CN115348648A

CN115348648A - Method and communication device for transmitting paging messages

Info

Publication number: CN115348648A
Application number: CN202110752684.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邝奕如; 徐海博; 谢曦; 常俊仁
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-14
Filing date: 2021-07-02
Publication date: 2022-11-15
Also published as: WO2022237801A1

Abstract

The application provides a method and a communication device for transmitting paging messages. In the method, a first core network device may assign a first group number to a first terminal device according to a first group number supported by the first core network device, the first terminal device may determine a second group number according to the first group number and a first corresponding relationship, the second group number being a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device, so that, after the first terminal device receives first indication information from the first access network device, if the third group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device may receive a paging message from the first access network device. That is, only the terminal device whose group number is the same as the third group number receives the paging message, and the terminal device whose group number is different from the third group number does not receive the paging message, so that the energy consumption of the terminal device which does not receive the paging message can be reduced.

Description

Method and communication device for transmitting paging messages

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and a communication apparatus for transmitting paging messages in the field of communications.

Background

In some communication mechanisms, the terminal device may wake up periodically to receive the paging message and stay in a sleep state at other times to save power consumption of the terminal device. If the access network device or the core network device needs to send downlink data to a certain terminal device, the access network device or the core network device may send a paging message, where the paging message may include an identifier of the terminal device to be paged by the access network device or the core network device, and if the core network device needs to page the terminal device, the core network device may send the paging message to the access network device, and the access network device sends the paging message. If there are multiple terminal devices, the multiple terminal devices need to wake up periodically to receive the paging message. A certain terminal device is paged by the paging message, but a plurality of terminal devices wake up to receive the paging message, so the energy consumption of the terminal device is relatively high. When a certain terminal device receives a paging message at a PO of the terminal device, if an identifier included in the paging message is the identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device initiates a Radio Resource Control (RRC) setup request. That is to say, regardless of which terminal device is paged by the access network device or the core network device, the plurality of terminal devices wake up to receive the paging message, and after receiving the paging message, the identifier included in the paging message is not the identifier of the terminal device itself, which may cause the power consumption of the terminal device to be relatively large.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a communication device for transmitting paging messages, which can reduce the power consumption of terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, a method for transmitting a paging message is provided, the method being applied to a first terminal device, and the method including: determining a second group number according to the first corresponding relation and the first group number, wherein the first group number is a group number which is allocated to the first terminal equipment by the first core network equipment according to the first group number supported by the first core network equipment, the second group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network equipment, and first indication information is received from the first access network equipment and is used for indicating the terminal equipment of a third group number to receive paging messages; receiving a paging message from the first access network device on a condition that the third group number is the same as the second group number.

In the foregoing scheme, the first core network device may allocate a first group number to the first terminal device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device, and the first terminal device may determine a second group number according to the first group number and the first corresponding relationship, where the second group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device, so that, after the first terminal device receives the first indication information from the first access network device, if the third group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device may receive the paging message from the first access network device. That is, only the terminal device whose group number is the same as the third group number receives the paging message, and the terminal device whose group number is different from the third group number does not receive the paging message, so that the energy consumption of the terminal device which does not receive the paging message can be reduced.

Further, the first terminal device may determine a second group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number, where the first group number is a group number allocated to the terminal device by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device, and the second group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device and determined by the first terminal device. After the first terminal device receives the first indication information from the first access network device, the first indication information may indicate that the terminal device of the third group number receives the paging message, and if the third group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device may receive the paging message from the first access network device. That is, in the process of determining whether to receive the paging message according to the group number, the first terminal device may determine whether to receive the paging message by using a second group number determined according to the first group number and the first corresponding relationship, instead of using the first group number allocated by the first core network device. The second number may be a group number associated with a second number supported by the first access network device, or the second number may be a group number to which the first terminal device is capable of being assigned according to the second number supported by the first access network device. Even if the second group number supported by the first access network device is different from the first group number supported by the first core network device, the first access network device can page the first terminal device, so that the system design can be simplified, the applicability can be improved, and the success rate of paging can be improved.

Wherein, the second group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device, and may be understood as: the second group number may be a group number that can be assigned to the first terminal device according to a second number supported by the first access network device. Or may be understood as: the second group number is a group number that can be identified or indicated by the first access network device, and if the first access network device allocates the group number according to the second group number, the group number that can be allocated by the first access network device according to the second group number includes the second group number.

Alternatively, the first number supported by the first core network device may be the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device specified by the protocol, or the first number may be less than or equal to the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device.

Optionally, the first access network device is an access network device of the first terminal device, and the first core network device is a core network device of the first terminal device, or a core network device corresponding to the first access network device.

In some possible implementations, the determining the second number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first number includes: and determining the second group number according to the first corresponding relation, the first group number and the second group number.

In the above scheme, the first terminal device may determine the second group number according to the first group number, the second group number, and the first corresponding relationship. If the second group number is the same as the third group number, it indicates that the first terminal device needs to wake up to receive the paging message, and avoids the situation that the first access network device cannot page the first terminal device under the condition that the number of groups supported by the first access network device and the first core network device is different.

In some possible implementations, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a first group number set and at least one second group number set, where the first group number set includes group numbers that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number, the group numbers that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device include the first group number, the at least one second group number set is in one-to-one correspondence with at least one group number, and the at least one group number includes the second group number. Optionally, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number included in the first group number set and a group number included in the at least one second group number set.

In some possible implementations, the determining the second group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number includes: determining a second number set in the at least one second number set according to the second number set; determining said second group number in said one second group number set based on said first group number.

In the above solution, since one group number set corresponds to one group number, the first terminal device may determine one second group number set according to the second group number, and determine the second group number in the one second group number set according to the first group number, that is, in a case where there are multiple second group number sets, the first terminal device may uniquely determine one second group number set by using the second group number, so that the first terminal device may determine the second group number in the second group number set.

In some possible implementations, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number corresponding to the first group number and a group number corresponding to the second group number. The determining the second group number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first group number includes: and determining a second group number corresponding to the first group number in the group numbers corresponding to the second group number.

In some possible implementation manners, the first corresponding relationship is used to indicate a remainder operation of a group number that can be allocated by the core network device according to the number of groups supported by the core network device and the number of groups supported by the access network device;

wherein the determining the second group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number includes: carrying out remainder operation on the second number by using the first number to obtain a remainder; determining the second set of numbers based on the remainder.

Optionally, determining the second group of numbers according to the remainder comprises: the second number is determined from the remainder and P, which is a positive integer. Optionally, determining the second number from the remainder and P comprises: the remainder plus P is determined as the second set of numbers. For example, P =1.

Optionally, the first corresponding relationship used by the first terminal device to determine the second group number may be the same as the first corresponding relationship used by the first access network device to determine the group number. That is to say, the second group number determined by the first terminal device is the same as the first group number used by the first access network device to determine the third group number, and only when the first corresponding relationship used by the first terminal device to determine the second group number is the same as the first corresponding relationship used by the first access network device to determine the third group number, the second group number determined by the first terminal device may be the same as the third group number determined by the first access network device.

In some possible implementation manners, the first corresponding relationship is preset by a protocol, and the first terminal device stores the first corresponding relationship.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: and acquiring the first corresponding relation from the first core network equipment. Optionally, the first corresponding relationship is determined by the first core network device.

Optionally, the first terminal device receives a NAS message from the first core network device, where the NAS message includes the first corresponding relationship or includes indication information for indicating the first corresponding relationship.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: and acquiring the first corresponding relation from the first access network equipment. Alternatively, the first correspondence may be determined by the first access network device.

Optionally, the first terminal device receives a broadcast message from the first access network device, where the broadcast message includes the first corresponding relationship or includes indication information for indicating the first corresponding relationship.

In some possible implementations, the receiving first indication information from the first access network device includes: receiving downlink control information from the first access network device, where the downlink control information includes the first indication information.

Optionally, the receiving the downlink control information from the first access network device may include: and receiving the downlink control information at the first PO of the first terminal equipment. Optionally, the first terminal device may calculate a first PO according to the first identifier of the first terminal device. Optionally, the first identifier is an identifier allocated by the first core network device to the first terminal device, that is, the first core network device can identify the first terminal device according to the first identifier.

That is, the first terminal device may wake up at the first PO to receive the downlink control information, and acquire the first indication information in the downlink control information. Optionally, the downlink control information may further indicate a time-frequency resource location for sending the paging message. Thus, if the third group number is the same as the second group number determined by the first terminal device, the first terminal device receives the paging message at the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information, and if the third group number is different from the second group number determined by the first terminal device, the first terminal device does not receive the paging message and continues to be in the sleep state. That is, the terminal device whose group number is not the third group number does not wake up nor receive the paging message at the time frequency position indicated by the downlink control information, and the terminal device whose group number is the third group number wakes up at the time frequency position indicated by the downlink control information to receive the paging message, so that energy consumption of part of the terminal devices can be saved.

In some possible implementations, the receiving first indication information from the first access network device includes: and receiving second indication information from the first access network device, where the second indication information includes the first indication information, and the second indication information is used for the first terminal device to determine whether to receive downlink control information at the paging occasion.

Alternatively, the first terminal device may receive the second indication information before the first PO.

Alternatively, the first terminal device may receive the second indication information at a preset position. Optionally, before the first PO, the first terminal device receives the second indication information at the preset position. That is, the first terminal device may wake up at a preset position specified by the protocol to receive the second indication information, and determine whether to receive the downlink control information according to the second indication information.

Optionally, the second indication may be WUS or PEI.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: the second set of numbers is learned from the first access network device.

Optionally, the obtaining the second group number from the first access network device includes: receiving the second group number from the first access network device or receiving indication information indicating the second group number from the first access network device.

Optionally, the first terminal device may receive a broadcast message from the first access network device, where the broadcast message includes the second group number or includes indication information for indicating the second group number.

Optionally, if the first terminal device learns the second group number and the first corresponding relationship from the first access network device, the first terminal device may learn the second group number and the first corresponding relationship from the first access network device through the same message, for example, learn the second group number and the first corresponding relationship from the first access network device through the same broadcast message.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate, to the first terminal device, the first group number supported by the first core network device. The first terminal device determines whether the first group number is the same as the second group number. Optionally, the determining, by the first terminal device, the second group number according to the first corresponding relationship, the first group number, and the second group number includes: optionally, if the first group number is different from the second group number, the first terminal device determines the second group number according to the first corresponding relationship, the first group number, and the second group number. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, only when the first group number is different from the second group number, the first terminal device determines the second group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device may not determine the second group number, or may determine the second group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number, and the determined second group number may be the same as the first group number.

In some possible implementations, the determining the second number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first number includes: and if the first group number is not equal to the second group number, determining the second group number according to the first corresponding relation and the first group number. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, the first terminal device determines the second group number based on the first correspondence and the first group number only if the first group number is different from the second group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device may not determine the second group number, or may determine the second group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number, and the determined second group number may be the same as the first group number.

In a second aspect, a method for transmitting a paging message is provided, where the method is applied to a first access network device, and includes:

determining a third group number according to the first corresponding relation and the first group number, wherein the first group number is a group number which is allocated to the first terminal equipment by the first core network equipment according to the first group number supported by the first core network equipment, and the third group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network equipment;

sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment of the third group number to receive paging messages;

and sending the paging message.

In the foregoing scheme, the first core network device may allocate a first group number to the first terminal device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device, the first access network device may determine a third group number according to the first group number and the first corresponding relationship, where the third group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device, and thus, after the first terminal device receives the first indication information from the first access network device, the first access network device may send a paging message, and if the second group number determined by the first terminal device is the same as the third group number, the first terminal device may receive the paging message from the first access network device. That is, only the terminal device whose group number is the same as the third group number receives the paging message, and the terminal device whose group number is different from the third group number does not receive the paging message, so that the energy consumption of the terminal device which does not receive the paging message can be reduced.

