CN113938995A

CN113938995A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN113938995A
Application number: CN202010803120.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邝奕如
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-14
Filing date: 2020-08-11
Publication date: 2022-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 2040-08-11
Also published as: WO2022012388A1; CN113938995B

Abstract

The application relates to a communication method and equipment. The terminal device receives a first message from the network device, where the first message is used to indicate a plurality of paging occasions PO where an indication information is associated with the terminal device, and the indication information is used to wake up the terminal device or not. And the terminal equipment determines the value of N, wherein N is the number of POs of the terminal equipment associated with the indication information, and the value of N is related to the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment. The terminal equipment receives the first indication information from the network equipment and determines the monitoring condition of the N POs of the terminal equipment according to the first indication information. In the embodiment of the present application, even if the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is small, the terminal device may monitor only a part of POs in the paging cycle, and the remaining POs in the paging cycle do not need to monitor. Since the number of POs to be listened to is reduced, power consumption of the terminal device can be saved.

Description

Communication method and device

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims priority of chinese patent application entitled "a method of waking up an indication, a terminal and a network device" filed by the chinese intellectual property office on 14/07/2020, application number 202010674448.7, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and device.

Background

The New Radio (NR) technology of the fifth generation (5generation, 5G) continues to use a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mechanism in the Long Term Evolution (LTE), where the DRX mechanism includes DRX cycles, and the terminal device may "wake up" for a period of time in one DRX cycle, and may remain in a "sleep" state at other times in the DRX cycle to reduce power consumption. When the terminal device is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle (idle) state or an RRC inactive (inactive) state, if the core network device or the base station needs to send downlink data to the terminal device (for example, a call needs to be incoming to the terminal device or data needs to be transmitted to the terminal device), a paging (paging) message is sent to the terminal device for paging the terminal device, and after receiving the paging message, the terminal device initiates an RRC connection establishment process, so as to receive the downlink data.

In the paging mechanism, for a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, a DRX cycle is also a paging cycle. The base station broadcasts a paging cycle common to the cells, called a default paging cycle, and the terminal device may determine a terminal device specific paging cycle, called a UE specific paging cycle. The existing standards specify that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the smaller of the default paging cycle and the UE-specific paging cycle. The UE-specific paging cycle is generally determined by the terminal device according to the service condition, and better conforms to the actual working condition of the terminal device. However, even if the terminal device determines a UE-specific paging cycle with a larger value according to the delay requirement of the service of the terminal device, the terminal device still uses the default paging cycle because the default paging cycle is smaller, and the frequency at which the terminal device actually wakes up is faster than the frequency at which the terminal device expects to wake up, which is not favorable for energy saving of the terminal device.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and equipment, which are used for reducing the power consumption of terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, a first communication method is provided, the method including: receiving a first message from a network device, wherein the first message is used for indicating a plurality of paging occasions PO of an indication information associated with a terminal device from the network device, and the indication information is used for waking up the terminal device or not waking up the terminal device; determining the value of N, wherein N is the number of POs of the terminal equipment associated with one piece of indication information, the value of N is related to the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment, and N is a positive integer; receiving first indication information from the network device; and determining the monitoring conditions of the N POs of the terminal equipment according to the first indication information.

The method may be performed by a first communication device, which may be a communication apparatus or a communication device, e.g. a chip, capable of supporting the communication apparatus to implement the functionality required for the method. Illustratively, the first communication device is a terminal device, or a chip provided in the terminal device for implementing a function of the terminal device, or another component for implementing a function of the terminal device. In the following description, the first communication device is taken as an example of a terminal device.

The network device is, for example, an access network device, or a core network device, or the network device may be an access network device and a core network device if the access network device and the core network device are merged into the same device in a later communication system. In the embodiment of the present application, the indication information may be associated with multiple paging occasions, that is, even if the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is small, the terminal device may monitor only a part of POs in the paging cycle, and the remaining POs in the paging cycle do not need to monitor. Since the number of POs to be listened to is reduced, power consumption of the terminal device can be saved.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining a value of N includes:

determining the value of N according to the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment; or the like, or, alternatively,

and receiving a second message from the network equipment, wherein the second message is used for indicating the value of the N.

The value of N may be determined according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device. By the method, the terminal equipment can automatically determine the value of N without the indication of network equipment, so that signaling interaction can be reduced, and signaling overhead is saved. Or, if the terminal device is in the RRC inactive state, the network device may send a unicast message to the terminal device, and the network device may also notify the terminal device of the value of N through the second message, so that the terminal device does not need to determine the value of N again, the implementation of the terminal device may be simplified, and the technical scheme of the embodiment of the present application may be advantageously applied to more terminal devices with lower capabilities.

With reference to the first optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, a value of N includes:

the special paging cycle is less than or equal to a system default paging cycle, and N is determined to be a first value; or the like, or, alternatively,

and determining N as a second value, wherein the second value is a value determined according to the special paging cycle and the system default paging cycle.

The dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device may have a corresponding relationship with the value of N, which is one of the corresponding relationships. In the corresponding relation, the terminal equipment can determine the value of N only according to the size relation between the special paging cycle and the default paging cycle of the system, and the mode is simpler.

With reference to the second optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the second value is a value determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the system default paging cycle, and includes:

the second value is the dedicated paging cycle/the system default paging cycle.

If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the special paging cycle of the terminal device, so that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is more in line with the service requirement of the terminal device. At this time, the value (i.e., the first value) of N is, for example, 1, which indicates that the paging granularity of the network to the terminal device is refined to each PO, so that the probability that the terminal device misses a page can be reduced. If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the default paging cycle of the system, and therefore the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is smaller than the cycle required by the service of the terminal device. At this time, N may be determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the default paging cycle of the system, so that the value (i.e., the second value) of N may meet the service requirement of the terminal device and may also reduce the power consumption of the terminal device as much as possible.

With reference to the first optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, a value of N includes:

the special paging cycle is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, and N is determined to be a second value;

wherein the first value and the second value are both preconfigured values.

There may be a correspondence between the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and the value of N, which is another correspondence. If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the special paging cycle of the terminal device, so that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is more in line with the service requirement of the terminal device. At this time, N may be 1, which indicates that the paging granularity of the network to the terminal device is refined to each PO, so that the probability that the terminal device misses the paging may be reduced. If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the default paging cycle of the system, and therefore the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is smaller than the cycle required by the service of the terminal device. At this time, N may be a second value, for example, if the second value is greater than the first value, the power consumption of the terminal device may be reduced as much as possible by applying the second value. And the first value and the second value are pre-configured, so that the terminal equipment does not need to calculate by itself, and the realization of the terminal equipment can be simplified.

With reference to the first optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, a value of N includes:

and determining the value of N according to the value range to which the special paging cycle belongs, wherein different value ranges correspond to different values of N, and the number of the value ranges is more than or equal to 3.

There may be a correspondence between the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and the value of N, which is another correspondence. In this way, more ranges can be divided, and the terminal device can determine the value of N according to the value range to which the dedicated paging cycle belongs. The value range of the division can be more and thinner, so the determined value of N can be more accurate.

With reference to the second optional implementation manner of the first aspect to any optional implementation manner of the fifth optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes:

receiving a third message from the network device, where the third message is used to indicate a correspondence between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device; or the like, or, alternatively,

determining the corresponding relation between the value of N and the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment according to predefined information; or the like, or, alternatively,

and pre-storing the corresponding relation between the value of N and the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment.

For example, the correspondence between the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and the value of N may be specified by a protocol, and then the terminal device may determine the correspondence between the value of N and the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device according to predefined information; or, the corresponding relation between the special paging cycle of the terminal device and the value of N may be stored in the terminal device in advance; or, the corresponding relationship between the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and the value of N may also be configured by a network device (e.g., an access network device), and sent to the terminal device. For example, the access network device may send a third message, where the third message may indicate a correspondence between a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and a value of N, and the third message is, for example, a broadcast message or a unicast message. In short, the terminal device can obtain the corresponding relationship between the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and the value of N, so that the terminal device can determine the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device.

With reference to the first aspect or any one of the first to sixth alternative embodiments of the first aspect, in a seventh alternative embodiment of the first aspect,

the first indication information is included in paging control information, the first indication information is used for indicating to monitor paging messages or indicating not to monitor paging messages, and the paging control information is used for scheduling paging messages; or the like, or, alternatively,

the first indication information is included in downlink control information before PO, and the first indication information is used for indicating to monitor paging or indicating not to monitor paging.

In various embodiments of the present application, listening to paging may be understood as listening to a PO, i.e. listening to messages sent by the network in the PO, the messages sent by the network in the PO for example comprising paging control information, or comprising paging control information and paging messages. For example, the first indication information may be included in DCI, e.g., WUS, before the first PO of one paging cycle. The first indication information may indicate to listen for pages or indicate not to listen for pages. The WUS is located before the POs in the time domain, if the first indication information indicates that paging is not monitored, the terminal equipment does not need to monitor in the N POs, and therefore power consumption of the terminal equipment can be saved to a large extent. Alternatively, the first indication information may be included in the paging control information, and for example, in the case of no WUS transmission, the first indication information may be transmitted through the paging control information so that the first indication information can be normally transmitted.

With reference to the seventh optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in an eighth optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, by the first indication information, listening to N POs of the terminal device includes:

the first indication information is used for indicating monitoring of paging messages, and then the paging messages from the network equipment are monitored in the current PO, and the paging messages from the network equipment are monitored in the rest POs except the current PO in the N POs; or the like, or, alternatively,

the first indication information is used to indicate not to monitor the paging message, and then, the paging message from the network device is not monitored in the current PO, and the paging message from the network device is not monitored in the remaining POs of the N POs except the current PO.

If the first indication information is included in the paging control information, the N POs associated with the first indication information may include the PO in which the DCI is located and include consecutive N-1 POs located after the PO; or, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also include any N POs in the paging cycle, where the N POs may be continuous or discontinuous in the time domain, and the N POs may include a PO in which the DCI is located, or may not include a PO in which the DCI is located; alternatively, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also include N POs in multiple paging cycles, where the N POs may include a PO in which the DCI is located, or may not include a PO in which the DCI is located. Taking the example that the N POs includes the PO where the DCI is located, the terminal device may monitor the paging message or not within the N POs according to the indication of the first indication information. In this way, the first indication information may affect "sleep" and "wake-up" of the terminal device in the N POs, that is, the first indication information may indicate both the sleep of the terminal device in the N POs and the wake-up of the terminal device in the N POs, so that the indication is more comprehensive.

With reference to the seventh optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in a ninth optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, according to the first indication information, listening conditions to N POs of the terminal device includes:

if the first indication information is used for indicating monitoring paging, monitoring paging control information in the N POs, or monitoring paging control information and paging messages in the N POs; or the like, or, alternatively,

and if the first indication information is used for indicating not monitoring paging, not monitoring paging control information and/or paging messages in the N POs.

If the first indication information is included in the downlink control information located before the POs in the time domain, the N POs with which the first indication information is associated may include consecutive N POs starting from a first PO after the WUS; or, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also be any N POs included in the paging cycle, and the N POs may be continuous or discontinuous in the time domain; alternatively, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also include N POs in multiple paging cycles. The terminal device may listen to paging or not listen to paging in the N POs as indicated by the first indication information. In this way, the first indication information may affect "sleep" and "wake-up" of the terminal device in the N POs, that is, the first indication information may indicate both the sleep of the terminal device in the N POs and the wake-up of the terminal device in the N POs, so that the indication is more comprehensive.

With reference to the seventh optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in a tenth optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, by the first indication information, listening to N POs of the terminal device according to the first indication information includes:

the first indication information is used for indicating monitoring of paging messages, and then the paging messages from the network equipment are monitored in the current PO; or the like, or, alternatively,

Also, the first indication information may affect the "sleep" of the terminal device in the N POs, but not affect the "wake" of the terminal device in the N POs. Then, for example, if the first indication information indicates to monitor a paging message, the terminal device may monitor the paging control information in a PO where the paging control information is located, if the received paging control information includes scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device monitors the paging message in the PO, after receiving the paging message, if the paging message includes an identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device is paged, the terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with an access network device, or if the paging message does not include the identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device is not paged; or, the first indication information indicates not to monitor the paging message, the terminal device does not monitor the paging message in all the N POs associated with the first indication information. Equivalently, if the first indication information indicates monitoring paging, it is considered that the first indication information has no association relation with the N POs, and the terminal device only needs to monitor in the PO where the first indication information is located normally; and if the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, the first indication information is considered to have an association relationship with the N POs, and the terminal device does not monitor the paging message in the N POs associated with the first indication information. By the mode, the first indication information only indicates the dormancy of the terminal equipment in the N POs, and the purpose of saving the power consumption of the terminal equipment is achieved.

With reference to the seventh optional implementation manner of the first aspect, in an eleventh optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining, according to the first indication information, listening situations to N POs of the terminal device includes:

if the first indication information is used for indicating monitoring paging, monitoring paging control information in a first PO after downlink control information before the PO, or monitoring paging control information and paging information; or the like, or, alternatively,

and if the first indication information is used for indicating not monitoring paging, not monitoring paging control information and paging information in the N POs.

This is also the way in which the first indication may affect the "sleep" of the terminal device within the N POs, but not the "wake" of the terminal device within the N POs. For example, the first indication information indicates to monitor paging, the terminal device may monitor paging control information in the first PO after the WUS, or monitor paging control information and paging message; or, the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, the terminal device does not need to monitor neither paging control information nor paging messages in the N POs associated with the first indication information. Equivalently, if the first indication information indicates monitoring paging, it is considered that the first indication information has no association relation with the N POs, and the terminal device only needs to monitor in the PO located behind the first indication information normally; and if the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, it is determined that the first indication information is associated with the N POs, and the terminal device does not need to monitor either paging control information or paging messages in the N POs associated with the first indication information. By the mode, the first indication information only indicates the dormancy of the terminal equipment in the N POs, and the purpose of saving the power consumption of the terminal equipment is achieved.

In combination with the first aspect or any one of the first to eleventh optional embodiments of the first aspect, in a twelfth optional embodiment of the first aspect, the method further comprises:

determining that the first indication information corresponds to a first packet to which the terminal device belongs, the first packet including one or more terminal devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal devices may be divided into different groups, and the division factor may include one or more types. For example, one of the dividing factors is a paging cycle of the terminal device, where the paging cycle of the terminal device is, for example, a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, or may also be a paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device, where the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is a smaller value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and a default paging cycle of the system. The paging cycle may be divided into one or more ranges, each of which corresponds to a group, and if the paging cycle of a terminal device is within one of the ranges, the terminal device belongs to the group corresponding to the range. After the terminal device is divided into one or more groups, each of the one or more groups may be assigned an indication information. By grouping the terminal devices, the indication can be performed in a grouping mode when the indication is performed through the indication information, and for one terminal device, if the indication information is determined not to correspond to the group to which the terminal device belongs, the terminal device can not respond to the indication information, so that the false alarm probability of the terminal device can be reduced. Moreover, the grouping to which the terminal device belongs is divided through the paging cycle, so that the division result is more reasonable, and the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

In combination with the first aspect or any one of the first to twelfth optional embodiments of the first aspect, in a thirteenth optional embodiment of the first aspect, the method further comprises:

sending first information, wherein the first information is used for indicating one or more of the following items:

whether the terminal equipment supports the indication information or not;

whether the terminal equipment supports the indication information to be associated with a plurality of POs of the terminal equipment or not;

energy conservation requirements; or the like, or, alternatively,

requesting to associate the indication information with a plurality of POs of the terminal device.

The terminal device can inform the core network device of the capability of the terminal device or the requirement of the terminal device through the first information, so that the paging mode of the subsequent network for the terminal device can meet the capability or the requirement of the terminal device as much as possible.

