largest value among the at least one third information is valid. Wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of the most input multiple output MIMO layers (i.e., Max MIMO layer value).

For example, when Y is 3, if 2 of the 3 power consumption saving signals indicate Max MIMO layer values, which are 4 and 5, respectively, the terminal device determines that the Max MIMO layer value with the largest value is valid, that is, determines that the Max MIMO layer value is 5.

In the following, with reference to the application scenarios and the beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application, taking a network device as the network device 100 and a terminal device as the mobile phone 200 as an example, a signal transmission method provided by the embodiments of the present application is introduced.

As shown in fig. 5, the network device 100 may send a power saving signal at multiple (e.g., three) occasions, and the power saving signal may be used to instruct the handset 200 to monitor the PDCCH in the next On Duration. The network device 100 determines the start time of the next On Duration (On Duration of the upcoming DRX cycle) of the mobile phone 200, and determines three monitoring occasions (occasions) earlier than the start time, which are respectively an occasion 1, an occasion 2, and an occasion 3. The network device transmits the power saving signal at the three timings, respectively, and the mobile phone 200 receives the power saving signal at the three timings, respectively. If there is at least one power saving signal in the 3 power saving signals, the terminal device is instructed to monitor the PDCCH in the On Duration, and the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the On Duration. This may sacrifice part of the power consumption of the terminal device, but may reduce the probability of data transmission failure (i.e., avoid data transmission failure), thereby reducing the transmission delay.

In addition, as shown in fig. 6, an embodiment of the present application further provides a signal monitoring method, including:

601. and the network equipment sends a second signal, wherein the second signal is used for indicating at least one secondary cell for monitoring the PDCCH.

The second signal may be a power saving signal or other signals, which is not limited in this application.

602. And the terminal equipment receives a second signal, wherein the second signal is used for indicating at least one secondary cell for monitoring the PDCCH.

The at least one secondary cell may be one or more secondary cells in the secondary cells configured by the terminal device, or the at least one secondary cell may be one or more secondary cells in the secondary cells activated by the terminal device.

603. And the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH in the primary cell and monitors the PDCCH in at least one secondary cell according to the second signal.

Since the terminal device always needs to monitor the PDCCH in the primary cell to maintain the connection between the terminal device and the network side, the second signal may only indicate to monitor the PDCCH in at least one secondary cell, and it is not necessary to indicate whether the PDCCH needs to be monitored in the primary cell, so that bit consumption can be saved.

For example, assuming that the terminal device is configured with 5 cells including 1 primary cell and 4 secondary cells, only 4 bits may be used to instruct the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH in the 4 secondary cells, and the primary cell does not need to be instructed, which may save bit consumption.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of the terminal device and the network device. It is understood that the terminal device and the network device include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions in order to implement the functions. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or a combination 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 device 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.

In the case of adopting a functional module divided for each function, fig. 7 shows a possible structural diagram of the terminal device 7 in the above embodiment, where the terminal device includes: a receiving unit 701 and a processing unit 702. In this embodiment of the application, the receiving unit 701 is configured to receive Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; a processing unit 702, configured to monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval, and monitor the PDCCH in the first time interval.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: monitoring the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group if at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: if the Y first signals indicate at least one first message, determining that the first message with the minimum value in the at least one first message is valid; and/or, if the Y first signals indicate at least one second message, determining that a smallest second message among the at least one second message is valid; the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a physical downlink data channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

Optionally, the receiving unit 701 is configured to: receiving the Y first signals at a first BWP before a first time interval; the processing unit 702 is further configured to, if at least two of the Y first signals respectively indicate that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, take the first BWP as an active BWP; wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP.

Optionally, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to: if at least one of the Y first signals includes trigger information, each of the at least one first signals includes trigger information for indicating location information of one or more aperiodic channel state information reference signals, a-CSI-RSs, and the one or more a-CSI-RSs are received according to the location information of the one or more a-CSI-RSs indicated by the trigger signal included in each first signal.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: if the Y first signals indicate at least one third message, determining that the third message with the largest value in the at least one third message is valid; wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of the most MIMO layers.