Further, the first access network device may determine a third group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number, where the first group number is a group number allocated to the terminal device by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device, and the third group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device and determined by the first access network device. After the first terminal device receives the first indication information from the first access network device, the first indication information may indicate that the terminal device of the third group number receives the paging message, the first access network device may send the paging message, and if the third group number is the same as the second group number determined by the first terminal device, the first terminal device may receive the paging message from the first access network device. That is to say, in the process of determining the group number of the terminal device receiving the paging message, the first access network device may determine, instead of the first group number assigned by the first core network device, a third group number according to the first group number and the first corresponding relationship, and determine that the terminal device receiving the paging message receives the third group number. The third group number may be a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device, or the third group number may be a group number to which the first terminal device can be allocated according to the second group number supported by the first access network device. Even if the second group number supported by the first access network device is different from the first group number supported by the first core network device, the first access network device can also page the first terminal device, so that the system design can be simplified, the applicability can be improved, and the success rate of paging can be improved.

Wherein, the third group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device, and may be understood as: the third group number may be a group number that can be assigned to the first terminal device according to the second number supported by the first access network device. Or may be understood as: the third group number is a group number that can be identified or indicated by the first access network device, and if the first access network device allocates a group number according to the second group number, the group number that can be allocated by the first access network device according to the second group number includes the third group number.

Optionally, sending a paging message includes: and sending a paging message at a first paging occasion corresponding to the first terminal equipment.

In some possible implementations, the determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first group number includes: and determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relation, the first group number and the second group number.

In the above solution, the first access network device may determine the third group number according to the first group number, the second group number, and the first corresponding relationship. If the third group number indicated by the first indication information is the same as the second group number determined by the first terminal device, it indicates that the first terminal device needs to wake up to receive the paging message, and avoids the situation that the first access network device cannot page the first terminal device under the condition that the number of groups supported by the first access network device and the first core network device is different.

In some possible implementation manners, the determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relationship, the first group number, and the second group number includes:

determining a second number set in the at least one second number set according to the second number set;

and determining the third group number in the second group number set according to the first group number.

In the above scheme, since one second group number corresponds to one group number, the first access network device may determine a first second group number set according to the second group number, and determine a third group number in the one second group number set according to the first group number, that is, in a case where there are multiple second group number sets, the first access network device may uniquely determine one second group number set by using the second group number, so that the first access network device determines the second group number in the second group number set.

In some possible implementations, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number corresponding to the first group number and a group number corresponding to the second group number. The determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first group number includes: and determining a third group number corresponding to the first group number in the group numbers corresponding to the second group number.

wherein the determining the third group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number includes:

carrying out remainder operation on the second number by using the first number to obtain a remainder;

determining the third set of numbers based on the remainder.

Optionally, determining the third set of numbers from the remainder comprises: the third set of numbers is determined from the remainder and P, which is a positive integer. Optionally, determining a third set of numbers from the remainder and P comprises: the remainder plus P is determined as the third set of numbers. For example, P =1.

In some possible implementations, the first corresponding relationship is preset by a protocol, and the first access network device stores the first corresponding relationship therein.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: generating the first corresponding relation; and indicating the first corresponding relation to the first terminal equipment.

Optionally, indicating the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device includes: and sending indication information for indicating the first corresponding relation to the first terminal equipment, or directly sending the first corresponding relation to the first terminal equipment.

Optionally, indicating the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device includes: and sending a broadcast message, wherein the broadcast message is used for indicating the first corresponding relation.

In some possible implementations, the generating the first corresponding relationship includes: acquiring a grouping strategy from the first core network equipment; and generating the first corresponding relation according to the grouping strategy.

Optionally, the grouping policy may be for the first access network device to group. Alternatively, the grouping policy may indicate the rule of the feature information of the terminal device and the group number size. For example, the grouping policy may indicate that the regularity between paging probability and group number size may be: the group number with small paging probability is small, and the group number with large paging probability is large. For another example, the grouping policy may indicate that the regularity between the RRC state and the group number size may be: the group number of the terminal device in the RRC idle state is relatively small, and the group number of the terminal device in the RRC inactive state is relatively large. For another example, the grouping policy may indicate that the regularity between the power consumption sensitivity level and the group number size may be: the more sensitive the power consumption, the smaller the group number of the terminal equipment is, and the less sensitive the power consumption, the larger the group number of the terminal equipment is.

In some possible implementations, the sending the first indication information includes: and sending downlink control information, wherein the downlink control information comprises the first indication information.

Optionally, the sending the downlink control information may include: and sending the downlink control information at the first PO of the first terminal equipment. Optionally, the first access network device may calculate the first PO according to the first identifier of the first terminal device. Optionally, the first identifier is an identifier allocated by the first core network device to the first terminal device, that is, the first core network device can identify the first terminal device according to the first identifier.

That is to say, the first access network device sends the downlink control information at the first PO of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device may wake up at the first PO to receive the downlink control information, and obtain the first indication information in the downlink control information. Optionally, the downlink control information may further indicate a time-frequency resource location for sending the paging message. In this way, if the third group number is the same as the second group number determined by the first terminal device, the first terminal device receives the paging message at the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information, and if the third group number is different from the second group number determined by the first terminal device, the first terminal device does not receive the paging message and continues to be in the sleep state, and even if the first PO of the first terminal device arrives, the first terminal device does not wake up and continues to be in the sleep state. That is to say, the terminal device whose group number is not the third group number does not receive the paging message at the time-frequency position indicated by the downlink control information, and the terminal device whose group number is the third group number receives the paging message at the time-frequency position indicated by the downlink control information, which can save part of the energy consumption of the terminal device.

In some possible implementations, the sending the first indication information includes: and sending second indication information, wherein the second indication information comprises the first indication information, and the second indication information is used for the first terminal equipment to determine whether to receive downlink control information at the first paging occasion.

Optionally, the first access network device may send the second indication information before the first PO.

Optionally, the first access network device may send the second indication information at a preset location. Optionally, the first access network device sends the second indication information at a preset location before the first PO. That is, the first terminal device may wake up at a preset position specified by the protocol to receive the second indication information, and determine whether to receive the downlink control information according to the second indication information.

Alternatively, the second indication may be WUS or PEI.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: indicating the second set of numbers to the first terminal device.

Optionally, indicating the second group number to the first terminal device includes: the second group number is transmitted or the indication information for indicating the second group number is included.

Optionally, the first access network device sends a broadcast message, where the broadcast message includes the second group number or includes indication information for indicating the second group number.

Optionally, if the first access network device indicates the second group number and the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device, the first access network device may indicate the second group number and the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device through the same message, for example, indicate the second group number and the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device through the same broadcast message.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate, to the first access network device, the first number of groups supported by the first core network device. The first terminal device determines whether the first group number is the same as the second group number. Optionally, the determining, by the first access network device, the third group number according to the first corresponding relationship, the first group number, and the second group number includes: and if the first group number is different from the second group number, the first access network equipment determines a third group number according to the first corresponding relation, the first group number and the second group number. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, only when the first group number is different from the second group number, the first access network device determines the third group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first access network device may not determine the third group number, or may also determine the third group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number, and the determined third group number may be the same as the first group number.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: obtaining the first group number from the first core network device; wherein, the determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first group number comprises: and if the second group number is different from the first group number, determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relation and the first group number. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, only if the first group number is different from the second group number, the first access network device determines the third group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first access network device may not determine the third group number, or may also determine the third group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number, and the determined third group number may be the same as the first group number.

In a third aspect, a method for transmitting a paging message is provided, where the method is applied to a first core network device, and includes: indicating a first group number to a first terminal device, wherein the first group number is a group number allocated to the first terminal device by a first core network device according to a first group number supported by the first core network device, the first group number is used for the first terminal device to determine a second group number, and the second group number is a group number related to a second group number supported by a first access network device;

and indicating a fourth group number to the first access network device, wherein the fourth group number is used for determining a third group number by the first access network device, the third group number is a group number related to the second group number, and if the second group number is the same as the third group number, the first terminal device is a terminal device for receiving a paging message.

In the above scheme, the first core network device may indicate the first group number to the first terminal device, and the first core network device may also indicate the fourth group number to the first access network device. The first terminal device may determine the second group number according to the first group number, the first access network device may determine the third group number according to the fourth group number, and if the third group number is equal to the second group number, the first terminal device may be a terminal device that receives the paging message. If the third group number is not equal to the second group number, the first terminal device does not receive the paging message, which can save power consumption.

Further, the first terminal device may determine a second group number according to the first group number, where the first group number is a group number allocated to the terminal device by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device, and the second group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device and determined by the first terminal device. The third group number is a group number associated with the second number supported by the first access network device as determined by the first access network device. The first terminal device may receive the paging message from the first access network device if the third set number is the same as the second set number. That is to say, in the process of determining whether to receive the paging message according to the group number, the first terminal device may determine whether to receive the paging message by using a second group number determined according to the first group number, instead of the first group number allocated by the first core network device. In the process that the first access network device determines the group number of the terminal device receiving the paging message, the fourth group number is the group number of the terminal device to be paged by the first core network device, and the fourth group number may not be adopted, but the third group number is determined according to the fourth group number, and the terminal device determining the third group number receives the paging message. Even if the second group number supported by the first access network device is different from the first group number supported by the first core network device, the first access network device can also page the first terminal device, so that the system design can be simplified, the applicability can be improved, and the success rate of paging can be improved.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: and acquiring the second group number supported by the first access network equipment from the first access network equipment. The second set of numbers is used to determine the first correspondence. Optionally, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number corresponding to the first number and a group number corresponding to the second number.

In some possible implementations, the method includes: determining a first corresponding relation; and indicating a first corresponding relation to the first access network equipment and the first terminal equipment.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: indicating a grouping policy to the first access network device, the grouping policy for determining a first correspondence.

In some possible implementation manners, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a first group number set and at least one second group number set, where the first group number set includes a group number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number, the group number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device includes the first group number and a fourth group number, the at least one second group number set corresponds to at least one group number in a one-to-one manner, and the at least one group number includes the second group number.

In some possible implementation manners, the first corresponding relationship is used to instruct the core network device to perform a remainder operation on a group number that can be allocated according to the number of groups supported by the core network device and the number of groups supported by the access network device.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: and the first core network equipment divides each terminal equipment into groups with the first group number according to the characteristic information of each terminal equipment. Optionally, the feature information of each terminal device may include at least one of an RRC state of each terminal device, a paging probability of each terminal device, or a power consumption sensitivity of each terminal device. The first core network device may divide each terminal device into groups whose number of groups is the first number of groups, in accordance with at least one of an RRC state of each terminal device, a paging probability of each terminal device, or a power consumption sensitivity of each terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided the communication device for transmitting a paging message, where the communication device is configured to perform the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or perform the method in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or perform the method in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, or perform other methods introduced in this embodiment. Optionally, the communication device may include the units of the method described in any embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the communication device may include a processing unit and a transceiver unit. The transceiving unit can communicate with the outside, and the processing unit is used for processing data. The transceiving unit may also be referred to as a communication interface or communication unit.

The communication apparatus may be configured to perform actions performed by the first terminal device in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in this case, the communication apparatus may be referred to as the first terminal device, the transceiver unit is configured to perform operations related to transceiving of the first terminal device side in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, and the processing unit is configured to perform operations related to processing of the first terminal device side in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

The communication device may be configured to perform an action performed by the first access network device in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in this case, the communication device may be referred to as the first access network device, the transceiver unit is configured to perform operations related to transceiving of the first access network device side in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, and the processing unit is configured to perform operations related to processing of the first access network device side in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

The communication apparatus may be configured to perform an action performed by the first core network device in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in this case, the communication apparatus may be referred to as the first core network device, the transceiver unit is configured to perform a transceiving related operation on the first core network device side in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, and the processing unit is configured to perform a processing related operation on the first core network device side in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a processor and a memory, the processor is coupled with the memory, the memory is used for storing computer programs or instructions, and the processor is used for executing the computer programs or instructions stored by the memory, so that the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect is executed, or the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect is executed, or the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect is executed, or the method introduced in other embodiments of the present application is executed.