In a second aspect, a second communication method is provided, the method comprising: sending a first message, where the first message is used to indicate that one indication information from the network device is associated with multiple paging occasions PO of the terminal device, and the indication information is used to wake up the terminal device or not; determining the value of N, wherein N is the number of POs of the terminal equipment associated with one piece of indication information, the value of N is related to the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment, and N is a positive integer; and sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information is associated with the N POs.

The method may be performed by a second communication device, which may be a communication apparatus or a communication device, e.g. a chip, capable of supporting the communication apparatus to perform the functions required by the method. Illustratively, the second communication device is a network device, or a chip provided in the network device for implementing the functions of the network device, or other components for implementing the functions of the network device. In the following description, the second communication device is taken as an example of a network device. Illustratively, the network device is an access network device, such as a base station.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the determining a value of N includes:

and determining the value of N according to the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment.

With reference to the first optional implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the determining, according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, a value of N includes:

and determining N as a second value, wherein the special paging cycle is less than or equal to a system default paging cycle, and the second value is a value determined according to the special paging cycle and the system default paging cycle.

With reference to the second optional implementation manner of the second aspect, in a third optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the second value is a value determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the system default paging cycle, and includes:

the second value is the dedicated paging cycle/the system default paging cycle.

With reference to the first optional implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fourth optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the determining, according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, a value of N includes:

the special paging cycle is less than or equal to a system default paging cycle, and N is determined to be a second value;

wherein the first value and the second value are both preconfigured values.

With reference to the first optional implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fifth optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the determining, according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, a value of N includes:

and determining the value of N according to the value range to which the special paging cycle belongs, wherein different value ranges correspond to different values, and the number of the value ranges is more than or equal to 3.

With reference to any one of the second optional implementation manner of the second aspect to the fifth optional implementation manner of the second aspect, in a sixth optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further comprises:

sending a third message, wherein the third message is used for indicating the corresponding relation between the value of N and the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment; or the like, or, alternatively,

With reference to the second aspect or any one of the first alternative embodiment to the sixth alternative embodiment of the second aspect, in a seventh alternative embodiment of the second aspect,

the first awakening information is included in paging control information, the first awakening information is used for indicating to monitor paging messages or indicating not to monitor the paging messages, and the paging control information is used for scheduling the paging messages; or the like, or, alternatively,

the first wake-up information is included in downlink control information before PO, and the first wake-up information is used to indicate to monitor paging or to indicate not to monitor paging.

With reference to the second aspect or any one of the first optional implementation manner of the second aspect to the seventh optional implementation manner of the second aspect, in an eighth optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further comprises:

receiving first information from a terminal device or a core network device, wherein the first information is used for indicating one or more of the following items:

whether the terminal equipment supports the indication information or not;

energy conservation requirements; or the like, or, alternatively,

With reference to the second aspect or any optional implementation manner of the first optional implementation manner of the second aspect to the eighth optional implementation manner of the second aspect, in a ninth optional implementation manner of the second aspect, the first indication information corresponds to a first group to which the terminal device belongs, and the first group includes one or more terminal devices.

With regard to the technical effects brought about by the second aspect or various alternative embodiments of the second aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the first aspect or the respective embodiments.

In a third aspect, a third method of communication is provided, the method comprising: receiving a first message from an access network device, the first message comprising first packet information indicating a first packet, the first packet comprising one or more terminal devices; determining that the first terminal device belongs to the first group, wherein the first group is divided according to a paging cycle of the terminal device; and monitoring paging in the PO associated with the first message.

The method may be performed by a third communication device, which may be a communication apparatus or a communication device, such as a chip, capable of supporting a communication apparatus to implement the functions required by the method. Illustratively, the third communication device is a terminal device, or a chip provided in the terminal device for implementing the function of the terminal device, or another component for implementing the function of the terminal device. In the following description, the third communication device is taken as an example of a terminal device, for example, the terminal device is a first terminal device.

The embodiment of the application groups the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can be paged in a grouping mode. For a terminal device, if it is determined that the packet information (e.g., the first packet information) from the access network device is not the information of the packet to which the terminal device belongs, the terminal device may not listen in the corresponding PO, which may reduce the false alarm probability of the terminal device. In addition, the embodiment of the application can adopt the paging cycle to divide the groups of the terminal equipment, the grouping mode is more reasonable, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be better reduced.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first optional implementation manner of the third aspect, the paging cycle of the terminal device is a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, or is a paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device, where the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is a smaller value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and a default paging cycle of the system.

When the terminal devices are grouped according to the paging cycle, the paging cycle may refer to a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, or may also refer to a paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device, which is not limited specifically.

With reference to the third aspect or the first optional implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second optional implementation manner of the third aspect, the monitoring paging in a PO associated with the first message, where the first message is downlink control information located before the PO, includes:

and monitoring paging control information or monitoring paging control information and paging information in the PO associated with the downlink control information.

The first message may be DCI, e.g., WUS, before the first PO of one paging cycle. Then, the POs associated with the first message may refer to one or more POs located after the WUS, the one or more POs may be continuous POs or discontinuous POs in time domain, and the one or more POs may be located in one paging cycle or may be located in multiple paging cycles. Then, if the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, indicating that the packet in which the first terminal device is located is being paged, the first terminal device may listen for paging control information in one or more POs located after the WUS.

With reference to the third aspect or the first optional implementation manner of the third aspect, in a third optional implementation manner of the third aspect, the monitoring paging in a PO associated with the first message, where the monitoring paging is performed using the first message, includes:

and monitoring the paging message in the PO where the paging control information is located.

The first message may also be paging control information. Then, the first message may associate one or more POs, and if the first message associates one PO, the one PO refers to, for example, the PO where the paging control information is located; alternatively, if the first message is associated with a plurality of POs, the plurality of POs may include the PO in which the paging control information is located and include at least one PO located after the PO in which the paging control information is located, or the plurality of POs associated with the first message may not include the PO in which the paging control information is located but include only at least one PO located after the PO in which the paging control information is located. If the first message is associated with multiple POs, the multiple POs may be consecutive POs in the time domain, or may also be discontinuous POs, and the one or more POs may be located in one paging cycle, or may also be located in multiple paging cycles. For example, the PO associated with the first message refers to the PO where the paging control information is located, if the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, which indicates that the packet where the first terminal device is located is paged, the first terminal device may listen to the paging message in the PO.

With reference to the third aspect or any one of the first optional implementation manner to the third optional implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fourth optional implementation manner of the third aspect, the method further includes:

receiving a second message from the access network device, the second message for enabling grouping of terminal devices by a paging cycle; or the like, or, alternatively,

receiving a second message from the access network device, where the second message includes packet rule information, where the packet rule information includes information of at least one packet and a value range of a paging cycle corresponding to each packet in the at least one packet; or the like, or, alternatively,

and receiving a second message from the access network equipment, wherein the second message is used for indicating the grouping to which the first terminal equipment belongs.

When grouping the terminal devices, different partition factors may be used, and then under different partition factors, the terminal devices may have corresponding grouping manners, for example, for the first terminal device, grouping according to the paging cycle and grouping according to the paging probability, obviously, the grouping manners are different, and the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs is also different. For this reason, the second message may enable grouping of the terminal devices according to the paging cycle, that is, the access network device may indicate, through the second message, a manner in which grouping according to the paging cycle is enabled, so that the first terminal device may determine that the group to which the first terminal device belongs is a corresponding group in a case where the group is grouped according to the paging cycle.

Alternatively, if the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may not have to enable the grouping of the terminal devices by the paging cycle through a special message. For example, the access network device may still send the second message, but the second message includes the packet rule information, which is equivalent to that the access network device sends the packet rule information, which implicitly indicates the manner in which the terminal devices are enabled to be grouped through the paging cycle. After the first terminal device receives the grouping rule information, the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs can be determined according to the grouping rule information and the corresponding dividing factor (for example, the paging cycle of the first terminal device).

Alternatively, if the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may not need to enable the terminal device to group through the paging cycle through a special message, or may not need to send the grouping rule information to the terminal device. For example, the access network device may send a second message to the first terminal device, where the second message is a unicast message, and the second message may indicate a packet to which the first terminal device belongs. That is, the access network device may determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs, and notify the first terminal device of the information of the group to which the first terminal device belongs, so that the first terminal device does not need to determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs by itself. Furthermore, the access network device indicates the group to which the first terminal device belongs, which is equivalent to implicitly indicating the way to enable the terminal devices to be grouped by the paging cycle. By the method, signaling overhead can be saved, and workload of the terminal equipment is reduced.

With reference to the third aspect or any one of the first optional implementation manner to the fourth optional implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fifth optional implementation manner of the third aspect, the method further includes:

and sending the special paging cycle of the first terminal equipment to the access network equipment or the core network equipment.

For example, the first terminal device may send the dedicated paging cycle to the core network device through a NAS message, where the NAS message is, for example, a registration request message, or may also be another NAS message in a registration process, or may also be a corresponding NAS message after the registration is completed.

In a fourth aspect, a fourth communication method is provided, the method comprising: sending a first message, wherein the first message comprises first packet information, the first packet information is used for indicating a first packet, and the first packet comprises one or more terminal devices; determining that a first terminal device belongs to the first group, wherein the first group is divided according to a paging cycle of the terminal device; paging the first terminal device within the PO associated with the first message.

The method may be performed by a fourth communication device, which may be a communication apparatus or a communication device, such as a chip, capable of supporting a communication apparatus to implement the functions required by the method. Illustratively, the fourth communication device is a network device, or a chip provided in the network device for implementing the function of the network device, or another component for implementing the function of the network device. In the following description, the fourth communication device is taken as an example of a network device. Illustratively, the network device is an access network device, such as a base station.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first optional implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the paging cycle of the terminal device is a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, or is a paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device, where the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is a smaller value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and a system default paging cycle.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first optional implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second optional implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the method further includes:

sending a second message for enabling grouping of terminal devices by a paging cycle; or the like, or, alternatively,

sending a second message, wherein the second message comprises grouping rule information, and the grouping rule information comprises information of at least one group and a value range of a paging cycle corresponding to each group in the at least one group; or the like, or, alternatively,

and sending a second message to the first terminal device, wherein the second message is used for indicating the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first optional implementation manner of the fourth aspect or the second optional implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a third optional implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the method further includes:

receiving a dedicated paging cycle for the first terminal device from the first terminal device.

With regard to the technical effects brought about by the fourth aspect or the various alternative embodiments of the fourth aspect, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the third aspect or the respective embodiments.

In a fifth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided. The communication device is configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, for example, the communication device is the first communication device described above; alternatively, the communication device is configured to perform the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, for example, the communication device is the third communication device described above. In particular, the communication device may comprise means for performing the method of the first aspect or any of its possible embodiments, for example comprising processing means and transceiver means; alternatively, the communication device may comprise means, for example comprising processing means and transceiver means, for performing the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect. For example, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, and the transmitting module and the receiving module may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but can implement different functions. Illustratively, the communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component provided in a communication device. Illustratively, the communication device is a terminal device. For example, the transceiver module may be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module may be implemented by a processor. Alternatively, the sending module may be implemented by a sender, the receiving module may be implemented by a receiver, and the sender and the receiver may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but may implement different functions. If the communication device is a communication device, the transceiver is implemented, for example, by an antenna, a feeder, a codec, etc. in the communication device. Alternatively, if the communication device is a chip disposed in a communication device, the transceiver (or the transmitter and the receiver) is, for example, a communication interface in the chip, and the communication interface is connected with a radio frequency transceiving component in the communication device to realize transceiving of information through the radio frequency transceiving component.

In a sixth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided. The communication device is configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, for example, the communication device is the second communication device described above; alternatively, the communication device is configured to perform the method of the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, for example, the communication device is the fourth communication device described above. In particular, the communication device may comprise means for performing the method of the second aspect or any of its possible embodiments, for example comprising a processing means and a transceiver means; alternatively, the communication device may comprise means for performing the method of the fourth aspect or any of its possible embodiments, for example comprising processing means and transceiver means. For example, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, and the transmitting module and the receiving module may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but can implement different functions. Illustratively, the communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component provided in a communication device. Illustratively, the communication device is a network device. Illustratively, the network device is an access network device, such as a base station. For example, the transceiver module may be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module may be implemented by a processor. Alternatively, the sending module may be implemented by a sender, the receiving module may be implemented by a receiver, and the sender and the receiver may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but may implement different functions. If the communication device is a communication device, the transceiver is implemented, for example, by an antenna, a feeder, a codec, etc. in the communication device. Alternatively, if the communication device is a chip disposed in a communication device, the transceiver (or the transmitter and the receiver) is, for example, a communication interface in the chip, and the communication interface is connected with a radio frequency transceiving component in the communication device to realize transceiving of information through the radio frequency transceiving component.

In a seventh aspect, a communications apparatus is provided. The communication device includes one or more processors and optionally a communication interface, which may be used to communicate with other devices or apparatuses. Optionally, the communication device may also include one or more memories for storing computer instructions. One or more processors and one or more memories coupled to each other for implementing the methods described in the first aspect or the various possible embodiments of the first aspect, for example, the communication device is the first communication device described above; or, for implementing the method described in the third aspect or various possible embodiments of the third aspect, for example, the communication device is the third communication device described above. Alternatively, the communication device may not include a memory, and at least one memory may be located external to the communication device. The one or more processors, the one or more memories and the communication interface are mutually coupled for implementing the methods described above for the first aspect or the various possible embodiments of the first aspect, or for implementing the methods described above for the third aspect or the various possible embodiments of the third aspect. For example, the communication device may also include one or more computer programs, stored in one or more memories, the one or more computer programs including computer instructions. The computer instructions stored by the one or more memories, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the communication device to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, or the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect. Illustratively, the communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component provided in a communication device. Illustratively, the communication device is a terminal device.

Where the communication means is a communication device, the communication interface is implemented, for example, by a transceiver (or a transmitter and a receiver) in the communication device, for example, by an antenna, a feeder, a codec, etc. in the communication device. Or, if the communication device is a chip disposed in the communication apparatus, the communication interface is, for example, an input/output interface, such as an input/output pin, of the chip, and the communication interface is connected to a radio frequency transceiving component in the communication apparatus to realize transceiving of information through the radio frequency transceiving component.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes one or more processors and optionally a communication interface, which may be used to communicate with other devices or apparatuses. Optionally, the communication device may further comprise a memory for storing computer instructions. One or more processors and one or more memories coupled to each other for implementing the methods described in the second aspect or the various possible embodiments of the second aspect, for example, the communication device is the second communication device described above; or, the method for implementing the fourth aspect or the various possible embodiments of the fourth aspect is, for example, the communication device is the fourth communication device described above. Alternatively, the communication device may not include memory, and one or more memories may be located external to the communication device. The one or more processors, the one or more memories and the communication interface are mutually coupled for implementing the methods described in the second aspect or the various possible embodiments of the second aspect, or for implementing the methods described in the fourth aspect or the various possible embodiments of the fourth aspect. For example, the communication device may also include one or more computer programs, stored in one or more memories, the one or more computer programs including computer instructions. The one or more processors, when executing the computer instructions stored by the one or more memories, cause the second communication device to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the second aspect or the second aspect described above, or cause the communication device to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect described above. Illustratively, the communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component provided in a communication device. Illustratively, the communication device is a network device. Illustratively, the network device is an access network device, such as a base station.

A ninth aspect provides a communication system comprising the communication apparatus of the fifth aspect or the communication apparatus of the seventh aspect, and comprising the communication apparatus of the sixth aspect or the communication apparatus of the eighth aspect.