Optionally, the receiving unit 701 may be configured to receive a second signal, where the second signal is used to indicate at least one secondary cell monitoring the PDCCH; the processing unit 702 may be configured to monitor the PDCCH in the primary cell and monitor the PDCCH in the at least one secondary cell according to the second signal.

In the method embodiment shown in fig. 4 or fig. 6, the receiving unit 701 is configured to support the terminal device to execute the process 402 in fig. 4 or the process 602 in fig. 6. Processing unit 702 is configured to enable the terminal device to perform process 403 in fig. 4 or process 603 in fig. 6.

In one possible design, the terminal device may be implemented by the structure (apparatus or system) in fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure provided in an embodiment of the present application. The architecture 800 includes at least one processor 801, a communication bus 802, a memory 803, and at least one communication interface 804.

The processor 801 may be a CPU, micro-processing unit, ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the programs of the present application.

The communication bus 802 may include a path that conveys information between the aforementioned components.

The communication interface 804 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc.

The memory 803 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a 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 may be self-contained and coupled to the processor via a bus. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 803 is used for storing application program codes for executing the scheme of the application, and the processor 801 controls the execution. The processor 801 is configured to execute the application program code stored in the memory 803, thereby implementing the functions of the method of the present application.

In particular implementations, processor 801 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 8, for example, as an example.

In particular implementations, architecture 800 may include multiple processors, such as processor 801 and processor 807 in FIG. 8, for example, as an example. Each of these processors 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, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In one implementation, the architecture 800 may further include an output device 805 and an input device 806, as one embodiment. The output device 805 is in communication with the processor 801 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 805 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 806 is in communication with the processor 801 and can accept user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 806 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

In a specific implementation, the structure 800 may be a desktop, a laptop, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 8. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of structure 800.

In the case of adopting the functional modules divided corresponding to the respective functions, fig. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the network device 9 involved in the foregoing embodiment, where the network device includes: a transmitting unit 901. In the embodiment of the present application, the transmitting unit 901 is configured to transmit Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1; wherein at least one of the Y first signals instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH during a first time interval.

And/or at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates the terminal equipment to monitor the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

and/or at least one of the Y first signals comprises trigger information, and each of the at least one first signals comprises trigger information for indicating location information of one or more a-CSI-RSs;

Optionally, the sending unit may be configured to send a second signal, where the second signal is used to instruct the terminal device to monitor at least one secondary cell of the PDCCH.

In the method embodiment shown in fig. 4 or fig. 6, the sending unit 901 is configured to support the network device to execute the process 401 in fig. 4 or the process 601 in fig. 6.

In one possible design, the network device may be implemented by the base station of fig. 10.

As shown in fig. 10, a schematic structural diagram of a base station provided in the embodiment of the present application includes a portion 1001 and a portion 1002. The base station 1001 is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting the radio frequency signals and baseband signals; the 1002 part is mainly used for baseband processing, base station control and the like. Portion 1001 may be generally referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiving circuitry, or transceiver, etc. Section 1002 is typically a control center of a base station, which may be referred to generally as a processing unit, for controlling the base station to perform the steps described above with respect to the base station (i.e., serving base station) in fig. 3. Reference is made in particular to the description of the relevant part above.

The transceiver unit of part 1001, which may also be referred to as a transceiver, or a transceiver, includes an antenna and a radio frequency unit, where the radio frequency unit is mainly used for radio frequency processing. Optionally, a device used for implementing the receiving function in the part 1001 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device used for implementing the transmitting function may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the part 1001 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, or the like, and a transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting circuit, or the like.