For example, the processor is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored by the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

Optionally, the apparatus comprises one or more processors.

Optionally, the apparatus may further include a memory coupled to the processor.

Optionally, the apparatus may comprise one or more memories.

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

Optionally, the apparatus may further include a transceiver.

In a sixth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes at least two of the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect, the communication apparatus being configured to perform the method of the first aspect, the communication apparatus being configured to perform the method of the second aspect, or the communication apparatus being configured to perform the method of the third aspect; alternatively, the communication system includes at least two of the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect for performing the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the communication apparatus for performing the method in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or the communication apparatus for performing the method in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program (also referred to as instructions or code) for implementing the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect is stored.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. The computer may be a communication device.

Also for example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. The computer may be a communication device.

Also for example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect. The computer may be a communication device.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a processor. The processor is adapted to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, or to perform the method of the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, or to perform the method of the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof, or to perform the method as described in other embodiments of the application.

Optionally, the chip further comprises a memory, and the memory and the processor are connected with the memory through a circuit or a wire.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program (also referred to as instructions or code), which when executed by a computer causes the computer to implement the first aspect or the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or the computer program when executed by a computer causes the computer to implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or the computer program when executed by a computer causes the computer to implement the method in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the third aspect, or the computer program when executed by a computer causes the computer to implement the method in any implementation manner of the embodiments of the present application.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising means for implementing the method according to any of the embodiments of the present application.

Drawings

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

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a PO and a packet according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a method for transmitting a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another method for transmitting a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of another method for transmitting a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another method for transmitting a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application.

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

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

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

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system architecture applied to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the system includes: terminal device 110, access network device 120, and core network device 130.

The terminal equipment 110 is also referred to as User Equipment (UE), mobile Station (MS), mobile Terminal (MT), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment.

Terminal device 110 may be a device that provides voice/data connectivity to a user, such as a handheld device, a vehicle mounted device, etc. having wireless connectivity. Currently, some examples of terminal devices include: a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a wearable device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an Augmented Reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote surgery (remote medical supply), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (smart), a wireless terminal in city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol), SIP) phone, wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capability, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device, terminal device in a 5G network or terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc., which are not limited in this application. For example, terminal device 110 is configured to receive a paging message from access network device 120.

The access network device 120 may also be referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN) or a radio access network device, where the access network device 120 may be a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, a home eNodeB (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home NodeB, HNB), a baseband unit (base band unit, BBU), a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario, or the access network device 120 may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in a 5G network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, or an access point (access point, AP) in a WLAN, or a gNB in an NR system, and the access network device 120 may also be a city base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, or the like, and the femto application is not limited to this application. For example, the access network device is used to send paging messages.

In one network configuration, access network device 120 may include a Centralized Unit (CU) node, or a Distributed Unit (DU) node, or a Radio Access Network (RAN) device including a CU node and a DU node, or a device including a control plane CU node (CU-CP node) and a user plane CU node (CU-UP node) and a DU node.

A core network device 130 for managing one or more access network devices 120. For example, core network device 130 may be configured to send access network device 120 information used to send paging messages, including, for example, an identification of terminal device 110 and a group number of terminal device 110. For example, the core network device 130 may include at least one of a core network access and mobility management function (AMF), a User Plane Function (UPF) network element, a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, a Data Network (DN), a unified data storage (UDR), or a Unified Data Management (UDM).

In some communication mechanisms, the terminal device 110 may periodically wake up at a Paging Occasion (PO) to receive a paging message, and stay in a sleep state at other times to save power consumption of the terminal device 110, where the PO of the terminal device 110 may be calculated according to an identifier of the terminal device 110. Specifically, the terminal device 110 first receives Downlink Control Information (DCI) for indicating a paging message at a paging occasion of the terminal device, where the downlink control information is scrambled downlink control information of a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI), and is used to indicate a time-frequency resource position for sending the paging message. Downlink control information is transmitted on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and paging messages are transmitted on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). If the downlink control information indicates the time-frequency resource location for sending the paging message, the terminal device 110 further receives the paging message. If access network device 120 or core network device 130 needs to send downlink data to terminal device 110, access network device 120 or core network device 130 may send a paging message in a PO corresponding to terminal device 110, where the paging message may include an identifier of terminal device 110. If core network device 130 is to page terminal device 110, core network device 130 may send a paging message to access network device 120 and access network device 120 sends the paging message. If access network device 120 is to page terminal device 110, access network device 120 may send a paging message to terminal device 110. If there are multiple terminal devices in the coverage area of the access network device 120, the multiple terminal devices wake up at their respective Paging Occasions (POs) to receive the paging message. The plurality of terminal devices are in a sleep state outside the respective PO. The POs is periodic, and the access network device 120 broadcasts a paging cycle value common to the cells, called a default paging cycle (default paging cycle), the terminal device 110 itself has a specific paging cycle value, called a terminal device specific paging cycle (UE specific paging cycle), the paging cycle value actually used by the terminal device may be the smaller of the default paging cycle and the UE specific paging cycle, and the paging cycle value defined in the existing standard (e.g. default paging cycle or UE specific paging cycle) includes 0.32s,0.64s,1.28s, and 2.56s. Since the access network device sends the paging message on the PO of the terminal device 110 to be paged, the PO of some terminal devices is the same as the PO of the terminal device 110 to be paged, and therefore the terminal devices may receive the paging message on both the POs of the terminal device 110. After the terminal device 110 receives the paging message at the PO of the terminal device 110, if the identifier included in the paging message is the identifier of the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 initiates a Radio Resource Control (RRC) setup request. That is to say, no matter which terminal device is paged by the access network device 120 or the core network device 130, all terminal devices corresponding to the PO within the coverage area of the access network device wake up to receive the paging message, and after receiving the paging message, the PO discovers that the identifier included in the paging message is not the identifier of its own terminal device, which results in relatively high power consumption of the terminal device.

In order to save power consumption of the terminal devices, in a possible implementation manner, the core network device may group a plurality of terminal devices corresponding to one PO, at least two terminal devices are in one group and are divided into a plurality of groups, a terminal device in one group corresponds to one group number, a terminal device in the plurality of groups corresponds to a plurality of group numbers, and the core network device may notify each terminal device of the group number to which each terminal device belongs. When core network device 130 pages terminal device 110, the group number to which terminal device 110 belongs and the identifier of terminal device 110 need to be sent to access network device 120. Access network device 120 calculates the PO for terminal device 110 based on the identity of terminal device 110. In a first possible implementation, the access network device may send a wake-up signal (WUS) at an offset (offset) position before the PO of the terminal device 110, the WUS indicating whether a certain group of terminal devices of the PO receive downlink control information, or the WUS indicating whether a certain group of terminal devices of a certain PO of the plurality of POs receive downlink control information, where the received downlink control information may temporarily identify the scrambled downlink control information for the paging radio network. The WUS may also be referred to as Paging Early Indication (PEI), a position where the WUS is transmitted may be protocol-specified, each terminal device may wake up at the position of the WUS to receive the WUS, each terminal device may receive downlink control information according to whether a certain group of terminal devices of a certain PO among a plurality of POs indicated by the WUS receives the downlink control information, each terminal device determines, according to the indication of the WUS, that the terminal devices in the group indicated by the WUS need to wake up on the PO to receive the downlink control information, the terminal devices in the group not indicated by the WUS continue to be in a sleep state, and do not wake up on the PO. For example, as shown in fig. 2, the access network device 120 may send PEI at an offset before PO1, where the PEI contains a field or bit indicating whether a terminal device of a certain packet in a certain PO next receives a paging message. For example PEI includes fields or bits of 12 bits or 16 bits. Illustratively, the field or bit is 12 bits, e.g., 12 bits are associated with 3 POs as shown in fig. 2, PO1, PO2 and PO3, respectively, each PO supporting 4 packets, fig. 2 only shows 4 packets supported by PO3, group 1, group 2, group 3 and group 4, respectively, e.g., 12 bits are 0000 0000 0100, where the first four 0000s indicate that 4 groups supported by PO1 do not receive paging messages, the middle four 0000s indicate that 4 packets supported by PO2 do not receive paging messages, and the last four 0100 indicate that terminal devices in group 2 supported by PO3 receive paging messages. Alternatively, 12 bits associate 2 POs, each PO supporting 6 packets. Optionally, the number of POs associated with the PEI and the number of packets in each PO may be configured by the network device or may be predefined by the protocol. Terminal device 110 may calculate a PO according to an identifier of terminal device 110, and receive a PEI at an offset before the PO, where terminal device 110 determines, according to a certain group in the certain PO indicated in the PEI, whether the PO indicated by the PEI is a PO calculated by terminal device 110, and if the PO indicated by the PEI is a PO calculated by terminal device 110 according to the identifier of terminal device 110, terminal device 110 further determines whether a group number in the PO indicated by the PEI is a group number allocated to terminal device 110 by core network device 130, if yes, terminal device 110 wakes up at the PO to receive downlink control information, and all terminal devices in a group with terminal device 110 wake up at the PO to receive downlink control information, and all terminal devices in a group with terminal device 110 receive a paging message at a time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information, and if the paging message includes the identifier of terminal device 110, terminal device 110 initiates an RRC establishment request message. If the PO indicated by the PEI is not the PO calculated by the terminal device 110 according to the terminal device 110, the terminal device continues to sleep and does not receive downlink control information on the PO. Or if the PO indicated by the PEI is the PO calculated by the terminal device 110 according to the terminal device 110, but the group number of the PO indicated by the PEI is not the group number to which the terminal device 110 belongs, the terminal device 110 continues to sleep, does not wake up on the PO, and does not receive downlink control information on the PO. In a second possible implementation manner, the access network device 120 may send downlink control information at the PO of the terminal device 110, where the downlink control information is used to indicate a group number of a paged terminal device and a time-frequency resource location for sending a paging message, all terminal devices corresponding to the PO of the terminal device 110 may wake up to receive the downlink control information, and each terminal device determines whether each terminal device needs to receive the paging message according to the group number indicated by the downlink control information, and if the group number indicated by the downlink control information is consistent with the group number of some terminal devices, the terminal devices need to receive the paging message at the time-frequency resource location indicated by the downlink control information, and then determines whether each terminal device is paged according to an identifier of the terminal device in the paging message. For example, the group number of the group in which the terminal device 110 is located is 4, the access network device 120 pages the terminal device 110, the access network device 120 calculates that PO of the terminal device 110 is PO4 according to the identifier of the terminal device 110, the access network device 120 sends downlink control information on PO4, the downlink control information is used to indicate the group number 4 and a time-frequency resource location for sending a paging message, after the terminal device 110, the terminal device 140, and the terminal device 150 receive the downlink control information, it is determined that the group number 4 indicated by the downlink control information is the same as the group number of the terminal device 110, therefore, the terminal device 110 receives the paging message on the time-frequency resource location indicated by the downlink control information, and if the group number of the terminal device 140 is the same as the group number of the terminal device 110 and is 4, the terminal device 140 receives the paging message on the time-frequency resource location indicated by the downlink control information. If the group number of the terminal device 150 is not 4, the terminal device 150 does not receive the paging message on the time-frequency resource location indicated by the downlink control information.

In both implementations, the access network device 120 may send a group number indicating a terminal device to be paged before sending the paging message. In this way, in the first possible implementation manner, the terminal devices in the group corresponding to the group number wake up at the PO to receive the downlink control information, and the terminal devices in other groups continue to be in the sleep state, so that the power consumption of the terminal devices in other groups can be saved. In a second possible implementation manner, the terminal devices of each group corresponding to the PO wake up at the PO to receive the downlink control information, the terminal devices in the group corresponding to the group number of the terminal device to be paged receive the paging message at the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information, and the terminal devices of other groups enter the sleep state again and do not receive the paging message any more, so that the power consumption of the terminal devices of other groups can be saved. However, since the number of groups of packets to the terminal device supported by the access network device may be different from the number of groups of packets to the terminal device supported by the core network device, for example, the number of groups of packets to the terminal device supported by the core network device is 8, and the number of groups of packets to the terminal device supported by the access network device is 4, if the group number allocated to a certain terminal device by the core network device is 6, when the core network device sends the group number 6 to the access network device, since the access network device cannot indicate the group number 6, the access network device cannot send the group number used for indicating the terminal device to be paged before sending the paging message. Therefore, the number of groups of the terminal device groups supported by the access network device is required to be the same as the number of groups of the terminal device groups supported by the core network device, so that the requirement on the access network device is relatively high, and especially for access network devices of different manufacturers or different versions, the number of groups of the terminal device groups supported by the access network device needs to be designed to be the same as the number of groups of the terminal device groups supported by the core network device, which further increases the difficulty in design.