A tenth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible embodiments of the first aspect, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in the third aspect or any one of the possible embodiments of the third aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in any of the possible embodiments of the second aspect or the second aspect above, or causes the computer to perform the method described in any of the possible embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect above.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions for storing a computer program, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible embodiments of the first aspect, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in the third aspect or any one of the possible embodiments of the third aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of the possible embodiments of the second aspect or the second aspect above, or causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of the possible embodiments of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect above.

In the embodiment of the present application, even if the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is small, the terminal device may monitor only a part of POs in the paging cycle, and the remaining POs in the paging cycle do not need to monitor. Since the number of POs to be listened to is reduced, power consumption of the terminal device can be saved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a first communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the temporal position relationship between the WUS and the PO;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a monitoring situation of a terminal device in N POs according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is another schematic diagram of a monitoring situation of a terminal device in N POs in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is another schematic diagram of a monitoring situation of a terminal device in N POs in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a further schematic diagram of the monitoring situation of the terminal device in N POs in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a PO monitored by a terminal device after the method according to the embodiment of the present application is adopted;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a second communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of a third communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a flowchart of a fourth communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is another schematic block diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is another schematic block diagram of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 18 is a further schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 19 is a further schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1) Terminal equipment, including equipment providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, in particular, including equipment providing voice to a user, or including equipment providing data connectivity to a user, or including equipment providing voice and data connectivity to a user. For example, may include a handheld device having wireless connection capability, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device may communicate with a core network via a Radio Access Network (RAN), exchange voice or data with the RAN, or interact with the RAN. The terminal device may include a User Equipment (UE), a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a device-to-device communication (D2D) terminal device, a vehicle-to-all (V2X) terminal device, a machine-to-machine/machine-type communication (M2M/MTC) terminal device, an internet of things (IoT) terminal device, a subscription unit (subscriber unit), a subscription station (IoT), a mobile station (mobile station), a remote station (remote station), an access point (access point, AP), a remote terminal (remote), an access terminal (access terminal), a user terminal (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), or user equipment (user), etc. For example, mobile telephones (or so-called "cellular" telephones), computers with mobile terminal equipment, portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included mobile devices, and the like may be included. For example, Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and the like. Also included are constrained devices, such as devices that consume less power, or devices that have limited storage capabilities, or devices that have limited computing capabilities, etc. Examples of information sensing devices include bar codes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), laser scanners, and the like.

By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable equipment can also be called wearable smart device or intelligent wearable equipment etc. is the general term of using wearable technique to carry out intelligent design, develop the equipment that can dress to daily wearing, like glasses, gloves, wrist-watch, dress and shoes etc.. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also realizes powerful functions through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable smart device includes full functionality, large size, and can implement full or partial functionality without relying on a smart phone, such as: smart watches or smart glasses and the like, and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to be used in cooperation with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart bracelets, smart helmets, smart jewelry and the like for monitoring physical signs.

The various terminal devices described above, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in or installed in the vehicle), may be considered to be vehicle-mounted terminal devices, which are also referred to as on-board units (OBUs), for example.

In this embodiment, the terminal device may further include a relay (relay). Or, it is understood that any device capable of data communication with a base station may be considered a terminal device.

In the embodiment of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device may be the terminal device, or may be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, for example, a chip system, and the apparatus may be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, a device for implementing a function of a terminal is taken as an example of a terminal device, and the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described.

2) Network devices, including, for example, Access Network (AN) devices, such as base stations (e.g., access points), may refer to devices in AN access network that communicate with wireless terminal devices over one or more cells over the air, or, for example, a network device in vehicle-to-all (V2X) technology is a Road Side Unit (RSU). The base station may be configured to interconvert received air frames and IP packets as a router between the terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an IP network. The RSU may be a fixed infrastructure entity supporting the V2X application and may exchange messages with other entities supporting the V2X application. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device may include an evolved Node B (NodeB) or eNB or e-NodeB in an LTE system or an LTE-a (long term evolution-advanced), or may also include a next generation Node B (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) NR system (also referred to as an NR system) or may also include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) in a Cloud access network (Cloud RAN) system, which is not limited in the embodiments.

The network device may further include a core network device, and in this embodiment, the core network device includes, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF) or a User Plane Function (UPF) in a 5G system, or includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in a 4G system.

In the embodiment of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, for example, a system on chip, and the apparatus may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, a device for implementing a function of a network device is taken as an example of a network device, and the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described.

3) In brief, in the DRX mechanism, the terminal device may periodically enter a sleep state without monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

4) RRC state, the terminal device has 3 RRC states: RRC connected (connected) state, RRC idle state, and RRC inactive state.

Herein, "connected state" and "RRC connected state" are the same concept, and the two designations may be interchanged): the terminal device establishes RRC connection with the network and can perform data transmission.

Herein, "idle state" and "RRC idle state" are the same concept, and the two designations may be interchanged): the terminal device does not establish an RRC connection with the network and the base station does not store the context of the terminal device. If the terminal device needs to enter the RRC connected state from the RRC idle state, an RRC connection establishment procedure needs to be initiated.

Herein, "deactivated dynamic," "inactive state," "deactivated state," "inactive state," "RRC inactive state," or "RRC deactivated state," etc. are the same concept, and these designations may be interchanged): the terminal device has previously entered the RRC connected state at the anchor base station, which then releases the RRC connection, but the anchor base station maintains the context of the terminal device. If the terminal device needs to enter the RRC connected state again from the RRC inactive state, an RRC connection recovery procedure (alternatively referred to as an RRC connection re-establishment procedure) needs to be initiated at the currently camped base station. Because the terminal device may be in a mobile state, the base station where the terminal device currently resides and the anchor base station of the terminal device may be the same base station or different base stations. Compared with the RRC establishment process, the RRC recovery process has shorter time delay and smaller signaling overhead. However, the base station needs to store the context of the terminal device, which occupies the storage overhead of the base station.

5) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably. "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

And, unless stated to the contrary, the embodiments of the present application refer to the ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc., for distinguishing a plurality of objects, and do not limit the size, content, sequence, timing, priority, degree of importance, etc., of the plurality of objects. For example, the first and second values may be the same or different. The terms "first" and "second" are used for convenience of description, and do not indicate differences in values, priorities, degrees of importance, and the like between the two features.

The foregoing has described some of the noun concepts to which embodiments of the present application relate, and the following has described some features of the embodiments of the present application.

The 5G NR technique follows the DRX mechanism in LTE systems. The DRX mechanism includes a DRX cycle in which a terminal device in an RRC connected state periodically "wakes up" for a period of time called an on duration (on duration) period, and the terminal device may remain in a "sleep" state for other times in the DRX cycle except for the on duration period to reduce power consumption. In addition, when the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, if the core network device or the base station needs to send downlink data to the terminal device, for example, a call needs to call the terminal device, or downlink data needs to be sent to the terminal device, the core network or the base station may first send a paging message to the terminal device for paging the terminal device. After receiving the paging message, the terminal device initiates an RRC connection establishment procedure to receive downlink data. The paging mechanism may also be specifically divided into Core Network (CN) paging and Radio Access Network (RAN) paging, where for an RRC idle terminal device, the corresponding paging mechanism is CN paging, and for an RRC inactive terminal device, the corresponding paging mechanism is RAN paging.

A terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state "wakes up" only at its Paging Occasion (PO) to receive a paging message. The terminal device first receives Downlink Control Information (DCI) for indicating a paging message at a PO of the terminal device, where the DCI may also be referred to as paging control information and is used to indicate a time-frequency resource location for sending the paging message. After receiving the paging control information, the terminal apparatus receives a paging message (paging message) according to scheduling of the paging control information. If the paging message carries the identifier of the terminal device (for example, an Identity (ID) of the terminal device), it indicates that the terminal device is paged, and the terminal device needs to initiate an RRC connection establishment procedure to access the base station; or, if the paging message does not carry the ID of the terminal device, it indicates that the terminal device is not paged, and the terminal device may continue to "sleep" and wait until the next PO "wakes up" to monitor the paging control information. The paging control information is transmitted on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the paging message is transmitted on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

In the paging mechanism, for a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, a DRX cycle is also a paging cycle. The base station broadcasts a paging cycle common to the cells, called a default paging cycle (default paging cycle), and the terminal device may determine a paging cycle specific to the terminal device, called a UE specific paging cycle (UE specific paging cycle). Paging cycle values defined in the existing standards include 0.32s, 0.64s, 1.28s, and 2.56s, i.e., the UE-specific paging cycle may be one of these values, and the default paging cycle may also be one of these values. The existing standards specify that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the smaller of the default paging cycle and the UE-specific paging cycle. The UE-specific paging cycle is generally determined by the terminal device according to the service condition, and better conforms to the actual working condition of the terminal device. However, even if the terminal device determines a UE-specific paging cycle (e.g. 2.56s) with a larger value according to the delay requirement of the service of the terminal device, the default paging cycle (e.g. 1.28s) is still used by the terminal device because the default paging cycle is smaller (e.g. 1.28s), and the frequency that the terminal device actually wakes up is faster than the frequency that the terminal device expects to wake up, which is not beneficial to the energy saving of the terminal device.

To solve the above problem, consider the determination rule of introducing a new paging cycle, such as:

rule 1, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal equipment is a UE-specific paging cycle;

rule 2, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal equipment is the larger value of the default paging cycle and the UE-dedicated paging cycle;

rule 3, terminal device and network negotiation determine the paging cycle value actually used by the terminal device.

No matter which of the above three rules is selected, the determination rule of the paging cycle in the existing standard mechanism is changed, so that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device may be larger than the default paging cycle, and at this time, the mechanism of system information change in the network is affected, and the influence on the network is large. In the LTE system, a concept of a Modification Period (MP) of system information is defined, and system information may be transmitted multiple times in one MP, but the content of the system information (e.g., system information including paging configuration) does not change in the same MP. When the base station wants to modify some system information in the system information, the base station will first notify the terminal device through a paging message in one MP that the system information is about to change (but the base station does not transmit and use new system information in the current MP), at the boundary where the next MP starts, the base station will use the new system information, and in the next MP, the base station will transmit the new system information. In the existing standard mechanism, there is a relationship between MPs and a default paging cycle, and a base station needs to ensure that a PO of each terminal device in one MP must appear at least once for notifying a change situation of system information. Then, if the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device may be greater than the default paging cycle, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is likely to be greater than the MP, and then in one MP, it is likely that PO of the terminal device will not occur at one time, which may affect the mechanism of system information change, resulting in that the network cannot notify the terminal device of the change condition of the system information.

For this reason, it is still considered to continue to follow the original determination rule of the paging cycle. However, as can be seen from the foregoing analysis, according to the original determination rule, it is likely that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is smaller than the paging cycle actually required by the terminal device, which is not favorable for energy saving of the terminal device.

In view of this, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are provided. In the embodiment of the present application, the original determination rule of the paging cycle may be continuously used to reduce the impact on the network, and the method is better compatible with the prior art. However, in the embodiment of the present application, the indication information may be associated with multiple paging occasions, that is, even if the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is small, the terminal device may monitor only a part of POs in the paging cycle, and the remaining POs in the paging cycle do not need to monitor. Since the number of POs to be listened to is reduced, power consumption of the terminal device can be saved.

The technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to the 4th generation (4G) system, for example, an LTE system, or may be applied to a 5G system, for example, an NR system, or may also be applied to a next generation mobile communication system or other similar communication systems, which is not limited specifically.

Please refer to fig. 1, which is an application scenario of the present application. Fig. 1 includes an access network device, a core network device, and a terminal device. For example, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. If the terminal device is in an RRC inactive state, the access network device may page the terminal device, and if the terminal device is in an RRC idle state, the core network device may page the terminal device.

The access network device and the core network device operate in, for example, an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, or operate in an NR system, or operate in a next generation communication system or other communication systems.

The core network device in fig. 1 is, for example, an MME in a 4G system, or an AMF in a 5G system, or may also be a corresponding core network device in a next generation communication system or other communication systems.

The access network device in fig. 1 is, for example, a base station. The access network device corresponds to different devices in different systems, for example, in a 4G system, the access network device may correspond to an eNB, and in a 5G system, the access network device in a 5G system, for example, a gNB. Of course, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to a future mobile communication system, and therefore, the access network device in fig. 1 may also correspond to a network device in the future mobile communication system. In fig. 1, the access network device is taken as a base station as an example, and actually, referring to the foregoing description, the access network device may also be an RSU or the like. In addition, the terminal device in fig. 1 is taken as a mobile phone as an example, and it is actually known from the foregoing description of the terminal device, and the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application is not limited to a mobile phone.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In various embodiments of the present application, listening to paging may be understood as listening to a PO, i.e. listening to messages sent by the network in the PO, the messages sent by the network in the PO for example comprising paging control information, or comprising paging control information and paging messages.

The embodiment of the application provides a first communication method, and by the method, the power consumption of terminal equipment can be reduced. Please refer to fig. 2, which is a flowchart of the method. In the following description, the method is applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 as an example. In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state, for example, and the paging described below may be regarded as paging initiated by the core network device.

For convenience of introduction, in the following, the method is performed as an example by a core network device, an access network device, and a terminal device. Since the embodiment of the present application is applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 as an example. Therefore, the core network device described below may be a core network device in the network architecture shown in fig. 1, the access network device described below may be an access network device in the network architecture shown in fig. 1, and the terminal device described below may be a terminal device in the network architecture shown in fig. 1.

S21, the terminal device sends the first information to the core network device, and the core network device receives the first information from the terminal device.

The first information may indicate one or more of: whether the terminal device supports the indication information, whether the terminal device supports the indication information to associate one or more POs of the terminal device, an energy saving requirement, or a request to associate the indication information with a plurality of POs of the terminal device. For example, the first information may indicate that the terminal device supports the indication information or does not support the indication information; or, the first information may indicate that the terminal device supports that the indication information is associated with one PO of the terminal device, or indicate that the terminal device supports that the indication information is associated with a plurality of POs of the terminal device; or, the first information may indicate that the terminal device has an energy saving requirement; alternatively, the first information may request that the indication information be associated with one or more POs of the terminal device; alternatively, the first information may indicate whether the terminal device supports the indication information, indicate whether the terminal device supports one or more POs of which the indication information is associated with the terminal device, and the like.

The indication information may be sent by a network device, for example, an access network device, or a core network device, or in a future communication system, the access network device and the core network device may be merged into the same network device, and then the network device may refer to the network device. For example, the indication may or may not wake up the terminal device. More about the indication information will be described later.

For example, a function in which the terminal device supports the instruction information is referred to as a first function, and a function in which the terminal device supports the instruction information in association with a plurality of POs of the terminal device is referred to as a second function. The terminal device is generally capable of supporting a PO indicating information associated with the terminal device, and therefore this function is not discussed in more detail herein. Then, the first function and the second function may have an association relationship, that is, support of the first function indicates support of the second function, or support of the second function indicates support of the first function; similarly, not supporting the first function indicates that the second function is not supported, or not supporting the second function indicates that the first function is not supported. If the situation is, the first information may indicate whether the terminal device supports the indication information, if the first information indicates that the terminal device supports the indication information, it is implicitly indicated that the terminal device supports the indication information to associate with the plurality of POs of the terminal device, and if the first information indicates that the terminal device does not support the indication information, it is implicitly indicated that the terminal device does not support the plurality of POs of the terminal device associated with the indication information; or, the first information may indicate whether the terminal device supports multiple POs whose indication information is associated with the terminal device, if the first information indicates that the terminal device supports multiple POs whose indication information is associated with the terminal device, the first information implicitly indicates that the terminal device supports the indication information, and if the first information indicates that the terminal device does not support multiple POs whose indication information is associated with the terminal device, the first information implicitly indicates that the terminal device does not support the indication information. That is, the first information only needs to indicate whether the terminal device supports one function (the first function or the second function), and does not need to indicate too much content, which is beneficial to saving signaling overhead.