Section 1002 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories, the processors being configured to read and execute programs in the memories to implement baseband processing functions and control of the base station. If a plurality of single boards exist, the single boards can be interconnected to increase the processing capacity. As an optional implementation, multiple boards may share one or more processors, multiple boards may share one or more memories, or multiple boards may share one or more processors at the same time. The memory and the processor may be integrated together or may be provided separately. In some embodiments, the 1001 portion and the 1002 portion may be integrated together or may be provided separately. In addition, all functions in the portion 1002 may be integrated in one chip, or a part of functions may be integrated in one chip, so that another part of functions is integrated in one or more other chips, which is not limited in this application.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that in one or more of the examples described above, the functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

The above-mentioned embodiments, objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application are further described in detail, it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are only examples of the present application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements and the like made on the basis of the technical solutions of the present application should be included in the scope of the present application.

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

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

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

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

Claims

1. A signal transmission method, comprising:

the terminal equipment receives Y first signals before a first time interval, wherein Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

and if at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates that the terminal equipment monitors a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in the first time interval, the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval.

2. The signal transmission method of claim 1, further comprising:

if at least one first signal in the Y first signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in a target serving cell or a target serving cell group, the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

3. The signal transmission method according to claim 2,

the target serving cell is any one of the configured secondary cells, or the target serving cell is one or more activated secondary cells;

the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of configured secondary cells, or the plurality of serving cells included in the target serving cell group are a plurality of activated secondary cells.

4. The signal transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

if the Y first signals indicate at least one piece of first information, the terminal equipment determines that the first information with the minimum value in the at least one piece of first information is valid; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

if the Y first signals indicate at least one piece of second information, the terminal equipment determines that the second information with the minimum value in the at least one piece of second information is valid;

the first information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between a PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH, and the second information is used for indicating a minimum available value of a time interval between the PDCCH and a PUSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.

5. The signal transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the terminal device receiving Y first signals before the first time interval comprises:

the terminal device receiving the Y first signals at a first bandwidth portion BWP before a first time interval;

if at least two first signals of the Y first signals respectively indicate that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, the terminal device regards the first BWP as an active BWP; wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP.

6. The signal transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the method further comprises:

if at least one of the Y first signals comprises trigger information, each of the at least one first signals comprises trigger information used for indicating position information of one or more aperiodic channel state information reference signals (A-CSI-RS), and the terminal equipment receives the one or more A-CSI-RSs according to the position information of the one or more A-CSI-RSs indicated by the trigger signal.

7. The signal transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the method further comprises:

if the Y first signals indicate at least one third message, the terminal equipment determines that the third message with the largest value in the at least one third message is valid;

wherein the third information is used to indicate the number of the most MIMO layers.

8. A terminal device, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive Y first signals before a first time interval, where Y is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

and the processing unit is configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH in the first time interval if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first time interval.

9. The terminal device of claim 8, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

monitoring a PDCCH in a target serving cell or a target serving cell group if at least one of the Y first signals indicates that the PDCCH is monitored in the target serving cell or the target serving cell group; wherein the target serving cell group includes a plurality of serving cells.

10. The terminal device of claim 9,

11. The terminal device of any of claims 8-10, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

if the Y first signals indicate at least one first message, determining that the first message with the minimum value in the at least one first message is valid; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

if the Y first signals indicate at least one second message, determining that the second message with the minimum value in the at least one second message is valid;

12. The terminal device according to any of claims 8-11, wherein the receiving unit is configured to:

receiving the Y first signals at a first bandwidth part BWP before a first time interval;

the processing unit is further configured to, if at least two of the Y first signals respectively indicate that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP and a third BWP, use the first BWP as an active BWP; wherein the second BWP is different from the third BWP.

13. The terminal device according to any of claims 8-12, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

if at least one of the Y first signals comprises trigger information, each of the at least one first signals comprises trigger information for indicating location information of one or more aperiodic channel state information reference signals (A-CSI-RS), and the one or more A-CSI-RSs are received according to the location information of the one or more A-CSI-RSs indicated by the trigger signal comprised by each first signal.

14. The terminal device of any of claims 8-13, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

if the Y first signals indicate at least one third message, determining that the third message with the largest value in the at least one third message is valid;

15. An apparatus comprising a processor coupled to a memory, the memory having stored therein instructions that, when invoked and executed, cause the apparatus to perform the signal transmission method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

16. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the signal transmission method of any one of claims 1 to 7.