The numbering of the various devices is omitted below for ease of description. For example, the following first terminal device may be terminal device 110 in fig. 1, the first access network device may be access network device 120 in fig. 1, and the first core network device may be core network device 130 in fig. 1.

In this embodiment, the first terminal device may determine the second group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number, where the first group number is a group number allocated to the first terminal device by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device, and the second group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device and determined by the first terminal device. After the first terminal device receives the first indication information from the first access network device, the first indication information may indicate that the terminal device of the third group number receives the paging message, and if the third group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device needs to receive the paging message from the first access network device. That is to say, in the process of determining whether to receive the paging message according to the group number, the first terminal device may determine whether to receive the paging message not by using the first group number allocated by the first core network device, but by using a second group number determined according to the first group number and the first corresponding relationship. The second number may be a group number associated with a second number supported by the first access network device, or the second number may be a group number to which the first terminal device can be assigned according to the second number supported by the first access network device. Even if the number of the second groups supported by the first access network device is different from the number of the first groups supported by the first core network device, for example, when the number of the second groups supported by the first access network device is smaller than the number of the first groups supported by the first core network device, the first access network device can indicate the group number of the first terminal device, so that the access network device can be deployed more flexibly, even if the number of the groups supported by the access network device is different from the number of the groups supported by the core network device, the terminal device can be paged, the system design can be simplified, the applicability can be improved, and the success rate of paging can be improved.

A method 300 for transmitting a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The method 300 includes:

s301, the first core network device groups the plurality of terminal devices according to the first group number supported by the first core network device.

Optionally, before S301, the method 300 further includes: the first core network device calculates, according to the identifier of each terminal device in the first terminal device set, to obtain the PO of each terminal device in the first terminal device set, for example, the first core network device may determine the PO of each terminal device by bringing the identifier of each terminal device into a preset formula. At least part of the POs of the terminal devices in the first terminal device set may be the same, or the POs of some terminal devices in the first terminal device set are different, for example, the first terminal device set includes a first terminal device, the PO of the first terminal device may be referred to as a first PO, the first PO may correspond to a plurality of terminal devices in the first terminal device set, and the first core network device in S301 may group a plurality of terminal devices corresponding to the first PO, that is, the plurality of terminal devices in S301 are terminal devices corresponding to the first PO, in other words, the first core network device may group a plurality of terminal devices corresponding to one PO, and if a plurality of POs exist, the first core network device may group a plurality of terminal devices corresponding to each PO in the plurality of POs, respectively.

Optionally, S301 includes: and the first core network equipment groups the terminal equipment according to the characteristic information of the terminal equipment according to a rule. For example, the characteristic information of each terminal device may be an RRC state of each terminal device, and the first core network device groups terminal devices having the same RRC state, for example, the first core network device groups terminal devices having an RRC idle (idle) state and terminal devices having an RRC inactive (inactive) state, wherein the group number of the terminal device having the RRC idle state is smaller, and the group number of the terminal device having the RRC inactive state is larger.

Optionally, before S301, the method 300 further includes: and each terminal device sends the characteristic information of each terminal device to the first core network device. S301, comprising: and the first core network equipment groups each terminal equipment according to the characteristic information of each terminal equipment according to a rule. For example, the feature information of each terminal device may be paging probability of each terminal device, the terminal devices with similar paging probability may be grouped into one group, and the smaller the paging probability is, the smaller the group number of the terminal device is, the larger the paging probability is, the larger the group number of the terminal device is. For example, the characteristic information of each terminal device may be the power consumption sensitivity of each terminal device, the terminal devices with similar sensitivity may be grouped, and the group number of the terminal device with more sensitive power consumption is smaller, and the group number of the terminal device with less sensitive power consumption is larger. For example, the feature information of each terminal device may include at least two of an RRC state of each terminal device, a paging probability of each terminal device, or a power consumption sensitivity of each terminal device, and the first core network device may group each terminal device in combination with at least two of the RRC state of each terminal device, the paging probability of each terminal device, or the power consumption sensitivity of each terminal device. That is to say, when the first core network device groups each terminal device, a certain rule is adopted, for example, the rule is that the group numbers of the terminal devices with similar characteristic information are adjacent, and if a plurality of groups of terminal devices with adjacent group numbers are combined into one group, then the combined terminal device also has similar characteristic information.

For example, before S301, each terminal device may send feature information of each terminal device to the first core network device through a Non Access Stratum (NAS) message, where the NAS message carrying the feature information may be a Registration Request (Registration Request) message or a Service Request (Service Request) message.

Alternatively, the first number supported by the first core network device may be the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device specified by the protocol, or the first number may be less than or equal to the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device. For example, the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device specified by the protocol is 8, and the number of groups supported by the first core network device may be 6 or 8. That is, if the protocol specifies a maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device, the first core network device may be smaller than or equal to the maximum number of groups, depending on the implementation, of the number of groups actually supported. In this way, the first core network device may not strictly group according to the maximum number of groups supported by the protocol, for example, when the number of terminal devices is small, the first core network device may flexibly select the number of groups, and the selected number of groups may be smaller than the maximum number of groups defined by the protocol, which may simplify the design, and the first core network device may not strictly group according to the maximum number of groups defined by the protocol.

Optionally, in S301, the first core network device may also randomly group a plurality of terminal devices, without depending on feature information of the plurality of terminal devices.

Optionally, after the terminal device is registered in the first core network device, the first core network device may perform S301. After the terminal device is registered in the first core network device, the first core network device may allocate an identifier to the terminal device, for example, the first core network device allocates a first identifier to the first terminal device. Alternatively, if the first core network device performs S301, S302 may be performed. That is, after the first core network device groups a plurality of terminal devices, the first core network device may transmit a group number of the group of each terminal device to each terminal device.

And S302, the first core network equipment respectively indicates the group numbers distributed to the terminal equipment. Fig. 3 only shows that the first core network device indicates the first group number allocated to the first terminal device.

Optionally, the first core network device may respectively indicate, to each terminal device, a group number allocated to each terminal device through a Non Access Stratum (NAS) message. For example, the NAS message allocating the group number may be a Registration Accept (Registration Accept) message or an N2 Request (N2 Request) message, where the N2 Request message is a message sent by the first core network device to the first access network device, and the first access network device sends the allocated group number to the first terminal device through an RRC reconfiguration message.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate the group number allocated to each terminal device, and may indicate the group number allocated to each terminal device through the access network device of each terminal device. For example, the access network device of the first terminal device is the first access network device, and the first core network device indicates, to the first terminal device, the first group number allocated to the first terminal device, including: the first core network device indicates, to the first terminal device, a first group number allocated by the first core network device to the first terminal device through the first access network device.

Optionally, S302 includes: the first core network device sends indication information indicating the group number allocated to each terminal device, or directly sends the group number allocated to each terminal device.

It is to be understood that when the method 300 is executed multiple times, the first core network device may execute S301 and S302 once, that is, the first core network device may perform grouping on multiple terminal devices once, and may page one or multiple times. In other words, S301 and/or S302 are optional steps. The packet in S301 may be a packet that is classified in advance or a packet that is specified by a protocol, and the first core network device stores and groups the packet. When the first core network device does not change the grouping of the plurality of terminal devices, the first core network device transmits the group number allocated to each terminal device only once in S302. If the first core network device changes the grouping of the plurality of terminal devices, in S302, the first core network device indicates the group number allocated to each terminal device after the change to each terminal device.

S303, the first core network device indicates the fourth group number to the first access network device.

Optionally, after the first core network device allocates a group number to each terminal device, the group number of each terminal device may be indicated to the access network device of each terminal device, and optionally, the fourth group number may be a group number allocated by the first core network device to a certain terminal device of the first access network device. Alternatively, if the fourth group number is a group number of which the first core network device groups the first terminal device of the first access network device, the fourth group number may be the first group number.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the first core network device sends the first identifier of the first terminal device to the first access network device.

Optionally, S303, includes: and the first core network equipment sends the indication information indicating the fourth group number to the first access network equipment, or directly sends the fourth group number to the first access network equipment.

Optionally, when the first core network device has downlink data to be sent to a certain terminal device, the first core network device determines that the terminal device is to be paged, where S303 includes: the first core network device sends a paging message to the first access network device, where the paging message includes the fourth group number, or the paging message may include the identifier of the terminal device and the fourth group number. That is, when the first core network device wants to page a certain terminal device, S303 may be executed. Or when the first core network device determines that a certain terminal device is in an RRC idle state and downlink data is to be sent to the terminal device, the first core network device determines to page the terminal device, and may send a paging message to the first terminal device through the first access network device. The first access network device receives a paging message from the first core network device, where the paging message includes the fourth group number grouped for the terminal device in the first core network device S302 and the identifier of the terminal device. For example, when a certain terminal device is a first terminal device, the fourth group number is the first group number, and the identifier of the terminal device is the first identifier of the first terminal device.

S304, the first access network device determines the third group number according to the fourth group number and the first corresponding relation.

Wherein the third group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device. Or it will be appreciated that the third group number may be a group number which can be allocated to the first terminal device in accordance with the second number of groups supported by the first access network device. Or it may be understood that the third group number is a group number that can be identified or indicated by the first access network device, and if the first access network device allocates a group number according to the second group number, the group number that can be allocated by the first access network device according to the second group number includes the third group number. Or may be understood as a group number determined by the first access network device to be used for paging. For example, if the first access network device is able to allocate group numbers consecutively from 1 to N (N equals the second number of groups) according to the second number of groups, the third number is smaller than or equal to the second number of groups, e.g., N =4, the third number may be a group number smaller than or equal to 4.

Optionally, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number corresponding to the first number and a group number corresponding to the second number. Optionally, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a first group number set corresponding to the first group number and a second group number set corresponding to the second group number, where the first group number set includes a group number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number, and the group number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device includes a fourth group number. The second group number set comprises group numbers which can be allocated by the first access network equipment according to the second group number. Optionally, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number included in the first group number set and a group number included in the second group number set.

For example, the number of groups of packets supported by the first core network device is 8, the number of groups of packets supported by the first access network device is 4, and the first correspondence relationship is shown in table 1, where the first set of numbers may be {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, the second set of numbers is {1,2,3,4}, if the fourth set of numbers is 4 in the first set of numbers, the third set of numbers is 3 in the second set of numbers, and if the fourth set of numbers is 7 in the first set of numbers, the third set of numbers is 4 in the second set of numbers. For example, the number of groups 8 of the first core network support packets in table 1 may be the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device as specified by the protocol.