Alternatively, the first function and the second function may not have an association relationship. If this is the case, the first information may be indicated for the first function and the second function, respectively. For example, the first information may indicate whether the terminal device supports the indication information, or indicate whether the terminal device supports a plurality of POs of which the indication information is associated with the terminal device, or indicate whether the terminal device supports the indication information, and indicate whether the terminal device supports a plurality of POs of which the indication information is associated with the terminal device. Therefore, different functions can be indicated respectively, so that the indication is more definite, and the two functions can be decoupled, so that the two functions can be controlled respectively. If the first function and the second function do not have an association relationship, a situation may occur in which the terminal device supports the first function but does not support the second function, and if the situation is the situation, the terminal device supports the indication information, which may indicate that the terminal device supports the indication information to associate with one PO of the terminal device, but because the terminal device does not support the second function, the terminal device does not support the indication information to associate with multiple POs of the terminal device. But if the terminal device supports the second function, the terminal device should also support the first function.

For example, the terminal device may carry the first information in a non-access stratum (NAS) message, and send the first information to the core network device, where the NAS message is, for example, a registration request (registration request) message, or may also be another NAS message in a registration process, or another NAS message after completion of registration.

S22, the core network device sends the first information to the access network device, and the access network device receives the first information from the core network device.

There may be a plurality of terminal devices that may all transmit the first information to the core network device, and S21 to S22 are equivalent to the case where one of the terminal devices is described.

Alternatively, S21 to S22 may be replaced with the terminal device sending the first information to the access network device, and the access network device receiving the first information from the terminal device. For example, the terminal device may send the first information to the access network device in the random access process, for example, the first information may be carried in a third message (Msg3) in the random access process and sent to the access network device; alternatively, the terminal device may also send the first information to the access network device after the random access is successful, for example, the first information may be carried in an RRC message (e.g., a UE capability information message) and sent to the access network device. Optionally, after receiving the first information, the access network device may send the first information to the core network device. Similarly, there may be a plurality of terminal devices that may all send the first information to the access network device, which is equivalent to the case where one of the terminal devices is described here.

Alternatively, S21 to S22 may not be executed, and may not be replaced with other steps, that is, the terminal device does not transmit the first information, and the access network device and the core network device do not receive the first information. As can be seen, S21-S22 are optional steps, represented by dashed lines in FIG. 2.

S23, the access network device sends the first message, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message from the access network device. The first message may indicate that the second function is enabled, or in other words, the first message may indicate that one indication information from the access network device is associated with a plurality of POs of the terminal device.

For example, if the access network device obtains the first information of one or more terminal devices, the access network device may determine whether to enable the second function according to the first information of the one or more terminal devices and in combination with other corresponding factors. And determining whether the second function is enabled or not by combining the first information of the terminal equipment, so that the determination result of the access network equipment is consistent with the requirement of the terminal equipment as much as possible. For example, if more than half of the first information obtained by the access network device indicates that the corresponding terminal device supports the second function, the access network device may enable the second function, and if more than half of the first information obtained by the access network device indicates that the corresponding terminal device does not support the second function, the access network device may not enable the second function. If the access network device does not enable the second function, the access network device may not send the first message, i.e., not perform S23; or, if the access network device does not enable the second function, the access network device may also send the first message, but the first message indicates that the second function is not enabled, or the first message indicates that one piece of indication information from the access network device cannot be associated with multiple POs of the terminal device, or the first message indicates that one piece of indication information from the access network device is associated with one PO of the terminal device.

Or, the access network device does not obtain the first information of the terminal device, and the access network device may also determine whether to enable the second function according to a policy related to the access network device. If it is determined that the second function is enabled, the access network device transmits the first message, and if it is determined that the second function is not enabled, the access network device may not transmit the first message, i.e., not perform S23; or, if the access network device does not enable the second function, the access network device may also send the first message, but the first message indicates that the second function is not enabled, or the first message indicates that one piece of indication information from the access network device cannot be associated with multiple POs of the terminal device, or the first message indicates that one piece of indication information from the access network device is associated with one PO of the terminal device.

For example, the access network device may send the first message in a broadcast manner, or the first message may be a broadcast message. For example, the first message may be a system information (system information), or the first message may be a broadcast message other than the system message.

Alternatively, the access network device and the terminal device may have negotiated in advance, and the terminal device may enable the second function, or the protocol specifies that the terminal device may enable the second function, and the access network device may not send the first message, i.e., S23 may not be executed. Thus, S23 is an optional step, represented by the dashed line in fig. 2.

As an optional implementation of the first message, the first message includes a 1-bit field, and if the 1-bit field exists or is included in the first message, it indicates that one indication information from the access network device is associated with the POs of the terminal device, and if the 1-bit field does not exist or is not included in the first message, it indicates that one indication information from the access network device is not associated with the POs of the terminal device.

As another optional implementation manner of the first message, the first message includes a 1-bit field, and if the value of the 1-bit field is "1", it indicates that one piece of indication information from the access network device is associated with multiple POs of the terminal device, and if the value of the 1-bit field is "0", it indicates that one piece of indication information from the access network device is not associated with multiple POs of the terminal device.

And S24, the terminal equipment determines the value of N, wherein N is the number of POs of the terminal equipment associated with one piece of indication information. Wherein if the terminal device receives the first message indicating that the second function is enabled or indicating that one indication information from the access network device is associated with a plurality of POs of the terminal device, the terminal device may perform S24; alternatively, if the terminal device does not receive the first message, or the received first message indicates that the second function is not enabled, or indicates that one indication from the access network device cannot associate multiple POs of the terminal device, or indicates that one indication from the access network device associates one PO of the terminal device, then the terminal device may not have to perform S24.

In this embodiment, the terminal device may determine the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device. The dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device may have a corresponding relationship with the value of N, and the corresponding relationship may have different implementation manners, which is described in the following example.

1. A first implementation of the correspondence.

The first implementation relationship of the corresponding relationship is as follows: the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment is less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, and N is a first value; or, the special paging cycle of the terminal device is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, and N is a second value.

For example, the first value is 1, or other values may be used as long as the first value is a positive integer; the second value may be a value determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the system default paging cycle, and the second value is also a positive integer. For example, the second value is larger than the first value, or there is no limitation on the magnitude relationship between the first value and the second value.

For example, if the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is 1.28s, the default paging cycle of the system (i.e., the default paging cycle indicated by the access network device through broadcasting) is 2.56s, then N is a first value, e.g., N is 1, indicating that one piece of indication information is associated with one PO. For another example, if the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is 1.28s, the system default paging cycle (i.e., the default paging cycle indicated by the access network device through broadcasting) is 0.64s, and then N is the second value. For example, the second value is the dedicated paging cycle/system default paging cycle, and then the second value is 2, that is, one indication information is associated with two POs. Here, "/" indicates a division relationship, that is, the second value is equal to a value obtained by dividing the dedicated paging cycle by the system default paging cycle.

If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the special paging cycle of the terminal device, so that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is more in line with the service requirement of the terminal device. At this time, N may be 1, which indicates that the paging granularity of the network to the terminal device is refined to each PO, so that the probability that the terminal device misses the paging may be reduced. If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the default paging cycle of the system, and therefore the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is smaller than the cycle required by the service of the terminal device. At this time, N may be determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the default paging cycle of the system, so that the value (i.e., the second value) of N may meet the service requirement of the terminal device and may also reduce the power consumption of the terminal device as much as possible.

For example, the first implementation manner of the correspondence may be specified by a protocol, and then the terminal device may determine, according to predefined information, a correspondence between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device; or, the first implementation manner of the correspondence may be stored in the terminal device in advance; alternatively, the first implementation manner of the correspondence relationship may also be configured by a network device (e.g., an access network device) and sent to the terminal device. For example, the access network device may send a third message, where the third message may indicate the first implementation manner of the correspondence, and the third message is, for example, a broadcast message. In short, the terminal device can obtain the first implementation manner of the corresponding relationship, so that the terminal device can determine the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device.

2. A second implementation of the correspondence.

The second implementation manner of the corresponding relationship is as follows: the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment is less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, and N is a first value; or, the special paging cycle of the terminal device is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, and N is a second value. Wherein the first value and the second value are pre-configured values. For example, the first value is 1, or other values may be used as long as the first value is a positive integer; the second value may be 2, or may be another value as long as the second value is a positive integer. For example, the second value is larger than the first value, or there is no limitation on the magnitude relationship between the first value and the second value.

For example, if the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is 1.28s, the default paging cycle of the system (i.e., the default paging cycle indicated by the access network device through broadcasting) is 2.56s, then N is a first value, e.g., N is 1, indicating that one piece of indication information is associated with one PO. For another example, if the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is 1.28s, the system default paging cycle (i.e., the default paging cycle indicated by the access network device through broadcasting) is 0.64s, and then N is the second value. For example, the second value is 2, i.e., one indication information is associated with two POs.

If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the special paging cycle of the terminal device, so that the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is more in line with the service requirement of the terminal device. At this time, N may be 1, which indicates that the paging granularity of the network to the terminal device is refined to each PO, so that the probability that the terminal device misses the paging may be reduced. If the special paging cycle of the terminal device is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is the default paging cycle of the system, and therefore the paging cycle actually used by the terminal device is smaller than the cycle required by the service of the terminal device. At this time, N may be a second value, for example, if the second value is greater than the first value, the power consumption of the terminal device may be reduced as much as possible by applying the second value.

It is noted that if the dedicated paging cycle is small and the second value is large, the terminal device may risk missing a page. For example, the dedicated paging cycle is 1.28s, the default paging cycle of the system is 0.64s, and the second value is 2, if the second value is set to be greater than 2, for example, 3, one indication information is associated with 3 POs, and if the indication information indicates not to wake up the terminal device, the terminal device does not listen in the 3 POs, whereas the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is 1.28s, and it is possible that the first PO or the third PO in the 3 POs has a paging of the terminal device, and the terminal device may miss the paging. Therefore, if the second implementation of the correspondence is adopted, it is reasonable to set the second value to 2, so that if the dedicated period is large, the terminal device may consume some more power to listen, but the probability that the terminal device misses the paging can be reduced. And even if the terminal device consumes more power to monitor, the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced compared with the existing paging mechanism.

For example, the second implementation manner of the correspondence may be specified by a protocol, and then the terminal device may determine, according to predefined information, a correspondence between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device; or, the second implementation manner of the correspondence may be stored in the terminal device in advance; alternatively, the second implementation manner of the corresponding relationship may also be configured by a network device (e.g., an access network device) and sent to the terminal device. For example, the access network device may send a third message, and the third message may indicate the second implementation manner of the correspondence, and the third message is, for example, a broadcast message. In short, the terminal device can obtain the second implementation manner of the corresponding relationship, so that the terminal device can determine the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device.

3. A third implementation of the correspondence.

A plurality of value ranges of the paging cycle are divided, and a third implementation manner of the corresponding relationship is as follows: each of the divided value ranges corresponds to one value of N, and different value ranges may correspond to different values of N. For example, the number of the divided value ranges may be greater than or equal to 3. For example, 3 value ranges can be divided, and the 3 value ranges can refer to table 1.

TABLE 1

The first range refers to a dedicated paging cycle less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, or it is understood that the first range refers to a range less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, and if the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is less than or equal to the default paging cycle of the system, the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the first range.

The second range may include one or more values, and if the second range includes one value, it indicates that the value of the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the second range if the value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is equal to the value; if the second range includes a plurality of values, if the value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is equal to any one of the plurality of values, it indicates that the value of the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the second range. For example, the second range is {1.28s }, then if the dedicated paging cycle is 1.28s, this indicates that the dedicated paging cycle takes on values in the second range, otherwise the dedicated paging cycle does not fall in the second range. For another example, if the second range is {1.28s, 2.56s }, then if the dedicated paging cycle is 1.28s or 2.56s, it indicates that the dedicated paging cycle takes on a value in the second range, otherwise, if the dedicated paging cycle is neither 1.28s nor 2.56s, it indicates that the dedicated paging cycle does not belong to the second range.

Similarly, the third range may also include one or more values, and if the third range includes one value, if the value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is equal to the value, it indicates that the value of the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the third range; if the third range includes a plurality of values, if the value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is equal to any one of the plurality of values, it indicates that the value of the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the third range. For example, the second range and the third range may not intersect.

For example, the second range is {1.28s } and the third range is {2.56s }. If the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is 1.28s and the dedicated paging cycle is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the second range, and the value of N is 2; or, if the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is 2.56s and the dedicated paging cycle is greater than the default paging cycle of the system, the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the second range, and the value of N is 4; or, if the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device is less than or equal to the system default paging cycle (for example, the dedicated paging cycle is 0.64s, and the system default paging cycle is 0.64s), the dedicated paging cycle belongs to the first range, and the value of N is 1.

For example, the third implementation manner of the correspondence may be specified by a protocol, and then the terminal device may determine, according to predefined information, a correspondence between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device; or, the third implementation manner of the correspondence may be stored in the terminal device in advance; alternatively, the third implementation manner of the correspondence relationship may also be configured by a network device (e.g., an access network device) and sent to the terminal device. For example, the access network device may send a third message, and the third message may indicate a third implementation manner of the correspondence, and the third message is, for example, a broadcast message. In short, the terminal device can obtain the third implementation manner of the corresponding relationship, so that the terminal device can determine the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device.

It should be noted that the values of N in table 1 are only examples, and in addition, the division of the value range is also only an example, and in practice, more or less value ranges may be divided.

As mentioned above, the embodiments of the present application do not limit that there may be other corresponding relationships between the dedicated paging cycle and the value of N. For the above three correspondences, one of them may be selected, and which one is selected may be defined by a protocol, or may be selected by a network, for example, by an access network device, and the terminal device is notified.

S25, when the downlink data of the terminal device arrives, the core network device sends a paging message, for example, called a first paging message, to the access network device, and the access network device receives the first paging message from the core network device.

The first paging message may include paging information and may include a dedicated paging cycle for the terminal device. The dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device may be sent by the terminal device to the core network device, for example, the terminal device may send the dedicated paging cycle to the core network device through a registration request message. The access network device does not know the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, so the core network device can send the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device to the access network device. For the access network device, the value of N is also determined according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, and the manner of determining the value of N by the access network device is similar to that of determining the value of N by the terminal device, which is not repeated.

Optionally, if S21 is executed but S22 is not executed, the core network device may further send the first information of the terminal device to the access network device, for example, the core network device may send the first information to the access network device by including the first information in the first paging message. The indication information is sent by the access network equipment and is irrelevant to the core network equipment, so the core network equipment pages the terminal equipment according to a normal mechanism.

S26, the access network device sends the first indication information, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the access network device.

If the access network device enables the second function through the first message indication and the access network device determines that the terminal device supports the second function according to the first information of the terminal device, the first indication information sent by the access network device may be associated with N POs, wherein the access network device may also determine the value of N in the same manner as the terminal device. Or, if the access network device indicates that the second function is enabled according to the first message of the terminal device, but the access network device determines that the terminal device does not support the second function according to the first message of the terminal device, the first indication message sent by the access network device may be associated with a PO. Or, if the access network device does not support enabling the second function, then, no matter the access network device determines whether the terminal device supports the second function or does not support the second function according to the first information of the terminal device, the first indication information sent by the access network device may be associated with one PO, that is, the second function is not enabled.

In the 5G technology, in order to further save the power consumption of the terminal device, it is proposed to introduce a wake-up signal (WUS). The WUS is used to indicate whether the terminal device needs to wake up to listen for paging control information and paging messages within the PO corresponding to the WUS. The temporal location of the WUS may be: the position of an offset (offset) before the first PO in a paging cycle. The WUS may correspond to the POs one by one, or one WUS may correspond to a plurality of POs. For example, referring to fig. 3, one WUS may correspond to two POs, wherein the horizontal axis of fig. 3 represents time. If the WUS indicates that the terminal equipment needs to monitor, the terminal equipment monitors paging control information in the two POs, or monitors the paging control information and the paging message; alternatively, if the WUS indicates that the terminal device does not need to listen, the terminal device does not need to listen to the paging control information and the paging message in both POs.