TABLE 1

For example, the number of groups of the packet supported by the first core network device is 4, the number of groups of the packet supported by the first access network device is 8, and the first correspondence relationship is shown in table 2, where the first set of numbers may be {1,2,3,4}, the second set of numbers may be {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, if the fourth set of numbers is 3 in the first set of numbers, the third set of numbers is 5 or 6 in the second set of numbers, the third set of numbers may be obtained by performing a remainder operation on N by using the first identifier of the first terminal device, where a value of N is a number of candidate group numbers of the third set of numbers obtained according to the fourth set of numbers, such as 5 or 6 corresponding to the fourth set of numbers 3, the third set of numbers may be 5 or 6, that is a number of candidate group numbers of the third set of numbers is 2, a value of N is 2 at this time, such as when a remainder operation is performed on the first identifier 2 is 0, the third set of numbers is 5, and when a remainder operation is performed on the first identifier 2, a remainder operation is 1, a remainder is obtained; if the fourth group number is 2 in the first group number set, the third group number is 3 or 4 in the second group number set, that is, the number of the group numbers of the third group number candidates is 2, at this time, the value of N is 2, if the remainder obtained by performing the remainder operation on 2 by the first identifier is 0, the third group number is 3, and if the remainder obtained by performing the remainder operation on 2 by the first identifier is 1, the third group number is 4. It should be noted that the third group number correspondence rule obtained by the residue taking operation may be a group number from small to large in group numbers respectively corresponding to and divided from small to large in a residue obtained by the residue taking operation, and the correspondence rule may be specified by a protocol or configured by the first access network device or the first core network device. For example, the number of groups 4 of the first core network support packets in table 2 may be less than the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device as specified by the protocol.

TABLE 2

The following discusses in cases how the first access network device gets the first correspondence.

In case one, the protocol specifies a first correspondence, which the first access network device may maintain.

In case two, the first access network device generates a first correspondence.

Optionally, the first access network device may indicate the first correspondence. The first terminal device may acquire the first corresponding relationship from the first access network device, and store the first corresponding relationship.

Optionally, the first access network device may indicate a first correspondence, including: the first access network device sends indication information indicating the first corresponding relationship, or the first access network device directly sends the first corresponding relationship.

Alternatively, the first access network device may broadcast indication information indicating the first correspondence or the first correspondence.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate a grouping policy to the first access network device, and the first access network device generates the first corresponding relationship according to the grouping policy. Optionally, the first access network device may send a request message to the first core network device, where the request message is used to request a packet policy, and the first core network device sends the packet policy to the first access network device based on the request message. The first access network device may determine the first correspondence according to a grouping policy. Optionally, the first core network device may actively indicate the packet policy to the first access network device, for example, after the first core network device establishes a communication connection with the first access network device, the first core network device may indicate the packet policy to the first access network device.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate the packet policy to the first access network device, including: the first core network device may send indication information indicating the packet policy to the first access network device or directly send the packet policy.

Optionally, the grouping policy may be for the first access network device to group. Alternatively, the grouping policy may indicate the rule of the feature information of the terminal device and the group number size. For example, the grouping policy may indicate that the regularity between paging probability and group number size may be: the group number with small paging probability is small, the group number with large paging probability is large, and the first access network device may determine the first corresponding relationship according to the grouping policy, for example, the first access network device determines that the group number in the first group number set shown in table 1 is 1 in the second group number set corresponding to 1,2 and 3 in the first group number set correspond to 2 in the second group number set, 4 and 5 in the first group number set correspond to 3 in the second group number set, and 6,7, and 8 in the first group number set correspond to 4 in the second group number set, so that the rule between the paging probability and the group number size in the second group number set determined by the first access network device is also: the group number with small paging probability is small, and the group number with large paging probability is large. For another example, the grouping policy may indicate that the regularity between the RRC state and the group number size may be: the group number of the terminal device in the RRC idle state is small, and the group number of the terminal device in the RRC inactive state is large. Similar to the paging probability, the group number of the terminal device in the RRC idle state, which is also in the size relationship between the RRC state and the group number in the second group number set determined by the first access network device, is relatively small, and the group number of the terminal device in the RRC inactive state is relatively large. As another example, the grouping policy may indicate that the rule between the power consumption sensitivity and the group number size may be: the more sensitive the power consumption, the smaller the group number of the terminal device, and the less sensitive the power consumption, the larger the group number of the terminal device. Similar to the paging probability, the relationship between the power consumption sensitivity and the group number in the second group number set determined by the first access network device is also that the group number of the terminal device with more sensitive power consumption is smaller, and the group number of the terminal device with less sensitive power consumption is larger.

In case three, the first core network device indicates the first corresponding relationship to the first access network device, and the first access network device learns the first corresponding relationship from the first core network device.

Alternatively, the first corresponding relationship may be an indication determined by the first core network device to the first access network device. Optionally, the first access network device may send, to the first core network device, a second group number supported by the first access network device, where the first core network device determines the second group number set according to the second group number, and the first core network device determines the first group number set according to a group number that can be allocated to the first group number supported by the first core network device. The first core network device determines a corresponding relationship between a group number included in the first group number set and a group number included in the second group number set. Optionally, the first core network device may determine a correspondence between a group number included in the first group number set and a group number included in the second group number set according to a grouping policy, where the grouping policy is similar to that described in case two. For example, as shown in table 1, if the second number is 4, the second set of numbers determined by the first core network device according to 4 may be {1,2,3,4}, the first number is 8, the first set of numbers determined by the first core network device according to 8 may be {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, where a set number of 1 in the first set of numbers corresponds to 1 in the second set of numbers, 2 and 3 in the first set of numbers correspond to 2 in the second set of numbers, 4 and 5 in the first set of numbers correspond to 3 in the second set of numbers, and 6,7, and 8 in the first set of numbers correspond to 4 in the second set of numbers. When the first core network device determines the first corresponding relationship, the first corresponding relationship may also be determined by combining a grouping policy, which is not described in detail for avoiding redundancy.

Optionally, the indicating, by the first core network device, the first corresponding relationship to the first access network device includes: the first core network device sends indication information for indicating the first corresponding relation to the first access network device, or directly sends the first corresponding relation.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate, to the first access network device, the first number of groups supported by the first core network device. Optionally, before S304, the first access network device determines whether the first group number is the same as the second group number, and if so, S304 may not be performed, or S304 may also be performed. Alternatively, if the first number of sets is different from the second number of sets, S304 is performed. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, only if the first group number is different from the second group number, the first access network device determines the third group number according to the first correspondence and the fourth group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first access network device may not determine the third group number, or may determine the third group number according to the first correspondence and the fourth group number, and the determined third group number may be the same as the fourth group number.

Optionally, S303 may trigger the first access network device to perform S304. That is, after the first access network device receives the fourth set of numbers, the second set of numbers may be determined according to the first correspondence and the fourth set of numbers. Optionally, the first access network device pages the first terminal device, S304 may be performed, that is, S304 may be performed when the first access network device initiates paging. Optionally, when the first access network device initiates paging, the first terminal device is in an RRC idle state. Optionally, after the first access network device receives the paging message sent by the first core network device, the paging message may include the fourth group number, or include the fourth group number and an identifier of a certain terminal device, and the first access network device may perform S304, that is, when the first core network device initiates paging, the paging message is sent to the first access network device first, and the first access network device performs S304. In other words, paging a certain terminal device may be that the first access network device initiates paging, or that the first core network device initiates paging, and if the first access network device initiates paging, the terminal device may be in an RRC idle state, and if the first core network device initiates paging, the terminal device may be in an RRC inactive state.

S305, the first terminal equipment determines a second group number according to the first group number and the first corresponding relation.

Wherein the second group number is a group number related to a second number supported by the first access network device. Or it will be appreciated that the second group number may be a group number that can be allocated to the first terminal device according to a second number supported by the first access network device. Or it may be understood that the second group number is a group number that can be identified or indicated by the first access network device, and if the first access network device allocates the group number according to the second group number, the group number that the first access network device can allocate according to the second group number includes the second group number. For example, if the first access network device is capable of allocating group numbers consecutively from 1 to N (N equals the second number) according to the second number of groups, the second number of groups is smaller than or equal to the second number of groups, e.g., N =4, the second number of groups may be a group number smaller than or equal to 4.

Optionally, the first correspondence relationship is described with reference to S304.

That is, the first correspondence in S304 is the same correspondence as the first correspondence in S305.

The following discusses in cases how the first terminal device obtains the first correspondence of case one.

In case one, the protocol specifies a first correspondence, which the first terminal device may maintain.

In case two, the first access network device determines the first correspondence, and the first access network device may indicate the first correspondence. The first terminal device may acquire the first corresponding relationship from the first access network device, and store the first corresponding relationship.

The first access network device determines the first corresponding relationship see description of case two in S304.

In case three, the first core network device indicates the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device, and the first terminal device may obtain the first corresponding relationship from the first core network device.

Optionally, the indicating, by the first core network device, the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device includes: the first core network device sends indication information for indicating the first corresponding relation to the first terminal device, or directly sends the first corresponding relation.

Optionally, the first core network device may send a NAS message to the first terminal device, where the NAS message includes the first corresponding relationship.

Optionally, the first core network device determines the first corresponding relationship, see case three of S304.

Optionally, the first core network device determines a plurality of corresponding relationships that correspond to the plurality of groups one to one, where the plurality of corresponding relationships includes a first corresponding relationship corresponding to a second group supported by the first access network device. Optionally, the first core network device may send the multiple correspondence relationships to the first terminal device. Optionally, the first core network device may send the first corresponding relationship corresponding to the first access network device to the first terminal device, where the first access network device may be an access network device accessed by the first terminal device.

It will be appreciated that the process of the first terminal device determining the second group number is similar to the process of the first access network device determining the third group number. If the first correspondence is table 1 or table 2, the procedure for the first terminal device to determine the second group number is similar to the procedure for the first access network device to determine the third group number.

Optionally, the first terminal device is in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state, and S305 may be performed.

Optionally, the first corresponding relationship in the three cases in S304 may be the same, and the first corresponding relationship in the three cases in S305 may be the same, so that the first access network device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through any one case in S304, and the first terminal device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through any one case in S305. In this way, the first correspondence relationship between the second group number determined by the first terminal device and the third group number determined by the first access network device is the same. For example, the first access network device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through the case two in S304, and the first terminal device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through the case one in S305.

Alternatively, the first correspondence relationship in case one in S304 is the same as the first correspondence relationship in case one in S305. Thus, the first correspondence relationship of the third group number determined by the first access network device in S304 is the same as the first correspondence relationship of the second group number determined by the first terminal device in S305. Alternatively, the first correspondence relationship in case two in S304 is the same as the first correspondence relationship in case two in S305. Thus, the first correspondence relationship of the third group number determined by the first access network device in S304 is the same as the first correspondence relationship of the second group number determined by the first terminal device in S305. Alternatively, the first correspondence relationship in case three in S304 is the same as the first correspondence relationship in case three in S305. Thus, the first correspondence relationship of the third group number determined by the first access network device in S304 is the same as the first correspondence relationship of the second group number determined by the first terminal device in S305. In other words, the first correspondence used by the first terminal device to determine the second group number is the same as the first correspondence used by the first access network device to determine the third group number.

Alternatively, if the first correspondence is specified by the protocol, after S302, the first terminal device may execute S305, that is, the first terminal device may determine the second number after receiving the first number. Optionally, if the first corresponding relationship is determined by the first access network device or the first core network device, the first terminal device may perform S305 after receiving the first corresponding relationship and the first group number. In other words, the first terminal device may execute S305 after acquiring the first group number and the first corresponding relationship.

Optionally, in a moving process of the first terminal device, for example, after the first terminal device moves from within the coverage of the first access network device to within the coverage of the second access network device, the first corresponding relationship may change, and since the number of groups of packets supported by the second access network device may not be the second number, and may be the third number, the first corresponding relationship may change into the second corresponding relationship, for example, a corresponding relationship between the first group number set and the third group number set indicated by the second corresponding relationship, and the third group number set corresponds to the third group number. For example, if the second correspondence is specified by the protocol, after moving to the second access network device, the first terminal device receives a third group number broadcasted by the second access network device, and determines the second correspondence specified by the protocol according to the third group number, for example, the second correspondence may be that the second group number set in table 1 or table 2 is replaced by the third group number set, that is, the protocol may specify a plurality of different correspondences, and when the first terminal device moves from the coverage of the first access network device to the coverage of the second access network device, the first terminal device redetermines the second correspondence specified by the protocol. For another example, the first corresponding relationship is determined by the first access network device, the second corresponding relationship is determined by the second access network device, when the first terminal device moves from the coverage of the first access network device to the coverage of the second access network device, the first terminal device may receive the second corresponding relationship broadcasted by the second access network device, and the first terminal device determines to use the second corresponding relationship. For another example, the first corresponding relationship and the second corresponding relationship are both determined by the first core network device, the first core network device may indicate the first corresponding relationship and the second corresponding relationship to the first terminal device before S305, after the first terminal device moves to the second access network device, the third group number broadcasted by the second access network device is received, and the first terminal device determines, according to the third group number, the second corresponding relationship indicated by the first core network device. Specifically, the second corresponding relationship is similar to the first corresponding relationship, and in order to avoid redundancy, detailed description is not given in the embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate, to the first terminal device, the first group number supported by the first core network device. Optionally, before S305, the first terminal device determines whether the first group number is the same as the second group number, and if the first group number is the same as the second group number, S305 is not performed, or S305 may be performed. Alternatively, if the first number of sets is different from the second number of sets, S305 is performed. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, the first terminal device determines the second group number based on the first correspondence and the first group number only if the first group number is different from the second group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device may not determine the second group number, or may determine the second group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number, and the determined second group number may be the same as the first group number.