Then, as an optional implementation of the first indication information, the first indication information may be included in Downlink Control Information (DCI) before the first PO of one paging cycle, where the DCI is, for example, a WUS. By using the method, the position of the terminal device for receiving the WUS can be configured to be a narrower time-frequency position, so that the WUS receiving consumes less power than other DCIs, and the energy saving of the terminal device is facilitated. The first indication information may indicate to listen for pages or indicate not to listen for pages. In the embodiment of the present application, monitoring paging refers to monitoring paging control information, or monitoring paging control information and paging messages; not listening to paging means not listening to paging control information nor paging messages. At this time, the N POs associated with the first indication information may include consecutive N POs starting from a first PO following the WUS; or, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also be any N POs included in the paging cycle, and the N POs may be continuous or discontinuous in the time domain; alternatively, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also include N POs in multiple paging cycles. In addition, the WUS may be associated with one or more POs when the WUS does not include the first indication information, and in this embodiment, the POs associated with the WUS itself is made to be consistent with the PO associated with the first indication information, that is, the WUS and the first indication information are both associated with the N POs, so as to avoid a failure in understanding of the terminal device due to inconsistency of association.

As another alternative embodiment of the first indication information, the first indication information may not be included in the WUS, but may be included in the paging control information. By using the mode, other signals (such as WUS) do not need to be introduced, and the paging control information in the paging mechanism is directly multiplexed, so that the change of the terminal equipment and the network equipment side is smaller, and the realization is easier. Then the first indication information may indicate to listen for pages or indicate not to listen for pages. In the embodiment of the present application, monitoring paging refers to monitoring paging control information, or monitoring paging control information and paging messages; not listening to paging means not listening to paging control information nor paging messages. It should be noted that, in this case, since the first indication information is included in the paging control information, for the current PO (i.e., the PO where the paging control information including the first indication information is located), the first indication information indicates whether to monitor the paging message, and for the POs other than the current PO in the N POs, the first indication information indicates whether to monitor the paging control information, or indicates whether to monitor the paging control information and the paging message. At this time, the N POs associated with the first indication information may include the PO where the DCI is located and include consecutive N-1 POs located after the PO; or, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also include any N POs in the paging cycle, where the N POs may be continuous or discontinuous in the time domain, and the N POs may include a PO in which the DCI is located, or may not include a PO in which the DCI is located; alternatively, the N POs associated with the first indication information may also include N POs in multiple paging cycles, where the N POs may include a PO in which the DCI is located, or may not include a PO in which the DCI is located.

In addition, optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the terminal devices may be divided into different groups, and the division factor may include one or more types. For example, one of the dividing factors is a paging cycle of the terminal device, where the paging cycle of the terminal device is, for example, a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, or may also be a paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device, where the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is a smaller value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and a default paging cycle of the system. The paging cycle may be divided into one or more ranges, each of which corresponds to a group, and if the paging cycle of a terminal device is within one of the ranges, the terminal device belongs to the group corresponding to the range. Alternatively, another dividing factor is the ID of the terminal device, the ID of the terminal device may be divided into one or more ranges, each of which corresponds to a group, and if the paging cycle of a terminal device is located in one of the ranges, the terminal device belongs to the group corresponding to the range. Alternatively, another dividing factor is a value of N corresponding to the terminal device, for example, the terminal devices with the same value of N are divided into one group. Alternatively, the partition factor may include multiple factors, for example, the partition factor may include a paging cycle of the terminal device and an ID of the terminal device, for example, the paging cycle of the terminal device is first partitioned into one or more ranges, each of the partial ranges or the entire ranges may be further partitioned into one or more sub-ranges according to the ID of the terminal device, and each sub-range may correspond to one packet. For another example, the partition factor includes a paging cycle of the terminal device and a value of N corresponding to the terminal device, for example, the paging cycle of the terminal device is first partitioned into one or more ranges, and in each of a part of the ranges or all of the ranges, one or more sub-ranges may be further partitioned according to the value of N corresponding to the terminal device, so that each sub-range may correspond to one packet. The embodiment of the present application does not limit other dividing factors and dividing manners.

In this case, the division rule information (or referred to as packet rule information) may be specified by a protocol, and the terminal device may determine a packet to which the terminal device belongs according to the protocol. Alternatively, the grouping rule information may be configured by a network device (e.g., an access network device). If configured by the access network device, the access network device may inform the terminal device, e.g., the access network device may send the packet rule information via a broadcast message. The grouping rule information may include information of one or more groups and a range (e.g., a value range of a paging cycle or a range of other corresponding partition factors) corresponding to each group of the one or more groups.

After the terminal device is divided into one or more groups, each of the one or more groups may be assigned an indication information. For example, the indication information may occupy one or more bits, and different values (or different states) of the one or more bits correspond to different packets; for another example, the indication information may be a bitmap (bitmap), where the bitmap includes one or more bits, each of the one or more bits represents a packet, if a value of a certain bit in the bitmap sent by the access network device is "1", it indicates that the indication information corresponds to the packet to which the bit corresponds, and if a value of a certain bit in the bitmap sent by the access network device is "0", it indicates that the indication information does not correspond to the packet to which the bit corresponds. If the packet rule information is specified by a protocol, the correspondence between the packet and the indication information may also be specified by the protocol, or the correspondence between the packet and the indication information may be configured by the access network device, and the access network device may inform the terminal device, for example, the access network device may send the correspondence between the packet and the indication information through a broadcast message. Alternatively, if the packet rule information is specified by a protocol, the correspondence between the packet and the indication information may also be specified by the protocol, or the correspondence between the packet and the indication information may be configured by the access network device, and the access network device may inform the terminal device, for example, the access network device may send the correspondence between the packet and the indication information by a broadcast message, in which case the correspondence between the packet and the indication information may be included in the packet rule information.

By grouping the terminal devices, the indication can be performed in a grouping mode when the indication is performed through the indication information, and for one terminal device, if the indication information is determined not to correspond to the group to which the terminal device belongs, the terminal device can not respond to the indication information, so that the false alarm probability of the terminal device can be reduced.

For example, the first indication information corresponds to a first packet, the first packet including one or more terminal devices.

And S27, the terminal equipment determines the monitoring condition of the N POs of the terminal equipment according to the first indication information.

If the terminal device is not divided into groups, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine the monitoring condition for the N POs according to the first indication information. Or, if the terminal device is divided into groups, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may determine whether the first indication information is indication information corresponding to a group to which the terminal device belongs. If the first indication information is indication information corresponding to a packet to which the terminal device belongs, the terminal device may determine, according to the first indication information, a monitoring condition for N POs of the terminal device, otherwise, the terminal device may not respond to the first indication information. For example, the terminal device belongs to the first group, and the first indication information also corresponds to the first group, so that the terminal device determines that the first indication information is the indication information corresponding to the group to which the terminal device belongs. The terminal device may determine, according to the first indication information, a listening status for N POs of the terminal device.

If the first indication information is included in DCI (e.g., WUS) located before a PO, the terminal device may determine a listening situation for N POs according to the first indication information included in the WUS.

As an alternative implementation, the first indication information may affect "sleep" and "wake up" of the terminal device within the N POs. Then, for example, if the first indication information indicates to monitor paging, the terminal device may monitor the paging control information in N POs associated with the first indication information, or monitor the paging control information and the paging message (e.g., the terminal device monitors the paging control information in each PO of the N POs, if the paging control information monitored in some POs includes scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device continues to monitor the paging message at the PO, and then the terminal device monitors the paging control information and the paging message at the PO, and if the paging control information monitored in some POs does not include scheduling information of the paging message, then the terminal device does not need to monitor the paging message at the PO, and then the terminal device monitors the paging control information at the PO without monitoring the paging message); or, the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, the terminal device does not need to monitor neither paging control information nor paging messages in the N POs associated with the first indication information. For the access network device, if the terminal device needs to be paged, the paging can be monitored through the first indication information indication, and then the paging message including the identifier of the terminal device is sent in one or more POs of the N POs; and if the terminal equipment does not need to be paged, the first indication information can indicate not to monitor paging. By the mode, the first indication information can indicate the dormancy of the terminal equipment in the N POs, also can indicate the awakening of the terminal equipment in the N POs, and indicates more comprehensively.

For example, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a listening situation of a terminal device at N POs, where fig. 4 exemplifies a first PO and a second PO after N ═ 2 and the two POs include WUS, and a horizontal axis of fig. 4 represents time. In fig. 4, a rectangular frame with diagonal lines before PO represents WUS. For example for the first PO from left to right in fig. 4, the terminal device received the WUS before the first PO, the WUS includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates listening for pages. The terminal device listens for paging control information at both the first PO (i.e., the first PO from left to right) and the second PO (i.e., the second PO from left to right) following the WUS, the terminal device continues to listen for paging messages within one PO if the paging control information listened for within the PO includes scheduling information for the paging messages, the terminal device is paged if the paging message includes an identification of the terminal device (e.g., an ID of the terminal device) after receiving the paging message, the terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with the access network device, etc., or the terminal device is not paged if the paging message does not include the identification of the terminal device; alternatively, if the paging control information monitored by the terminal device in one PO does not include the scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device does not need to monitor the paging message in the PO. For another example, for the third PO from left to right in fig. 4, the terminal device received the WUS before the third PO, the WUS includes the first indication information, and the first indication information indicates not to listen for pages. The terminal device does not listen to the paging control information nor the paging message at the first PO (i.e., the third PO from left to right) and the second PO (i.e., the fourth PO from left to right) after the WUS.

As another alternative, the first indication information may affect the "sleep" of the terminal device in the N POs, but not affect the "wake" of the terminal device in the N POs. Then, for example, the first indication information indicates to listen to paging, the terminal device may listen to paging control information in the first PO after the WUS, or to both paging control information and paging messages; or, the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, the terminal device does not need to monitor neither paging control information nor paging messages in the N POs associated with the first indication information. Equivalently, if the first indication information indicates monitoring paging, it is considered that the first indication information has no association relation with the N POs, and the terminal device only needs to monitor in the PO located behind the first indication information normally; and if the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, it is determined that the first indication information is associated with the N POs, and the terminal device does not need to monitor either paging control information or paging messages in the N POs associated with the first indication information. For the access network device, if the terminal device needs to be paged, the paging message can be monitored through the first indication information indication, and then the paging message including the identifier of the terminal device is sent in the first PO behind the first indication information; and if the paging of the terminal equipment is not needed, the first indication information can indicate not to listen to the paging message. By the mode, the first indication information only indicates the dormancy of the terminal equipment in the N POs, and the purpose of saving the power consumption of the terminal equipment is achieved.

For example, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a listening situation of a terminal device at N POs, where fig. 5 exemplifies a first PO and a second PO after N ═ 2 and the two POs include WUS, and a horizontal axis of fig. 5 represents time. In fig. 5, a rectangular frame with diagonal lines before PO represents WUS. For example for the first PO from left to right in fig. 5, the terminal device received the WUS before the first PO, the WUS includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates listening for pages. The terminal device listens for paging control information at the first PO after the WUS (i.e., the first PO from left to right), if the paging control information monitored in the PO includes scheduling information of a paging message, the terminal device continues to listen for the paging message in the PO, after receiving the paging message, if the paging message includes an identification of the terminal device (e.g., an ID of the terminal device), the terminal device is paged, the terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with an access network device, etc., or, if the paging message does not include the identification of the terminal device, the terminal device is not paged; alternatively, if the paging control information monitored by the terminal device in the PO does not include the scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device does not need to monitor the paging message in the PO. For another example, for a second PO from left to right in fig. 5, the terminal device receives a WUS before the second PO, the WUS includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates not to listen for pages. The terminal device does not listen to the paging control information nor the paging message at the first PO (i.e., the second PO from left to right) and the second PO (i.e., the third PO from left to right) after the WUS.

If the first indication information is included in the paging control information, the terminal device may determine the listening situation to the N POs according to the first indication information included in the paging control information. It should be noted that, in this case, since the first indication information is included in the paging control information, for the current PO (i.e., the PO where the paging control information including the first indication information is located), the first indication information indicates whether to monitor the paging message, and for the POs other than the current PO in the N POs, the first indication information indicates whether to monitor the paging control information, or indicates whether to monitor the paging control information and the paging message.

As an alternative implementation, the first indication information may affect "sleep" and "wake up" of the terminal device within the N POs. Then, for example, the first indication information indicates to listen for pages, the terminal device may listen for pages within the N POs associated with the first indication information. The terminal device may or may not monitor the paging control information in the N POs, but for the access network device, the access network device may also page other terminal devices in the N POs, because the access network device may page other terminal devices besides paging the terminal device, and a value of N corresponding to other terminal devices may be different from a value of N corresponding to the terminal device, so that the access network device may send the paging control information in each PO to avoid that some terminal devices may not receive the paging control information. Alternatively, if the first indication information indicates not to listen to the paging message, the terminal device does not listen to the paging message within N POs associated with the first indication information. Here, the terminal device does not need to listen to the paging control information since it is not needed to listen to the paging message in the N POs, but similarly, for the access network device, the paging control information can be transmitted in the N POs. For the access network device, if the terminal device needs to be paged, the paging message can be monitored through the first indication information indication, and then the paging message including the identifier of the terminal device is sent in one or more POs of the N POs; and if the paging of the terminal equipment is not needed, the first indication information can indicate not to listen to the paging message. By the mode, the first indication information can indicate the dormancy of the terminal equipment in the N POs, also can indicate the awakening of the terminal equipment in the N POs, and indicates more comprehensively.

For example, referring to fig. 6, a schematic diagram of a listening situation of a terminal device at N POs is shown, where fig. 6 exemplifies a PO where N is 2 and the two POs include paging control information and a first PO following and adjacent to the PO, where the horizontal axis of fig. 6 represents time. In fig. 6, a hatched rectangular frame in the PO represents paging control information. For example, for the first PO from left to right in fig. 6, the terminal device receives paging control information in the first PO, the paging control information includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates to listen to paging. Then, if the paging control information includes scheduling information for scheduling a paging message in addition to the first indication information, the terminal device listens to the paging message at a PO (i.e., the first PO from left to right) where the paging control information is located, and after receiving the paging message, if the paging message includes an identifier of the terminal device (e.g., an ID of the terminal device), the terminal device is paged, the terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with the access network device, etc., or, if the paging message does not include the identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device is not paged; or, if the paging control information includes the first indication information but does not include scheduling information for scheduling the paging message, the terminal device does not listen to the paging message at the PO where the paging control information is located. Then, if the terminal device determines to be scheduled in the PO in which the paging control information is located (e.g., the paging message includes the identity of the terminal device), the terminal device may establish an RRC connection with the access network device, etc. without listening to subsequent POs, whereas if the terminal device is not scheduled in the PO in which the paging control information is located (e.g., the paging message does not include the identity of the terminal device, or the paging control information does not include the scheduling information), the terminal device monitors the paging control information at a first PO adjacent to the PO (i.e., a second PO from left to right) after the PO in which the paging control information is located, if the paging control information monitored in the PO includes the scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device continues to monitor the paging message in the PO, and after receiving the paging message, if the paging message includes the identity of the terminal device (e.g., the ID of the terminal device), the terminal device is paged, the terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with the access network device, etc., or, if the paging message does not include the identity of the terminal device, the terminal device is not paged; or, if the paging message monitored by the terminal device in a PO does not include the identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device is not paged; alternatively, if the paging control information monitored by the terminal device in one PO does not include the scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device does not need to monitor the paging message in the PO. For another example, for the third PO from left to right in fig. 4, the terminal device receives paging control information in the third PO, the paging control information includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates not to listen to paging. The terminal device does not listen to the paging message at the PO where the paging control information is located (i.e., the third PO from left to right) and the first PO following and adjacent to the PO (i.e., the fourth PO from left to right) does not listen to the paging control information. It was introduced in the foregoing that although the terminal device may not need to listen to the paging control information in some POs, the paging control information may be sent in each of the N POs for the access network device, and fig. 6 does not show the paging control information in each PO in order to indicate the behavior of the terminal device, but does not indicate the behavior of the access network device.