It is understood that the order of S304 and S305 is not limited, and S304 may be performed before or after S305, or simultaneously.

S306, the first access network device sends the first indication information, the first terminal device receives the first indication information, and the first indication information may indicate that the terminal device of the third group number receives the paging message.

Optionally, the first access network device and the first terminal device may transmit the first indication information in any one of the following manners.

In a first manner, the first access network device sends downlink control information at the first PO of the first terminal device, where the downlink control information may be scrambled downlink control information of a paging radio network temporary identifier, and the downlink control information includes first indication information.

Optionally, if the paging message in S303 includes the first identifier of the first terminal device, the first access network device calculates, according to the first identifier of the first terminal device, to obtain the first PO of the first terminal device. The first PO mode in which the first access network device obtains the first terminal device is the same as the first PO mode in which the first core network device obtains the first terminal device.

Optionally, the first identifier is allocated to the first terminal device by the first core network device, so that the first terminal device may calculate the first PO according to the first identifier, and a manner of obtaining the first PO by the first terminal device is the same as a manner of obtaining the first PO by the first core network device and the first access network device. Therefore, the first terminal device wakes up at the first PO to receive the downlink control information.

Optionally, the downlink control information may indicate a time-frequency resource location where the first access network device sends the paging message.

In a second mode, the first access network device may send the second indication information, which may include the first indication information. The second indication information is used for the first terminal device to determine whether to receive the downlink control information at the first PO of the first terminal device.

Alternatively, the first access network device may send the second indication information before the first PO.

Optionally, the first access network device may send the second indication information at a preset location, before the preset location, the first terminal device may be in a sleep state, and the first terminal device may wake up at the preset location to receive the second indication information. Optionally, the first access network device sends the second indication information at a preset location before the first PO. That is, the first terminal device may wake up at a preset position specified by the protocol to receive the second indication information, and determine whether to wake up at the first PO to receive the downlink control information according to the second indication information.

Alternatively, the second indication may be WUS or PEI. The WUS or PEI may indicate that the terminal device of the third group number of the first PO needs to wake up to receive downlink control information on the first PO, that is, the third group number corresponding to the first PO. Description of WUS or PEI is described with reference to FIG. 2.

It is understood that the order of S305 and S306 is not limited, and S305 may be performed before or after S306 or simultaneously.

S307, the first access network device sends the paging message, and the first terminal device receives the paging message under the condition that the third group number is the same as the second group number.

Specifically, the first terminal device determines whether the third group number is the same as the second group number, if so, it indicates that the first terminal device needs to wake up to receive the paging message, and if not, the first terminal device continues to be in the sleep state.

Optionally, in a first manner of S306, if the first terminal device receives the downlink control information that includes the first indication information, and the downlink control information indicates a time-frequency resource location of the first access network device for sending the paging message. In S307, the first access network device sends a paging message on the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information, and if the second group number is the same as the third group number, the first terminal device receives the paging message on the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information. That is to say, the first terminal device is in a sleep state outside the first PO, the first terminal device needs to wake up to receive the downlink control information on the first PO, and if the second group number determined by the first terminal device receiving the downlink control information is the same as the third group number, the first terminal device needs to wake up to receive the paging message on the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information.

Optionally, regarding the first mode of S306, if the first PO corresponds to multiple terminal devices, the multiple terminal devices are in a sleep state before the first PO, and on the first PO, the multiple terminal devices all need to wake up to receive downlink control information, the terminal device of the third group number indicated by the first indication information included in the downlink control information needs to wake up to receive a paging message in the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information, and the terminal devices of other group numbers continue to enter the sleep state after the first PO and do not wake up in the time-frequency position indicated by the downlink control information, so that energy consumption of the terminal devices of other group numbers can be saved.

Optionally, regarding the second mode S306, if the first terminal device receives the second indication information before the first PO and the first terminal device determines that the second group number is the same as the third group number, the first terminal device receives the downlink control information at the first PO. If the downlink control information indicates the time-frequency resource position for sending the paging message, the first terminal device receives the paging message at the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information.

Optionally, regarding the second mode S306, if the first PO corresponds to multiple terminal devices, the multiple terminal devices may receive the second indication information at a preset position before the first PO, and only the terminal device of the third group number indicated by the first indication information included in the second indication information wakes up at the first PO to receive the downlink control information, and the terminal devices of other group numbers in the multiple terminal devices still maintain the sleep state and do not wake up at the first PO to receive the downlink control information, that is, the terminal devices of other group numbers in the multiple terminal devices wake up only at the preset position to receive the second indication information, and after receiving the second indication information, it is determined that the third group number is not a group number determined by itself, and then the terminal devices continue to enter the sleep state and do not wake up at the first PO. And if the downlink control information indicates the time-frequency resource position for sending the paging message, the terminal equipment of the third group number receives the paging message on the time-frequency resource position indicated by the downlink control information.

Optionally, the paging message may include at least one identification. If the identifier included in the paging message includes the first identifier of the first terminal device, the first terminal device determines that the core network device pages the first terminal device, and the first terminal device initiates an RRC establishment request. If the at least one identifier included in the paging message includes the second identifier of the first terminal device, the first terminal device determines that the first access network device is paging the first terminal device, and the first terminal device initiates an RRC establishment request. Wherein the second identifier may be an identifier assigned by the first access network device to the first terminal device. That is to say, if the paging is initiated by the first core network device, the paging message sent by the first access network device includes the first identifier allocated by the first core network device to the first terminal device, and if the paging is initiated by the first access network device, the paging message sent by the first access network device includes the second identifier allocated by the first access network device to the first terminal device. The first identifier is used for the first core network device, the first terminal device and the first access network device to calculate the first PO.

Optionally, the paging message may include at least one identification. If at least one identifier included in the paging message does not include the first identifier and the second identifier, the first terminal device determines that the first terminal device is not paged, and the first terminal device continues to enter the sleep state.

In the method 300, the first terminal device may determine the second group number according to the first group number and the first corresponding relationship, and the first access network device may determine the third group number according to the fourth group number and the first corresponding relationship. If the second group number is the same as the third group number, it indicates that the first terminal device needs to wake up to receive the paging message, and avoids the situation that the first access network device cannot page the first terminal device under the condition that the number of groups supported by the first access network device and the first core network device is different.

The method 400 for transmitting paging messages in the embodiment of the present application is described below in conjunction with the method 400. As shown in fig. 4, the method 400 includes:

S401-S403 are the same as S301-S303, respectively.

Specifically, S401 to S403 refer to descriptions of S301 to S303, which are not described in detail in order to avoid redundancy of the embodiments of the present application.

S404, the first access network device indicates the second group number, and the first terminal device obtains the second group number from the first access network device.

Optionally, S404 includes: and the first access network equipment sends indication information for indicating the second group number or directly sends the second group number.

Optionally, S404 includes: the first access network equipment indicates the second group number in a broadcasting mode.

It is understood that the order of S404 and any one of steps S401-S403 is not limited, and S404 may be performed before or after or simultaneously with any one of steps S401-S403.

S405, the first access network device determines a third group number according to the fourth group number, the second group number and the first corresponding relation.

Wherein the third group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network device. Or it will be appreciated that the third group number may be a group number which can be allocated to the first terminal device in dependence on the second number supported by the first access network device. Or it may be understood that the third group number is a group number that the first access network device can identify or indicate, and if the first access network device assigns a group number according to the second number, the group number that the first access network device can assign according to the second number includes the third group number. Or may be understood as a group number determined by the first access network device to be used for paging. For example, if the first access network device is able to allocate group numbers consecutively from 1 to N (N equals the second number of groups) according to the second number of groups, the third number is smaller than or equal to the second number of groups, e.g., N =4, the third number may be a group number smaller than or equal to 4.

The first correspondence relationship is described below in two cases.

In case a, the first mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a first group number set and at least one second group number set, where the first group number set includes a group number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number, and the group number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device includes a fourth group number. The at least one second group number set is in one-to-one correspondence with at least one group number, and the at least one group number comprises the second group number. Optionally, the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number included in the first group number set and a group number included in the at least one second group number set.

In case a, S404, includes: the first access network equipment determines a second number set in at least one second number set according to the second number set; a third group number is determined in a second group number set based on the fourth group number. That is to say, at least one second group number set corresponds to at least one group number one to one, and if the first access network device supports the second group number, the first access network device corresponds to a certain second group number set, and the third group number is a group number corresponding to the fourth group number in the second group number set.

For example, the number of groups of the packet supported by the first core network device is 8, as shown in table 3, the first group number set may be {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, the second group number set corresponding to the group number 8 is {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, the second group number set corresponding to the group number 4 is {1,2,3,4}, and the second group number set corresponding to the group number 2 is {1,2}. The first correspondence is shown in Table 3, if the fourth set of numbers is 4 in the first set of numbers and the second set of numbers is 4, then the third set of numbers is 2 in {1,2,3,4 }; if the fourth number is 6 in the first number set and the second number is 4, the third number is 3 in {1,2,3,4 }; if the fourth number is 4 in the first number set and the second number is 2, the third number is 1 in {1,2 }; if the fourth number is 7 in the first number set and the second number is 2, the third number is 2 in {1,2}. For example, the number of groups 8 of the first core network support packets in table 3 may be the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device as specified by the protocol.

TABLE 3

For example, the number of groups of the packet supported by the first core network device is 4, and as shown in table 3, the first group number set may be {1,2,3,4}, the second group number set corresponding to the group number 8 is {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, the second group number set corresponding to the group number 4 is {1,2,3,4}, and the second group number set corresponding to the group number 2 is {1,2}. The first correspondence relationship is shown in table 4, if the fourth group number is 3 in the first group number set, and the second group number is 8, the third group number is 5 or 6 in {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, the first access network device may determine whether the third group number is 5 or 6 according to the first identifier of the first terminal device, for example, the third group number may perform a remainder operation on N through the first identifier of the terminal device, where a value of N is a number of candidate group numbers of the third group number obtained according to the fourth group number, such as the fourth group number 3 corresponds to 5 or 6, the third group number may be 5 or 6, that is, a number of candidate group numbers of the third group number is 2, where a value of N is 2, such as when a remainder obtained by performing a remainder operation on 2 by the first identifier is 0, the first correspondence relationship corresponds to 5 in the third group number, and such as a remainder obtained by performing a remainder operation on 2 by the first identifier is 1, the first correspondence relationship is 6 in the third group number; if the fourth group number is 2 in the first group number set, and the second group number is 8, the third group number is 3 or 4 in {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, and the first access network device may determine, according to the first identifier of the first terminal device, whether the third group number is 3 or 4, for example, the fourth group number 2 corresponds to 3 or 4, and the third group number may be 3 or 4, that is, the number of candidate group numbers of the third group number is 2, at this time, the value of N is 2, if the remainder obtained by performing a remainder operation on 2 by the first identifier is 0, 3 in the third group number, and if the remainder obtained by performing a remainder operation on 2 by the first identifier is 1, 4 in the third group number; it should be noted that the third group number correspondence rule obtained by the remainder operation may be a group number from small to large in the group numbers respectively corresponding to the division of the remainder obtained by the remainder operation from small to large, and the correspondence rule may be specified by a protocol or configured by the first access network device or the first core network device. If the fourth number is 4 in the first number set and the second number is 2, the third number is 2 in {1,2 }; if the fourth number is 2 in the first number set and the second number is 2, the third number is 1 in {1,2}.