As another alternative, the first indication information may affect the "sleep" of the terminal device in the N POs, but not affect the "wake" of the terminal device in the N POs. Then, for example, the first indication information indicates to monitor paging, the terminal device may monitor paging control information in a PO in which the paging control information is located, if the received paging control information includes scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device monitors the paging message in the PO, after receiving the paging message, the terminal device is paged if the paging message includes an identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with the access network device, or the like, or if the paging message does not include the identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device is not paged, or if the paging control information does not include the scheduling information of the paging message, the terminal device does not monitor the paging message in the PO. Or, the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, the terminal device does not monitor the paging message in all the N POs associated with the first indication information. Here, the terminal device does not need to listen to the paging control information since it is not needed to listen to the paging message in the N POs, but for the access network device, the paging control information can be transmitted in the N POs. Equivalently, if the first indication information indicates monitoring paging, it is considered that the first indication information has no association relation with the N POs, and the terminal device only needs to monitor in the PO where the first indication information is located normally; and if the first indication information indicates not to monitor paging, the first indication information is considered to have an association relationship with the N POs, and the terminal device does not monitor the paging message in the N POs associated with the first indication information. For the access network equipment, if the terminal equipment needs to be paged, the paging message can be monitored through the first indication information indication, and then the paging message including the identifier of the terminal equipment is sent in the PO where the paging control information is located; and if the paging of the terminal equipment is not needed, the first indication information can indicate not to listen to the paging message. By the mode, the first indication information only indicates the dormancy of the terminal equipment in the N POs, and the purpose of saving the power consumption of the terminal equipment is achieved.

For example, referring to fig. 7, a schematic diagram of a listening situation of a terminal device at N POs is shown, where fig. 7 exemplifies a PO where N is 2 and the two POs include paging control information and a first PO located after and adjacent to the PO in the time domain. In fig. 7, a hatched rectangular frame in the PO represents paging control information. For example, for the first PO from left to right in fig. 7, the terminal device receives paging control information in the first PO, the paging control information includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates to listen to paging. Then, if the paging control information includes scheduling information for scheduling a paging message in addition to the first indication information, the terminal device listens to the paging message at a PO (i.e., the first PO from left to right) where the paging control information is located, and after receiving the paging message, if the paging message includes an identifier of the terminal device (e.g., an ID of the terminal device), the terminal device is paged, the terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with the access network device, etc., or, if the paging message does not include the identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device is not paged; or, if the paging control information includes the first indication information but does not include scheduling information for scheduling the paging message, the terminal device does not listen to the paging message at the PO where the paging control information is located. For another example, for the second PO from left to right in fig. 7, the terminal device receives paging control information in the second PO, the paging control information includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates not to listen to paging. The terminal device does not listen to the paging message at the PO where the paging control information is located (i.e., the second PO from left to right) and the first PO adjacent to and behind the PO in the time domain (i.e., the third PO from left to right). Although the terminal device may not need to listen to the paging control information in some POs, the paging control information may be sent in each of the N POs for the access network device, and the paging control information is not shown in fig. 7 in each PO in order to indicate the behavior of the terminal device, but not the access network device.

Referring to fig. 8, a schematic diagram of a PO monitored by a terminal device after the method according to the embodiment of the present application is shown, where a hatched portion in fig. 8 represents paging control information. For example, the default period of the system is 1.28 seconds, the dedicated paging period of the terminal device is 0.64 seconds, and the paging period actually applied by the terminal device is 0.64 seconds. If the terminal device listens to the POs with a paging cycle of 0.64 seconds according to the current technology, the terminal device needs to listen to each PO within one paging cycle, as shown in the first row in fig. 8. For another example, the default period of the system is 1.28 seconds, the dedicated paging period of the terminal device is also 1.28 seconds, and the paging period actually applied by the terminal device is 1.28 seconds. If the terminal device listens to the POs with 1.28 seconds as the paging cycle according to the current technology, the terminal device needs to listen to each PO in one paging cycle similarly, but because the paging cycle interval of 1.28 seconds is longer, the number of POs that the terminal device needs to listen to is reduced by half compared with the paging cycle of 0.64 seconds, as shown in the second row in fig. 8. For another example, the default period of the system is 1.28 seconds, the dedicated paging period of the terminal device is 2.56 seconds, and then the paging period actually applied by the terminal device is 1.28 seconds, at this time, the paging period actually applied by the terminal device is smaller than the paging period (i.e., dedicated paging period) required by the service of the terminal device, and if the monitoring is performed according to 1.28 seconds, more power needs to be consumed for the terminal device. Therefore, the scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application may be adopted, so that the indication information is associated with one or more POs, and if the access network device does not page the terminal device, the indication information sent by the access network device may indicate not to monitor the paging message, for example, the third row in fig. 8, and the PO indicated by the rectangle box drawn with the dotted line refers to a PO that the terminal device does not need to monitor. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiment of the application reduces the number of POs monitored by the terminal equipment, and can reduce the power consumption of the terminal equipment on the basis of not changing the determination rule of the paging cycle of the terminal equipment.

In this embodiment, the indication information may be associated with multiple paging occasions, and if the indication information indicates that paging does not need to be monitored (or paging messages do not need to be monitored), the terminal device may sleep instead of monitoring paging in the PO associated with the indication information. That is, even if the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is small, the terminal device may listen to only a part of POs in the paging cycle, and the remaining POs in the paging cycle do not need to listen. Since the number of POs to be listened to is reduced, power consumption of the terminal device can be saved.

When a terminal device (e.g., a smart phone, a smart watch, or a smart bracelet) is in a situation without communication services, such as a standby situation, the terminal device still consumes battery power, for example, the terminal device may continue to perform a paging function in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, and thus the terminal device still consumes power. By adopting the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the power consumption caused by the paging function used by the terminal equipment in the RRC idle state or the RRC non-active state can be reduced, so that the consumed battery power is reduced, and the standby time of the terminal equipment is prolonged.

In order to solve the same technical problem, embodiments of the present application provide a second communication method, by which power consumption of a terminal device can be reduced. Please refer to fig. 9, which is a flowchart of the method. In the following description, the method is applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 as an example. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is in an RRC inactive state, for example, and the paging described below may be regarded as paging initiated by the access network device.

S91, the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device, and the access network device receives the first information from the terminal device.

For example, the terminal device may send the first information to the access network device in a random access procedure, e.g., the first information may be carried in the third message (Msg3) or message b (msgb) of the random access procedure. Alternatively, the terminal device may also send the first information to the access network device after the random access is completed, for example, the first information may be carried in an RRC message (e.g., a UE capability information message) or other type of message.

For more about S91, refer to the introduction of S21 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2.

S92, the access network device sends the first message, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message from the access network device. The first message may indicate that the second function is enabled, or in other words, the first message may indicate that one indication information from the access network device is associated with a plurality of POs of the terminal device.

For example, the access network device may send the first message in a broadcast manner, or the first message may be a broadcast message. For example, the first message may be a system message, or the first message may be a broadcast message other than a system message. Alternatively, the first message may also be a unicast message, for example, the first message may be an RRC message (e.g., an RRC release message for releasing the terminal device to the RRC inactive state, or other RRC message), a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), or the like. The first message may also include a paging cycle actually applied by the access network device if the first message is a unicast message.

For more about S92, refer to the introduction of S23 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2.

And S93, the terminal equipment determines the value of N, wherein N is the number of POs of the terminal equipment associated with one piece of indication information. Wherein if the terminal device receives the first message indicating that the second function is enabled or indicating that one indication information from the access network device is associated with a plurality of POs of the terminal device, the terminal device may perform S24; alternatively, if the terminal device does not receive the first message, or the received first message indicates that the second function is not enabled, or indicates that one indication from the access network device cannot associate multiple POs of the terminal device, or indicates that one indication from the access network device associates one PO of the terminal device, then the terminal device may not have to perform S24.

In this embodiment, the terminal device may determine the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, and refer to the related description of S24 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, regarding the correspondence between the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and the value of N, and the manner in which the terminal device determines the value of N. If the terminal device determines the value of N in this way, the access network device may also determine the value of N in the same way, which is not described in detail.

Or, the terminal device may also determine the value of N in another manner. For example, the network device (e.g., the access network device) sends a second message to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives the second message from the access network device, where the second message may indicate a value of N. The access network device can determine the value of N and inform the terminal device of the value of N, so that the terminal device does not need to determine the value of N by itself. The way of determining the value of N by the access network device is similar to the way of determining the value of N by the terminal device, and is not repeated here. For example, the first message and the second message may be the same message or may be different messages.

And S94, when the downlink data of the terminal equipment arrives, the core network equipment sends a notification message to the access network equipment, and the access network equipment receives the notification message from the core network equipment. The notification message is used for indicating that downlink data of the terminal equipment arrives.

S95, the access network device sends the first indication information, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the access network device.

For more about S95, refer to the introduction of S26 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2.

And S96, the terminal equipment determines the monitoring condition of the N POs of the terminal equipment according to the first indication information.

For more about S96, refer to the introduction of S27 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2.

Next, another problem is considered. According to the current paging mechanism, even if there is no terminal device to be paged, the PO of the terminal device needs to monitor the paging control information and the paging message, resulting in waste of power. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application proposes that a packet paging mechanism may be adopted to divide the terminal device into one or more packets, and the access network device may perform paging according to the packets during paging, so that the terminal devices in the packets that are not paged do not need to receive paging messages, so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal devices.

The embodiment of the application provides a third communication method, and the method can realize packet paging and reduce the power consumption of terminal equipment. Please refer to fig. 10, which is a flowchart of the method. In the following description, the method is applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 as an example. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state, for example, and the paging described below may be regarded as paging initiated by the access network device.

For convenience of introduction, in the following, the method is performed as an example by a core network device, an access network device, and a terminal device. Since the embodiment of the present application is applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 as an example. Therefore, the core network device described below may be a core network device in the network architecture shown in fig. 1, the access network device described below may be an access network device in the network architecture shown in fig. 1, and the first terminal device described below may be a terminal device in the network architecture shown in fig. 1.

S101, the first terminal device sends a special paging cycle of the first terminal device to the core network device, and the core network device receives the special paging cycle from the first terminal device. The core network device thus obtains the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device.

S102, when downlink data of the first terminal device arrives, the core network device sends a paging message, for example, called a first paging message, to the access network device, and the access network device receives the first paging message from the core network device.

The first paging message may include paging information and may include a dedicated paging cycle for the first terminal device. The access network device does not know the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device, so the core network device may send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device.

S103, the access network equipment sends a second message, and correspondingly, the first terminal equipment receives the second message from the access network equipment.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal devices may be divided into different groups, and the division factor may include one or more types. For example, one of the dividing factors is a paging cycle of the terminal device, where the paging cycle of the terminal device is, for example, a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, or may also be a paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device, where the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is a smaller value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and a default paging cycle of the system. The paging cycle may be divided into one or more ranges, each of which corresponds to a group, and if the paging cycle of a terminal device is within one of the ranges, the terminal device belongs to the group corresponding to the range. Alternatively, another dividing factor is the ID of the terminal device, the ID of the terminal device may be divided into one or more ranges, each of which corresponds to a group, and if the paging cycle of a terminal device is located in one of the ranges, the terminal device belongs to the group corresponding to the range. Alternatively, another dividing factor is a value of N corresponding to the terminal device, for example, the terminal devices with the same value of N are divided into one group. Alternatively, the partition factor may include multiple factors, for example, the partition factor may include a paging cycle of the terminal device and an ID of the terminal device, for example, the paging cycle of the terminal device is first partitioned into one or more ranges, each of the partial ranges or the entire ranges may be further partitioned into one or more sub-ranges according to the ID of the terminal device, and each sub-range may correspond to one packet. For another example, the partition factor includes a paging cycle of the terminal device and a value of N corresponding to the terminal device, for example, the paging cycle of the terminal device is first partitioned into one or more ranges, and in each of a part of the ranges or all of the ranges, one or more sub-ranges may be further partitioned according to the value of N corresponding to the terminal device, so that each sub-range may correspond to one packet. The embodiment of the present application does not limit other dividing factors and dividing manners.

In this case, the division rule information (or referred to as packet rule information) may be specified by a protocol, and the terminal device may determine a packet to which the terminal device belongs according to the protocol. Alternatively, the grouping rule information may be stored in the terminal device in advance, and the terminal device may determine the group to which the terminal device belongs according to the information stored in advance. Alternatively, the grouping rule information may be configured by a network device (e.g., an access network device). The grouping rule information may include information of one or more groups, and a value range corresponding to each group of the one or more groups (for example, a value range of a paging cycle, or a value range of other corresponding dividing factors).

As described above, when grouping the terminal devices, different partition factors may be used, and then under different partition factors, the terminal devices may have corresponding grouping manners, for example, for the first terminal device, grouping according to the paging cycle and grouping according to the paging probability, it is obvious that the grouping manners are different, and the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs is also different. For this reason, the second message may enable grouping of the terminal devices according to the paging cycle, that is, the access network device may indicate, through the second message, a manner in which grouping according to the paging cycle is enabled, so that the first terminal device may determine that the group to which the first terminal device belongs is a corresponding group in a case where the group is grouped according to the paging cycle. If the grouping rule information is specified by a protocol, or the grouping rule information is pre-stored in the terminal device, or the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may send a second message to enable grouping of the terminal device through the paging cycle. The second message is for example a broadcast message. After the first terminal device receives the second message, it may be determined that the terminal device is capable of applying the grouping manner through the paging cycle.

If the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may send a third message in addition to the second message to enable the terminal device to be grouped by the paging cycle, and the third message may include the grouping rule information. After the first terminal device receives the grouping rule information, the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs can be determined according to the grouping rule information and the corresponding dividing factor (for example, the paging cycle of the first terminal device). The second message and the third message are both broadcast messages, for example, and there may be a plurality of terminal devices that are capable of receiving the second message and/or the third message, for example, the first terminal device is one of the terminal devices that received the second message and the third message.

Alternatively, if the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may not have to enable the grouping of the terminal devices by the paging cycle through a special message. For example, the access network device may still send the second message, but the second message includes the packet rule information, which is equivalent to that the access network device sends the packet rule information, which implicitly indicates the manner in which the terminal devices are enabled to be grouped through the paging cycle. After the first terminal device receives the grouping rule information, the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs can be determined according to the grouping rule information and the corresponding dividing factor (for example, the paging cycle of the first terminal device). The second message is, for example, a broadcast message, and there may be a plurality of terminal devices capable of receiving the second message, for example, the first terminal device is one of the terminal devices that received the second message.

Optionally, different groups may also correspond to different values of N, and for the meaning of the value of N, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment shown in fig. 2. For example, when the paging cycle is divided, the value of N corresponding to the first packet is 1, which indicates that, for the terminal device of the first packet, the indication information may be associated with 1 PO; for another example, the value of N corresponding to the second packet is 2, which indicates that for the terminal device of the second packet, the indication information may be associated with 2 POs, and so on. In this regard, reference is made to the description of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. Then, the packet and the value of N have a corresponding relationship, and the corresponding relationship may be specified by a protocol, or the terminal device may store in advance, or may be configured by the access network device. The correspondence may be included in the grouping rule information if configured by the access network device. If the access network equipment sends the grouping rule information, the corresponding relation is sent together.

S104, the access network equipment sends the first message, and correspondingly, the first terminal equipment receives the first message from the access network equipment. The first message may include first packet information, which may indicate a first packet, which may include one or more terminal devices.

As an alternative embodiment of the first message, the first message may be DCI, for example, WUS, before the first PO of one paging cycle. The first message includes first packet information indicating that the first packet is a paged packet, and the first terminal device can determine whether the first terminal device is paged according to the WUS. Since the WUS is transmitted before the PO, if the terminal device determines that it is not being paged, the first terminal device does not need to listen within the PO with which the WUS is associated, thereby enabling a greater saving in the power consumption of the terminal device.

Alternatively, as another optional implementation of the first message, the first message may also be paging control information. The first message includes first packet information indicating that the first packet is a paged packet, and the first terminal device can determine whether the first terminal device is paged according to the paging control information. If the first terminal device determines that the paging is not performed, the first terminal device does not need to continue monitoring the paging message in the PO where the paging control information is located, thereby saving the power consumption of the terminal device.

The embodiment of the application groups the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can be paged in a grouping mode. The first packet indicated by the first packet information indicates the paged packet. For a terminal device, if it is determined that the packet information (e.g., the first packet information) from the access network device is not the information of the packet to which the terminal device belongs, the terminal device may not listen in the corresponding PO, which may reduce the false alarm probability of the terminal device. Moreover, in the embodiment of the present application, the paging cycle may be adopted to divide the groups of the terminal devices, for example, the terminal devices with a larger paging cycle may be divided into one group, for example, referred to as group 1, and the terminal devices with a smaller paging cycle may be divided into one group, for example, referred to as group 2, so that if the network needs to page group 2, and the terminal devices in group 1 know that the network does not page group 1 according to the packet information from the network, the terminal devices in group 1 do not need to respond, but may continue to sleep, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal devices in group 1. Therefore, the grouping is carried out according to the paging cycle, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced better.

S105, the first terminal device determines whether the first terminal device belongs to the first group.

The packet rule information if specified by a protocol, the terminal device can determine the packet to which the terminal device belongs according to the protocol. Alternatively, the grouping rule information may be stored in the terminal device in advance, and the terminal device may determine the group to which the terminal device belongs according to the information stored in advance. Or, the packet rule information may also be configured by the access network device, and the access network device may send the packet rule information, so that the first terminal device can determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs after receiving the packet rule information.

The first terminal device determines the packet to which the first terminal device belongs and the first terminal device also receives the first packet information, the first terminal device can determine whether the packet to which the first terminal device belongs is the first packet.

If the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, S106 is continuously executed, and if the first terminal device does not belong to the first packet, S106 does not have to be executed, and the flow ends.

S106, the first terminal device monitors paging in the PO related to the first message.

The first message may be DCI, e.g., WUS, before the first PO of one paging cycle. Then, the POs associated with the first message may refer to one or more POs located after the WUS, the one or more POs may be continuous POs or discontinuous POs in time domain, and the one or more POs may be located in one paging cycle or may be located in multiple paging cycles. Then, if the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, indicating that the packet in which the first terminal device is located is paged, the first terminal device may listen for paging control information in one or more POs located after the WUS, and for the access network device, if it is desired to page the terminal device in the first packet, the access network device may page in the one or more POs associated with the first message. For example, if the first terminal device monitors paging control information in one of the POs, and the paging control information includes scheduling information for scheduling a paging message, the first terminal device may continue to monitor the paging message in the PO, and after receiving the paging message, if the paging message includes an ID of the first terminal device, indicating that the first terminal device is paged, the first terminal device may further establish an RRC connection or the like with the access network device, and if the paging message does not include the ID of the first terminal device, indicating that the first terminal device is not paged, the first terminal device does not monitor in the PO any more, and monitors when a next PO associated with the WUS arrives; alternatively, if the first terminal device listens to the paging control information in one of the POs, but the paging control information does not include scheduling information for scheduling paging messages, indicating that the first terminal device is not paged, the first terminal device does not listen in the PO any more, and waits until the next PO associated with the WUS arrives.

Alternatively, the first message may be paging control information. Then, the first message may associate one or more POs, and if the first message associates one PO, the one PO refers to, for example, the PO where the paging control information is located; alternatively, if the first message is associated with a plurality of POs, the plurality of POs may include the PO in which the paging control information is located and include at least one PO located after the PO in which the paging control information is located, or the plurality of POs associated with the first message may not include the PO in which the paging control information is located but include only at least one PO located after the PO in which the paging control information is located. If the first message is associated with multiple POs, the multiple POs may be consecutive POs in the time domain, or may also be discontinuous POs, and the one or more POs may be located in one paging cycle, or may also be located in multiple paging cycles. For example, the PO associated with the first message refers to the PO where the paging control information is located, if the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, which indicates that the packet where the first terminal device is located is paged, the first terminal device may listen to the paging message in the PO, and for the access network device, if the terminal device in the first packet needs to be paged, the access network device may page in one or more POs associated with the first message. After receiving the paging message, if the paging message includes the ID of the first terminal device, indicating that the first terminal device is paged, the first terminal device may further establish an RRC connection with the access network device, and if the paging message does not include the ID of the first terminal device, indicating that the first terminal device is not paged, the first terminal device does not monitor in the PO any more, and monitors until the next PO arrives.

In order to solve the technical problem the same as that solved by the third communication method, embodiments of the present application provide a fourth communication method, by which packet paging can be implemented, and power consumption of a terminal device is reduced. Please refer to fig. 11, which is a flowchart of the method. In the following description, the method is applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 as an example. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is in an RRC inactive state, for example, and the paging described below may be regarded as paging initiated by the access network device.

S111, the first terminal device sends a special paging cycle of the first terminal device to the core network device, and the core network device receives the special paging cycle from the first terminal device.

For more about S111, reference may be made to the description of S101 in the embodiment shown in fig. 10.

S112, the core network device sends the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device, and the access network device receives the dedicated paging cycle from the core network device.

For the terminal device in the RRC inactive state, the access network device performs paging, so the access network device needs to know the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device, and then the core network device may send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device.

S113, the first terminal device sends a dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device, and the access network device receives the dedicated paging cycle from the first terminal device.

Wherein, S111 to S112 and S113 are two parallel schemes, and only one of them needs to be executed. That is, the first terminal device may send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the core network device, and send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device, or the first terminal device may also directly send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device, and the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device does not need to be forwarded by the core network device.

For example, the first terminal device may send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device in a random access procedure, for example, the first terminal device may send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device through Msg3 or MsgB in the random access procedure; alternatively, the first terminal device may also send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device after the random access is successful, for example, the first terminal device may send the dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device to the access network device through an RRC message or other types of messages.

S114, the access network equipment sends a second message, and correspondingly, the first terminal equipment receives the second message from the access network equipment.

If the grouping rule information is specified by a protocol, or the grouping rule information is pre-stored in the terminal device, or the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may send a second message to enable grouping of the terminal device through the paging cycle. The second message may be, for example, a broadcast message or may be a unicast message (e.g., an RRC release message). After the first terminal device receives the second message, it may be determined that the terminal device is capable of applying the grouping manner through the paging cycle.

If the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may send a third message in addition to the second message to enable the terminal device to be grouped by the paging cycle, and the third message may include the grouping rule information. After the first terminal device receives the grouping rule information, the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs can be determined according to the grouping rule information and the corresponding dividing factor (for example, the paging cycle of the first terminal device). The second message is for example a broadcast message or a unicast message. The third message is, for example, a broadcast message or a unicast message.

Alternatively, if the grouping rule information is configured by the access network device, the access network device may not have to enable the grouping of the terminal devices by the paging cycle through a special message. For example, the access network device may still send the second message, but the second message includes the packet rule information, which is equivalent to that the access network device sends the packet rule information, which implicitly indicates the manner in which the terminal devices are enabled to be grouped through the paging cycle. After the first terminal device receives the grouping rule information, the grouping to which the first terminal device belongs can be determined according to the grouping rule information and the corresponding dividing factor (for example, the paging cycle of the first terminal device). The second message is for example a broadcast message or a unicast message.

Optionally, different groups may correspond to different values of N, and for the meaning of the value of N, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment shown in fig. 2. For example, when the paging cycle is divided, the value of N corresponding to the first packet is 1, which indicates that, for the terminal device of the first packet, the indication information may be associated with 1 PO; for another example, the value of N corresponding to the second packet is 2, which indicates that for the terminal device of the second packet, the indication information may be associated with 2 POs, and so on. In this regard, reference is made to the description of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. Then, the packet and the value of N have a corresponding relationship, and the corresponding relationship may be specified by a protocol, or the terminal device may store in advance, or may be configured by the access network device. The correspondence may be included in the grouping rule information if configured by the access network device. If the access network equipment sends the grouping rule information, the corresponding relation is sent together. Or, if the access network device does not send the packet rule information, for example, the access network device sends a second message to the first terminal device, where the second message indicates a packet to which the first terminal device belongs, optionally, the second message may also indicate a value of N corresponding to the packet to which the first terminal device belongs.

For more about S114, reference may be made to the description of S103 in the embodiment shown in fig. 10.

And S115, when the downlink data of the first terminal equipment arrives, the core network equipment sends a notification message to the access network equipment, and the access network equipment receives the notification message from the core network equipment. The notification message may indicate that there is downlink data arrival for the first terminal device.

S116, the access network equipment sends the first message, and correspondingly, the first terminal equipment receives the first message from the access network equipment. The first message may include first packet information, which may indicate a first packet, which may include one or more terminal devices.

For more about S116, reference may be made to the description of S104 in the embodiment shown in fig. 10.

S117, the first terminal device determines whether the first terminal device belongs to the first group.

The packet rule information if specified by a protocol, the terminal device can determine the packet to which the terminal device belongs according to the protocol. Alternatively, the grouping rule information may be stored in the terminal device in advance, and the terminal device may determine the group to which the terminal device belongs according to the information stored in advance. Or, the packet rule information may also be configured by the access network device, and the access network device may send the packet rule information, so that the first terminal device can determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs after receiving the packet rule information. Or, the access network device indicates the packet to which the first terminal device belongs through the second message, and the first terminal device may determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs according to the second message.

If the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, S117 is continued, whereas if the first terminal device does not belong to the first packet, S117 does not have to be performed and the flow ends.

S118, the first terminal device monitors paging in the PO associated with the first message.

For more about S118, reference may be made to the description of S106 in the embodiment shown in fig. 10.

The following describes an apparatus for implementing the above method in the embodiment of the present application with reference to the drawings. Therefore, the above contents can be used in the subsequent embodiments, and the repeated contents are not repeated.

Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 1200 is, for example, a terminal device 1200. Illustratively, the terminal device 1200 is capable of implementing the functionality of the terminal device described in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9.

The terminal device 1200 includes a processing module 1210 and a transceiver module 1220. Illustratively, the terminal device 1200 may be a terminal device, and may also be a chip applied in the terminal device or other combined devices, components, and the like having the functions of the terminal device. When the terminal device 1200 is a terminal device, the transceiver module 1220 may include a transmitter and/or a receiver, the transmitter may include an antenna and a radio frequency circuit, and the like, and the receiver may also include an antenna and a radio frequency circuit, and the like. The transmitter and the receiver may be unified to form a transceiver, and the transceiver may implement functions of the transmitter and the receiver, or the transmitter and the receiver may be two separately deployed functional modules. The processing module 1210 may include a processor, such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs). When the terminal device 1200 is a component having the functions of the terminal device, the transceiver module 1220 may be a radio frequency unit, and the processor module 1210 may be a processor, such as a baseband processor. When the terminal device 1200 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1220 may be an input/output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip), and the processing module 1210 may be a processor of the chip system, and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the processing module 1210 in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component, and the transceiver module 1220 may be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component.

For example, processing module 1210 may be used to perform all operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 except transceiving operations, e.g., S24 and S27, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. The transceiving module 1220 may be used to perform all of the receiving and transmitting operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 2, e.g., S21, S23, and S26, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

For another example, processing module 1210 may be used to perform all operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 9 except transceiving operations, e.g., S93 and S96, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. The transceiving module 1220 may be used to perform all of the receiving and transmitting operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 9, e.g., S91, S92, and S95, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

In addition, the transceiver module and the receiving module may be one functional module, which is referred to as the transceiver module 1220, and the transceiver module 1220 can perform both the transmitting operation and the receiving operation, for example, the transceiver module 1220 may be used to perform all the transmitting operation and the receiving operation performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9, for example, when the transmitting operation is performed, the transceiver module 1220 may be considered as the transmitting module, and when the receiving operation is performed, the transceiver module 1220 may be considered as the receiving module; alternatively, the sending module and the receiving module may also be two functional modules, the transceiver module 1220 may be regarded as a general term for the two functional modules, the sending module is configured to complete the sending operation, for example, the sending module may be configured to perform all the sending operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9, and the receiving module is configured to complete the receiving operation, for example, the receiving module may be configured to perform all the receiving operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9.

The transceiver module 1220 is configured to receive a first message from a network device, where the first message is used to indicate a plurality of paging occasions PO where an indication information from the network device is associated with a terminal device, and the indication information is used to wake up the terminal device or not wake up the terminal device;

a processing module 1210, configured to determine a value of N, where N is the number of POs of the terminal device 1200 associated with one piece of indication information, the value of N is related to a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device 1200, and N is a positive integer;

a transceiver module 1220, further configured to receive first indication information from the network device;

the processing module 1210 is further configured to determine, according to the first indication information, a monitoring condition of N POs of the terminal device 1200.

As an alternative embodiment, the processing module 1210 is configured to determine the value of N by:

determining the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device 1200; or the like, or, alternatively,

As an optional implementation manner, the processing module 1210 is configured to determine a value of N according to a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device 1200 by:

As an optional implementation manner, the second value is a value determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the system default paging cycle, and includes:

the second value is the dedicated paging cycle/the system default paging cycle.

wherein the first value and the second value are both preconfigured values.

As an alternative to the above-described embodiment,

the transceiver module 1220 is further configured to receive a third message from the network device, where the third message is used to indicate a correspondence between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device 1200; or the like, or, alternatively,

the processing module 1210 is further configured to determine, according to predefined information, a corresponding relationship between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device 1200; or the like, or, alternatively,

the processing module 1210 is further configured to pre-store a corresponding relationship between the value of N and the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device 1200.

As an alternative to the above-described embodiment,

As an optional implementation manner, the first indication information is included in the paging control information, and the processing module 1210 is configured to determine, according to the first indication information, listening situations of N POs of the terminal device 1200 by:

As an optional implementation manner, the first indication information is included in the downlink control information before PO, and the processing module 1210 is configured to determine, according to the first indication information, listening situations to N POs of the terminal device 1200 by:

As an optional implementation manner, the processing module 1210 is further configured to determine that the first indication information corresponds to a first packet to which the terminal device 1200 belongs, where the first packet includes one or more terminal devices.

As an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module 1220 is further configured to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following:

whether the terminal apparatus 1200 supports the indication information;

whether the terminal device 1200 supports multiple POs of the indication information association terminal device 1200;

energy conservation requirements; or the like, or, alternatively,

the indication information is requested to be associated with a plurality of POs of the terminal apparatus 1200.

For the functions that can be specifically realized by the processing module 1210 and the transceiver module 1220, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9, which is not repeated herein.

Fig. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 1300 is, for example, a network device 1300. Illustratively, the network device 1300 is capable of implementing the functionality of the access network device described in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9.

The network device 1300 includes a processing module 1310 and a transceiver module 1320. With regard to the implementation of the network device 1300, reference may be made to the introduction to the implementation of the terminal device 1200.