For example, the number of groups 4 of the first core network support packets in table 4 may be less than the maximum number of groups supported by the first core network device as specified by the protocol.

TABLE 4

In case B, the first mapping relationship is used to instruct the core network device to perform a remainder operation on the number of groups supported by the access network device and the number of groups that can be allocated by the core network device according to the number of groups supported by the core network device.

In case B, S405, includes: the first access network equipment performs remainder operation on the second number by using the fourth number group to obtain a remainder; and the first access network equipment determines a third group number according to the remainder. Optionally, the determining, by the first access network device, the third group number according to the remainder includes: and the first access network equipment adds P to the remainder to obtain a third group number. For example, P is 1.

For example, the third set of numbers is derived from the value of M mod N, where M is the fourth set of numbers and N is the second set of numbers. For example, if the fourth group number is 5, the number of the second group of packets supported by the first access network device is 4, and the third group number may be 5mod4, where 1 is added to a remainder 1, that is, the third group number may be 2; if the fourth group number is 4, the number of the second group of packets supported by the first access network device is 2, and the third group number may be 4mod2, where the remainder 0 is obtained by adding 1, that is, the third group number may be 1.

It should be noted that mod is a remainder function, and M mod N can be understood as a remainder of M divided by N.

The following discusses, in cases, how the first access network device obtains the first correspondence.

In case two, for case B above, the first access network device determines the first correspondence.

Alternatively, if the first access network device indicates the second group number to the first terminal device in S404, the first access network device may broadcast the indication information indicating the first corresponding relationship or the first corresponding relationship and the indication information indicating the second group number or the second group number at the same time. That is, the first access network device may indicate the first correspondence and the second number of groups in the same broadcast message.

Optionally, the first corresponding relationship may be determined by the first core network device and sent to the first access network device.

Optionally, the first access network device may send, to the first core network device, the second number of groups supported by the first access network device.

Optionally, for the case a, if the first core network device can obtain the second group number from the first access network device, the first core network device determines the second group number set according to the second group number, and the first core network device determines the first group number set according to the group number that can be allocated to the supported first group number. The first core network device may receive the group numbers sent by the multiple access network devices, and thus, the first core network device may determine the second group number set corresponding to different group numbers. Optionally, the first core network device may determine a correspondence between a group number included in the first group number set and a group number included in the at least one second group number set according to a grouping policy, which is similar to that described in case two of S304.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate, to the first access network device, the first number of groups supported by the first core network device. Optionally, before S405, the first access network device determines whether the first group number is the same as the second group number, and if the first group number is the same as the second group number, S405 is not performed, or S405 may also be performed. Alternatively, if the first number of sets is different from the second number of sets, S405 is performed. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, only when the first group number is different from the second group number, the first access network device determines the third group number according to the first correspondence, the fourth group number, and the second group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first access network device may not determine the third group number, or may also determine the third group number according to the first correspondence, the fourth group number, and the second group number, and the determined third group number may be the same as the fourth group number.

Optionally, S404 may trigger the first access network device to perform S405. That is, after the first access network device receives the fourth group number, the second group number may be determined according to the first corresponding relationship, the fourth group number, and the second group number. Optionally, S405 may be performed when the first access network device is to page the first terminal device, that is, S405 may be performed when the first access network device initiates paging. Optionally, when the first access network device initiates paging, the first terminal device is in an RRC idle state. Optionally, after the first access network device receives the paging message sent by the first core network device, the paging message may include the fourth group number, or include the fourth group number and an identifier of a certain terminal device, and the first access network device may perform S405, that is, when the first core network device initiates paging, the paging message is sent to the first access network device first, and the first access network device performs S405. In other words, paging a certain terminal device may be that the first access network device initiates paging, or that the first core network device initiates paging, and if the first access network device initiates paging, the terminal device may be in an RRC idle state, and if the first core network device initiates paging, the terminal device may be in an RRC inactive state.

S406, the first terminal device determines a second group number according to the first corresponding relation, the first group number and the second group number.

Wherein the second group number is a group number associated with a second number supported by the first access network device. Or it will be appreciated that the second group number may be a group number that can be allocated to the first terminal device according to a second number supported by the first access network device. Or it may be understood that the second group number is a group number that the first access network device can identify or indicate, and if the first access network device assigns a group number according to the second group number, the group number that the first access network device can assign according to the second group number includes the second group number. For example, if the first access network device is capable of allocating group numbers consecutively from 1 to N (N equals the second number) according to the second number of groups, the second number of groups is smaller than or equal to the second number of groups, e.g., N =4, the second number of groups may be a group number smaller than or equal to 4.

Optionally, the first correspondence relationship is described in reference to S405.

In case a of S405, taking table 3 as an example, if the number of groups supported by the first access network device is 4, and if the first terminal device moves from the first access network device to the second access network device and the number of groups supported by the second access network device is 2, the first terminal device determines that the second set of numbers is changed from {1,2,3,4} to {1,2}. That is, after the first terminal device changes the access network device, if the number of groups supported by the access network device changes, the first terminal device will re-determine the second group number.

That is, the first correspondence relationship in S406 is the same correspondence relationship as the first correspondence relationship in S405.

In case two, for case B in S405, the first access network device determines the first corresponding relationship, and the first access network device may indicate the first corresponding relationship. The first terminal device may acquire the first corresponding relationship from the first access network device, and store the first corresponding relationship.

The first access network device determines the first corresponding relationship, see description of case two in S405.

Optionally, the method for the first core network device to determine the first corresponding relationship is as shown in case three of S405.

It will be appreciated that the process of the first terminal device determining the second group number is similar to the process of the first access network device determining the third group number. If the first correspondence is table 3 or table 4, the procedure for the first terminal device to determine the second group number is similar to the procedure for the first access network device to determine the third group number.

Optionally, the first terminal device is in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state, and S406 may be performed.

Alternatively, if the first correspondence is the case a described above. The first corresponding relationship in the three cases in S406 may be the same, and the first corresponding relationship in the three cases in S405 may be the same, so that the first access network device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through any one of the cases in S405, and the first terminal device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through any one of the cases in S406. In this way, the first correspondence relationship between the first terminal device determining the second group number and the first access network device determining the third group number is the same. For example, the first access network device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through the case two in S405, and the first terminal device may obtain the first corresponding relationship through the case one in S406.

Alternatively, the first correspondence relationship in case one in S405 is the same as the first correspondence relationship in case one in S406, and the first correspondence relationship is the correspondence relationship in case a or the correspondence relationship in case B. Thus, the first correspondence relationship of the third group number determined by the first access network device in S405 is the same as the first correspondence relationship of the second group number determined by the first terminal device in S406. Alternatively, the first correspondence relationship in case two in S405 is the same as the first correspondence relationship in case two in S406, which is the correspondence relationship in case B. Thus, the first correspondence relationship of the third group number determined by the first access network device in S405 is the same as the first correspondence relationship of the second group number determined by the first terminal device in S406. Alternatively, the first correspondence relationship in case three in S304 is the same as the first correspondence relationship in case three in S305, and the first correspondence relationship is the correspondence relationship in case a or the correspondence relationship in case B. Thus, the first corresponding relationship of the third group number determined by the first access network device in S405 is the same as the first corresponding relationship of the second group number determined by the first terminal device in S406. In other words, the first correspondence used by the first terminal device to determine the second group number is the same as the first correspondence used by the first access network device to determine the third group number.

Alternatively, if the first corresponding relationship is specified by the protocol, after S404 and S402, the first terminal device may execute S406, that is, the first terminal device may determine the second group number after receiving the first group number and the second group number. Optionally, if the first corresponding relationship is determined by the first access network device or the first core network device, the first terminal device may execute S406 after receiving the first corresponding relationship, the first group number, and the second group number. In other words, the first terminal device may execute S406 after acquiring the first corresponding relationship, the first group number, and the second group number.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate, to the first terminal device, the first group number supported by the first core network device. Optionally, before S406, the first terminal device determines whether the first group number is the same as the second group number, and does not perform S406 if the first group number is the same as the second group number, or may perform S406 if the first group number is the same as the second group number. Alternatively, if the first number of sets is different from the second number of sets, S406 is performed. For example, when the first number is greater than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. For another example, when the first number is smaller than the second number, the first number and the second number are different. That is, the first terminal device determines the second group number based on the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number only if the first group number is different from the second group number. If the first group number is the same as the second group number, the first terminal device may not determine the second group number, or may determine the second group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number, and the determined second group number may be the same as the first group number.

It is to be understood that the order of S405 and S406 is not limited, and S405 may be performed before or after S406 or simultaneously.

S407-S408 are the same as S306-S307, respectively.

In the method 400, the first terminal device may determine the second group number according to the first group number, the second group number, and the first corresponding relationship, and the first access network device may determine the third group number according to the fourth group number, the second group number, and the first corresponding relationship. If the second group number is the same as the third group number, it indicates that the first terminal device needs to wake up to receive the paging message, and avoids the situation that the first access network device cannot page the first terminal device under the condition that the number of groups supported by the first access network device and the first core network device is different.

For better illustration of the embodiment of the present application, the method for paging provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 5 and fig. 6, where the method 500 in fig. 5 focuses on the first access network device determining the first corresponding relationship, and the method 600 in fig. 6 focuses on the first core network device determining the first corresponding relationship. As shown in fig. 5, method 500 includes:

and S501, the first core network equipment performs grouping according to the maximum group number which can be supported by the protocol. And indicates the group number of the packet to the corresponding terminal device.

For example, the first core network device indicates the first group number to the first terminal device.

S502, the first core network device sends a grouping policy to the first access network device.

S503, the first access network device determines the first corresponding relation according to the grouping strategy.

Specifically, the first access network device may determine the first corresponding relationship according to the grouping policy, the second number of groups supported by the first access network device, and the first number of groups supported by the first core network device. Alternatively, the first group number may be a maximum group number that the protocol specifies that the first core network device can support, and the first access network device may be able to know the maximum group number that the protocol specifies that the first core network device can support.

The first correspondence relationship and the grouping policy refer to the descriptions of the method 300 and the method 400, and in order to avoid redundancy, detailed descriptions are omitted in the embodiments of the present application.

S504, the first access network device broadcasts the first corresponding relation, and the first terminal device receives the first corresponding relation.

S505, the first terminal device determines a group number actually used for monitoring paging according to the first corresponding relationship, for example, the group number is a second group number.

Specifically, the first terminal device determines the group number actually used for listening to paging according to the first corresponding relationship, see the description of S305 or S406.

S506, the first access network device determines a group number actually used for monitoring paging according to the first corresponding relationship, for example, a third group number.

Optionally, the first core network device may indicate a fourth group number to the first access network device, and the first access network device determines, according to the first corresponding relationship and the fourth group number, the group number used for actually monitoring paging, for example, the group number is a third group number.

Specifically, the first access network device determines the group number actually used for listening to paging according to the first corresponding relationship, see the description of S304 or S405.

It is to be understood that the order of S505 and S506 is not limited, and S505 may be performed before or after S506 or simultaneously.

As shown in fig. 6, method 600 includes:

s601, the first core network device groups according to the maximum group number which can be supported by the protocol. And indicates the group number of the packet to the corresponding terminal device.

S602, the first access network device sends, to the first core network device, the second group number supported by the first access network device.

Optionally, a plurality of access network devices corresponding to the first core network device may all send the number of groups supported by each to the first core network device.

And S603, the first core network equipment determines the first corresponding relation according to the second group number.