For example, the processing module 1310 may be configured to perform all operations performed by the access network device in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 except transceiving operations, such as operations to determine a value of N, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. The transceiving module 1320 may be utilized to perform all of the receiving and transmitting operations performed by the access network device in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 2, e.g., S21-S23 and S25-S26, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

As another example, the processing module 1310 may be configured to perform all operations performed by the access network device in the embodiment shown in fig. 9 except transceiving operations, such as operations to determine a value of N, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. The transceiving module 1320 may be utilized to perform all of the receiving and transmitting operations performed by the access network device in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 9, e.g., S91-S92 and S94-S95, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

In addition, with regard to the implementation of the transceiver module 1320, reference may be made to the description of the implementation of the transceiver module 1220.

The transceiver module 1320 is configured to send a first message, where the first message is used to indicate a plurality of paging occasions PO associated with a terminal device by using an indication information from the network device, and the indication information is used to wake up the terminal device or not wake up the terminal device;

a processing module 1310, configured to determine a value of N, where N is the number of POs of the terminal device associated with one piece of indication information, the value of N is related to a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, and N is a positive integer;

the transceiver 1320 is further configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information is associated with the N POs.

As an alternative embodiment, the processing module 1310 is configured to determine the value of N by:

As an optional implementation manner, the processing module 1310 is configured to determine a value of N according to a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device by:

the second value is the dedicated paging cycle/the system default paging cycle.

wherein the first value and the second value are both preconfigured values.

As an alternative to the above-described embodiment,

the transceiver 1320 is further configured to send a third message, where the third message is used to indicate a correspondence between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device; or the like, or, alternatively,

the processing module 1310 is further configured to determine, according to predefined information, a corresponding relationship between a value of N and a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device; or the like, or, alternatively,

the processing module 1310 is further configured to pre-store a corresponding relationship between the value of N and the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device.

As an alternative to the above-described embodiment,

As an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module 1320 is further configured to receive first information from a terminal device or a core network device, where the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following:

whether the terminal equipment supports the indication information or not;

energy conservation requirements; or the like, or, alternatively,

As an optional implementation manner, the first indication information corresponds to a first packet to which the terminal device belongs, and the first packet includes one or more terminal devices.

As to the functions that can be specifically realized by the processing module 1310 and the transceiver module 1320, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9, which is not repeated herein.

Fig. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 1400 is, for example, a terminal device 1400. Illustratively, the terminal device 1400 is capable of implementing the functionality of the first terminal device as described in the embodiment shown in fig. 10 or the embodiment shown in fig. 11.

Terminal device 1400 includes a processing module 1410 and a transceiver module 1420. With regard to the implementation of terminal device 1400, reference may be made to the introduction to the implementation of terminal device 1200.

For example, processing module 1410 may be used to perform all operations performed by the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 10, except for transceiving operations, e.g., S105, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. The transceiver module 1420 may be used to perform all of the receiving operations and transmitting operations performed by the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 10, e.g., S101, S103, S104, and S106, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

As another example, processing module 1410 may be configured to perform all operations performed by the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 11 except for transceiving operations, e.g., S117, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. The transceiver module 1420 may be used to perform all of the receiving operations and transmitting operations performed by the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 11, e.g., S111, S113, S114, S116, and S118, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

In addition, regarding the implementation of the transceiver module 1420, reference may be made to the description of the implementation of the transceiver module 1220.

The transceiver module 1420 is configured to receive a first message from an access network device, where the first message includes first packet information, where the first packet information is used to indicate a first packet, and the first packet includes one or more terminal devices;

a processing module 1410, configured to determine that the terminal device 1400 belongs to the first packet, where the first packet is divided according to a paging cycle of the terminal device;

the transceiving module 1420 is further configured to listen for a page in the PO associated with the first message.

As an optional implementation manner, the paging cycle of the terminal device is a dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device, or is a paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device, where the paging cycle actually applied by the terminal device is a smaller value of the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device and a default paging cycle of the system.

As an optional implementation manner, the first message is downlink control information located before a PO, and the transceiving module 1420 is configured to listen for a page in the PO associated with the first message by:

As an optional implementation manner, the first message is paging control information, and the transceiving module 1420 is configured to listen to paging in a PO associated with the first message by:

As an alternative implementation, the transceiver module 1420 is further configured to:

a second message is received from the access network device indicating the packet to which the terminal device 1400 belongs.

As an optional implementation manner, the transceiving module 1420 is further configured to send the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device 1400 to the access network device or the core network device.

As to the functions that can be specifically realized by the processing module 1410 and the transceiver module 1420, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment shown in fig. 10 or the embodiment shown in fig. 11, which is not repeated herein.

Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 1500 is, for example, a network device 1500. Illustratively, the network device 1500 is capable of implementing the functionality of the embodiment shown in fig. 10 or the access network device described in the embodiment shown in fig. 10.

The network device 1500 includes a processing module 1510 and a transceiver module 1520. With regard to the implementation of network device 1500, reference may be made to the introduction to the implementation of terminal device 1200.

For example, processing module 1510 may be used to perform all operations performed by the access network equipment in the embodiment shown in fig. 10, except transceiving operations, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. The transceiver module 1520 may be used to perform all of the receiving operations and transmitting operations performed by the access network equipment in the embodiment shown in fig. 10, e.g., S102, S103, and S104, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

As another example, processing module 1510 may be used to perform all operations performed by the access network equipment in the embodiment shown in fig. 11, except transceiving operations, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. The transceiver module 1520 may be used to perform all of the receiving operations and transmitting operations performed by the access network equipment in the embodiment shown in fig. 11, e.g., S112, S113, S114, and S116, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein.

In addition, with regard to the implementation of the transceiver module 1520, reference may be made to the description of the implementation of the transceiver module 1220.

The transceiver module 1520, configured to send a first message, where the first message includes first packet information, and the first packet information is used to indicate a first packet, and the first packet includes one or more terminal devices;

a processing module 1510 configured to determine that a first terminal device belongs to the first packet, wherein the first packet is divided according to a paging cycle of the terminal device;

the transceiving module 1520 is further configured to page the first terminal device within the PO associated with the first message.

As an alternative implementation, the transceiver module 1520 is further configured to:

As an optional implementation manner, the transceiver module 1520 is further configured to receive a dedicated paging cycle of the first terminal device from the first terminal device.

As to the functions that can be specifically realized by the processing module 1510 and the transceiver module 1520, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment shown in fig. 10 or the embodiment shown in fig. 11, which is not repeated herein.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication device, and the communication device can be terminal equipment or a circuit. The communication device may be configured to perform the actions performed by the terminal device in the above-described method embodiments.

When the communication apparatus is a terminal device, fig. 16 shows a schematic structural diagram of a simplified terminal device. For ease of understanding and illustration, in fig. 16, the terminal device is exemplified by a mobile phone. As shown in fig. 16, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, a radio frequency circuit, an antenna, and an input-output device. The processor is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the terminal equipment, executing software programs, processing data of the software programs and the like. The memory is used primarily for storing software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are used primarily for receiving data input by a user and for outputting data to the user. It should be noted that some kinds of terminal devices may not have input/output devices.

When data needs to be sent, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs baseband signals to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signals and sends the radio frequency signals to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal equipment, the radio frequency circuit receives radio frequency signals through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signals into baseband signals and outputs the baseband signals to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signals into the data and processes the data. For ease of illustration, only one memory and processor are shown in FIG. 16. In an actual end device product, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory may be provided independently of the processor, or may be integrated with the processor, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In the embodiment of the present application, an antenna and a radio frequency circuit having a transceiving function may be regarded as a transceiving unit of a terminal device (the transceiving unit may be a functional unit, and the functional unit is capable of implementing a transmitting function and a receiving function, or the transceiving unit may also include two functional units, which are respectively a receiving unit capable of implementing a receiving function and a transmitting unit capable of implementing a transmitting function), and a processor having a processing function may be regarded as a processing unit of the terminal device. As shown in fig. 15, the terminal device includes a transceiving unit 1610 and a processing unit 1620. A transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. A processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, a processing board, a processing module, a processing device, or the like. Alternatively, a device for implementing a receiving function in the transceiving unit 1610 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing a transmitting function in the transceiving unit 1610 may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the transceiving unit 1610 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A transceiver unit may also sometimes be referred to as a transceiver, transceiving circuitry, or the like. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, or the like. A transmitting unit may also sometimes be referred to as a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

It should be understood that the transceiving unit 1610 is configured to perform the transmitting operation and the receiving operation of the terminal device side in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9, and the processing unit 1620 is configured to perform all or part of the operations of the terminal device side except the transceiving operation in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 or the embodiment shown in fig. 9. Alternatively, the transceiver 1610 is configured to perform the transmitting operation and the receiving operation of the first terminal device side in the embodiment shown in fig. 10 or the embodiment shown in fig. 11, and the processing unit 1620 is configured to perform all or part of the operations of the first terminal device side except the transmitting and receiving operation in the embodiment shown in fig. 10 or the embodiment shown in fig. 11.

When the communication device is a chip-like device or circuit, the device may comprise a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit may be an input/output circuit and/or a communication interface; the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit.

When the communication device in this embodiment is a terminal device, reference may be made to the device shown in fig. 17. As an example, the device may perform functions similar to processing module 1210 of FIG. 12. As yet another example, the device may perform functions similar to processing module 1410 in FIG. 14. In fig. 17, the apparatus includes a processor 1710, a transmit data processor 1720, and a receive data processor 1730. The processing module 1210 in the above embodiments may be the processor 1710 in fig. 16, and performs the corresponding functions; the transceiver module 1220 in the above embodiments may be the sending data processor 1720 and/or the receiving data processor 1730 in fig. 16, and performs corresponding functions. Alternatively, the processing module 1410 in the above embodiments may be the processor 1710 in fig. 16, and perform the corresponding functions; the transceiver module 1420 in the above embodiments may be the sending data processor 1720 and/or the receiving data processor 1730 in fig. 16, and perform corresponding functions. Although fig. 16 shows a channel encoder and a channel decoder, it is understood that these blocks are not limitative and only illustrative to the present embodiment.

Fig. 18 shows another form of the present embodiment. The processing device 1800 includes modules such as a modulation subsystem, a central processing subsystem, and peripheral subsystems. The communication device in this embodiment may serve as a modulation subsystem therein. In particular, the modulation subsystem may include a processor 1803 and an interface 1804. The processor 1803 completes the functions of the processing module 1210, and the interface 1804 completes the functions of the transceiver module 1220. Alternatively, the processor 1803 may perform the functions of the processing module 1410, and the interface 1804 may perform the functions of the transceiver module 1420. As another variation, the modulation subsystem includes a memory 1806, a processor 1803, and a program stored in the memory 1806 and executable on the processor, and the processor 1803 executes the program to implement the method on the terminal device side in the above method embodiment. It is noted that the memory 1806 may be non-volatile or volatile, and may be located within the modulation subsystem or within the processing device 1800, as long as the memory 1806 is coupled to the processor 1803.

When the device in the embodiment of the present application is a network device, the device may be as shown in fig. 19. The apparatus 1900 includes one or more radio frequency units, such as a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) 1910 and one or more baseband units (BBUs) (also referred to as digital units, DUs) 1920. The RRU 1910 may be referred to as a transceiver module, and the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, or the transceiver module may be a module capable of implementing transmitting and receiving functions. The transceiver module may correspond to the transceiver module 1320 in fig. 13. Alternatively, the transceiver module may correspond to the transceiver module 1520 in fig. 15. The transceiver module, which may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiving circuitry, or transceiver, among others, may optionally include at least one antenna 1911 and a radio frequency unit 1912. The RRU 1910 is mainly used for transceiving radio frequency signals and converting the radio frequency signals and baseband signals, for example, for sending indication information to a terminal device. The BBU1920 part is mainly used for performing baseband processing, controlling a base station, and the like. The RRU 1910 and the BBU1920 may be physically disposed together or may be physically disposed separately, that is, a distributed base station.

The BBU1920 is a control center of the base station, and may also be referred to as a processing module, and may correspond to the processing module 1310 in fig. 13 or the processing module 1510 in fig. 15, where the BBU1920 (processing module) is mainly used for performing baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, and the like. For example, the BBU (processing module) may be configured to control the base station to perform an operation procedure related to the network device in the foregoing method embodiment, for example, to generate the foregoing indication information.

In an example, the BBU1920 may be composed of one or more boards, and a plurality of boards may support a radio access network of a single access system (e.g., an LTE network) together, or may support radio access networks of different access systems (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks) respectively. The BBU1920 also includes a memory 1921 and a processor 1922. The memory 1921 is used to store the necessary instructions and data. The processor 1922 is configured to control the base station to perform necessary actions, for example, to control the base station to perform the operation procedure related to the network device in the above method embodiment. The memory 1921 and processor 1922 may serve one or more boards. That is, the memory and processor may be provided separately on each board. Multiple boards may share the same memory and processor. In addition, each single board can be provided with necessary circuits.

It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, and may also be other general purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It will also be appreciated that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, the memory (memory module) is integrated in the processor.

It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

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

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

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

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

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

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: a computer-readable medium may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a universal serial bus flash disk (universal serial bus flash disk), a removable hard disk, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage 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 above description is only for the specific implementation of the present application, but the scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the embodiments of the present application, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered by the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving a first message from a network device, wherein the first message is used for indicating a plurality of paging occasions PO of an indication information associated with a terminal device from the network device, and the indication information is used for waking up the terminal device or not waking up the terminal device;

determining the value of N, wherein N is the number of POs of the terminal equipment associated with one piece of indication information, the value of N is related to the special paging cycle of the terminal equipment, and N is a positive integer;

receiving first indication information from the network device;

and determining the monitoring conditions of the N POs of the terminal equipment according to the first indication information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a value of N comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device comprises:

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second value is a value determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the system default paging cycle, and comprises:

the second value is the dedicated paging cycle/the system default paging cycle.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device comprises:

wherein the first value and the second value are both preconfigured values.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device comprises:

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, further comprising:

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first indication information is included in paging control information, and wherein determining the listening status for N POs of the terminal device according to the first indication information comprises:

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first indication information is included in downlink control information before PO, and determining how to listen to N POs of the terminal device according to the first indication information comprises:

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first indication information is included in paging control information, and wherein determining the listening status for N POs of the terminal device according to the first indication information comprises:

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the first indication information is included in downlink control information before PO, and determining how to listen to N POs of the terminal device according to the first indication information comprises:

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

14. The method of any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising:

whether the terminal equipment supports the indication information or not;

energy conservation requirements; or the like, or, alternatively,

15. A method of communication, comprising:

sending a first message, where the first message is used to indicate that one indication information from the network device is associated with multiple paging occasions PO of the terminal device, and the indication information is used to wake up the terminal device or not;

and sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information is associated with the N POs.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining a value of N comprises:

17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device comprises:

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second value is a value determined according to the dedicated paging cycle and the system default paging cycle, and comprises:

the second value is the dedicated paging cycle/the system default paging cycle.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device comprises:

wherein the first value and the second value are both preconfigured values.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the value of N according to the dedicated paging cycle of the terminal device comprises:

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

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21,

23. The method of any one of claims 15 to 22, further comprising:

whether the terminal equipment supports the indication information or not;

energy conservation requirements; or the like, or, alternatively,

24. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 23,

the first indication information corresponds to a first packet to which the terminal device belongs, and the first packet comprises one or more terminal devices.

25. A terminal device, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memories;

and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the one or more memories, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of the terminal device, cause the terminal device to perform the method of any of claims 1-14.

26. A network device, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memories;

and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the one or more memories, the one or more computer programs comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of the network device, cause the network device to perform the method of any of claims 15-24.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 14 or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 15 to 24.

28. A chip comprising one or more processors and a communications interface, the one or more processors being configured to read instructions to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 14 or to perform the method of any one of claims 15 to 24.