Similar to the method 300, if the first core network device receives the second group number of the first access network device, the first corresponding relationship determined by the first core network device according to the second group number is similar to the method 300.

Similar to the method 400, if the first core network device receives the number of groups supported by each of the plurality of access network devices, the first core network device determines a first corresponding relationship according to the number of groups supported by each of the plurality of access network devices, where the first corresponding relationship is similar to the method 400.

S604, the first core network device sends the first corresponding relationship to the first access network device, and the first access network device receives the first corresponding relationship.

S605, the first core network device sends the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device, and the first terminal device receives the first corresponding relationship.

Specifically, the first core network device sends the first corresponding relationship to the first access network device in S604, and then in S605, the first core network device may also send the first corresponding relationship to the terminal device within the coverage of the first access network device, for example, send the first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device.

It is understood that the order of S604 and S605 is not limited, and S604 may be performed before or after S605 or simultaneously.

S606, the first terminal device determines a group number actually used for monitoring paging according to the first corresponding relationship, for example, the group number is a second group number.

S607, the first access network device determines a group number actually used for monitoring paging according to the first corresponding relationship, for example, a third group number.

It is to be understood that the order of S607 and S607 is not limited at all, and S606 may be performed before or after S607 or simultaneously.

It should be noted that a plurality of first correspondences may exist in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first correspondence relationship of case a in S405 may exist at the same time, or the first correspondence relationship of case B may exist. Specifically, which correspondence is adopted may be protocol-specified, for example, in the case where both of the protocol-specified correspondences exist, the first correspondence in case a is preferentially adopted.

It should also be noted that the first correspondence relationship in the method 300 and the method 400 may be defined by a protocol, may be determined by the first access network device, or may be determined by the first core network device, and these three manners of determining the first correspondence relationship may coexist. For example, if the first access network device does not send the determined first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device, if the first access network device does not broadcast the first corresponding relationship, the first corresponding relationship specified by the protocol is used by default, for example, the first corresponding relationship specified by the first access network device is the corresponding relationship of case B in S405, the protocol specifies the first corresponding relationship of case a in S405, and if the first access network device does not send the first corresponding relationship of case B in S405 to the first terminal device, the first terminal device and the first access network device use the first corresponding relationship of case a in S405 by default; if the first access network device sends the determined first mapping relationship to the first terminal device, if the first access network device broadcasts the first mapping relationship, the first mapping relationship broadcasted by the first access network device may replace the first mapping relationship specified by the protocol. If the first access network device does not send the determined first corresponding relationship to the first terminal device, if the first access network device does not broadcast the first corresponding relationship, or the first core network device does not send the first corresponding relationship, the first corresponding relationship specified by the protocol is used by default; if the first access network device sends the determined first correspondence to the first terminal device, for example, if the first access network device broadcasts the first correspondence, or the first core network device sends the first correspondence, the first correspondence broadcast by the first access network device or the first correspondence sent by the first core network device may replace the first correspondence specified by the protocol.

It should be noted that, in the exemplary description of the embodiments of the present application, the group numbers are all allocated from 1 according to the group number, and actually, the relationship between the group numbers and the group numbers may be any relationship, for example, the first group number is 8, the first group number set is {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, and the first group number set may also be {3,5,7,9, 11, 13, 15, 17}.

In the embodiment of the present application, only the first correspondence relationship is table 1, table 2, table 3, table 4, or the remainder operation as an example, and the first correspondence relationship may be a correspondence relationship other than a table or a remainder operation, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

It is to be understood that the execution order of the above method embodiments is not limited by numbers, and the execution order may be determined according to the inherent logic, as long as the execution order of the method can be changed without contradiction.

It is to be understood that the above-described method embodiments may be stand-alone embodiments or may be combined with each other. Steps of different method embodiments may be combined with each other to form further embodiments, and steps of the same method embodiment may be combined with each other to form further embodiments.

It is to be understood that the method and operation implemented by the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) applicable to the terminal device, and the method and operation implemented by the network device in the foregoing method embodiments may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) applicable to the network device.

Embodiments of the methods provided herein are described above, and embodiments of the apparatus provided herein are described below. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore, for brevity, details are not repeated here, since the details that are not described in detail may be referred to the above method embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates a communication apparatus 700 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 700 includes a processor 710 and a transceiver 720. Wherein the processor 710 and the transceiver 720 communicate with each other through the internal connection path, the processor 710 is configured to execute instructions to control the transceiver 720 to transmit and/or receive signals.

Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a memory 730, and the memory 730 is in communication with the processor 710 and the transceiver 720 via an internal connection path. The memory 730 is used to store instructions, and the processor 710 can execute the instructions stored in the memory 730. In a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus 700 is configured to implement the respective flows and steps corresponding to the first terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment. In another possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus 700 is configured to implement the respective procedures and steps corresponding to the first access network device in the foregoing method embodiment. In another possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus 700 is configured to implement each flow and step corresponding to the first core network device in the foregoing method embodiment.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus 700 may be embodied as the first terminal device, the first access network device, or the first core network device in the foregoing embodiments, and may also be a chip or a chip system. Correspondingly, the transceiver 720 may be a transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited herein. Specifically, the communication apparatus 700 may be configured to perform each step and/or flow corresponding to the first terminal device, the first access network device, or the first core network device in the foregoing method embodiment. Alternatively, the memory 730 may include both read-only memory and random access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store device type information. The processor 710 may be configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 710 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 710 is configured to perform the steps and/or procedures of the above-described method embodiments corresponding to the first terminal device or the first access network device or the first core network device.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software modules may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

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

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable 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 the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the various steps or procedures performed by the first terminal device or the first access network device or the first core network device in the above-described method embodiments.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is further provided, where the computer-readable storage medium stores program codes, and when the program codes are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the steps or processes performed by the first terminal device, the first access network device, or the first core network device in the foregoing method embodiment.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a communication system, which includes at least two of the foregoing one or more first terminal devices, one or more first access network devices, and one or more first core network devices.

In full correspondence between the above device embodiments and the method embodiments, the corresponding steps are executed by corresponding modules or units, for example, a communication unit (transceiver) executes the steps of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiments, and other steps besides transmitting and receiving may be executed by a processing unit (processor). The function of a particular element may be based on the corresponding method embodiment. The number of the processors may be one or more.

In this application, "indicating" may include both direct and indirect indications, as well as explicit and implicit indications. If the information indicated by a certain piece of information is referred to as information to be indicated, in a specific implementation process, there may be many ways of indicating the information to be indicated, for example, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be indicated, such as indicating the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein an association relationship exists between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while other parts of the information to be indicated are known or predetermined. For example, the indication of the specific information may be implemented by means of a predetermined arrangement order of the respective information (e.g., protocol specification), thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent.

In the embodiments of the present application, each term and english abbreviation is an exemplary example given for convenience of description and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. This application is not intended to exclude the possibility that other terms may be defined in existing or future protocols to carry out the same or similar functions.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps (step) 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 technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

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 be based on 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 position, or may be distributed on multiple 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.

In the above embodiments, the functions of the functional units may be fully or partially implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part when the computer program instructions (programs) are loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

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

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

Claims

1. A method for transmitting paging messages, the method being adapted for a first terminal device, comprising:

determining a second group number according to the first corresponding relation and the first group number, wherein the first group number is a group number which is allocated to the first terminal equipment by the first core network equipment according to the first group number supported by the first core network equipment, and the second group number is a group number related to the second group number supported by the first access network equipment;

receiving first indication information from the first access network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating terminal equipment of a third group number to receive paging messages;

receiving a paging message from the first access network device on a condition that the third group number is the same as the second group number.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the second number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first number comprises:

and determining the second group number according to the first corresponding relation, the first group number and the second group number.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a first set of numbers and at least one second set of numbers, the first set of numbers includes a set number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first set number, the set number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first set number supported by the first core network device includes the first set number, the at least one second set of numbers corresponds to at least one set number in a one-to-one manner, and the at least one set number includes the second set number.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said determining the second set of numbers from the first correspondence, the first set of numbers, and the second set of numbers comprises:

determining said second group number in said one second group number set based on said first group number.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the first mapping relationship is used to instruct a core network device to perform a remainder operation on a group number that can be allocated according to the number of groups supported by the core network device and the number of groups supported by an access network device;

wherein the determining the second group number according to the first correspondence, the first group number, and the second group number includes:

performing remainder operation on the second number by using the first number to obtain a remainder;

determining the second set of numbers based on the remainder.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number corresponding to the first group number and a group number corresponding to the second group number, and the determining the second group number according to the first correspondence and the first group number comprises:

and determining a second group number corresponding to the first group number in the group numbers corresponding to the second group number.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first correspondence is protocol preset; or

Acquiring the first corresponding relation from the first core network device; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and acquiring the first corresponding relation from the first access network equipment.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the receiving first indication information from the first access network device comprises:

before a first paging occasion of the first terminal device, receiving second indication information from the first access network device, where the second indication information includes the first indication information, and the second indication information is used for the first terminal device to determine whether to receive downlink control information at the first paging occasion.

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

the second set of numbers is learned from the first access network device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein determining the second number from the first correspondence and the first number comprises:

and if the first group number is not equal to the second group number, determining the second group number according to the first corresponding relation and the first group number.

11. A method for transmitting paging messages, the method being applicable to a first access network device, comprising:

and sending the paging message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the third group number based on the first correspondence and the first group number comprises:

and determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relation, the first group number and the second group number.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first mapping relationship is used to indicate a mapping relationship between a first set of numbers and at least one second set of numbers, the first set of numbers includes a set number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first set number, the set number that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first set number supported by the first core network device includes the first set number, the at least one second set of numbers corresponds to at least one set number in a one-to-one manner, and the at least one set number includes the second set number.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the third set of numbers based on the first correspondence, the first set of numbers, and the second set of numbers comprises:

determining the third group number in the one second group number set according to the first group number.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first mapping relationship is used to instruct a core network device to perform a remainder operation on a group number that can be allocated according to the number of groups supported by the core network device and the number of groups supported by an access network device;

and determining the third group number according to the remainder.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first correspondence is used to indicate a correspondence between a group number corresponding to the first group number and a group number corresponding to the second group number;

wherein, the determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relationship and the first group number comprises:

and determining the third group number corresponding to the first group number in the group numbers corresponding to the second group number.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the first correspondence is protocol preset; alternatively, the method further comprises:

generating the first corresponding relation;

indicating the first corresponding relation to the first terminal equipment; alternatively, the method further comprises:

and acquiring the first corresponding relation from the first core network equipment.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the generating the first correspondence comprises:

acquiring a grouping strategy from the first core network equipment;

and generating the first corresponding relation according to the grouping strategy.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein said sending the first indication information comprises:

before a first paging occasion of the first terminal device, sending second indication information, where the second indication information includes the first indication information, and the second indication information is used for the first terminal device to determine whether to receive downlink control information at the first paging occasion.

20. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, further comprising:

indicating the second set of numbers to the first terminal device.

21. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, further comprising:

obtaining the first group number from the first core network device;

and if the second group number is different from the first group number, determining the third group number according to the first corresponding relation and the first group number.

22. A method for transmitting paging messages, the method being applicable to a first core network device, comprising:

indicating a first group number to a first terminal device, wherein the first group number is a group number allocated to the first terminal device by a first core network device according to a first group number supported by the first core network device, the first group number is used for the first terminal device to determine a second group number, and the second group number is a group number related to a second group number supported by a first access network device;

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

and acquiring the second group number supported by the first access network equipment from the first access network equipment.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that the method comprises:

determining a first corresponding relation;

and indicating a first corresponding relation to the first access network equipment and the first terminal equipment.

25. The method according to claim 22 or 23, further comprising:

indicating a grouping policy to the first access network device, the grouping policy for determining a first correspondence.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the first correspondence relationship is used to indicate a correspondence relationship between a first group number set and at least one second group number set, the first group number set includes group numbers that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number, the group numbers that can be allocated by the first core network device according to the first group number supported by the first core network device include the first group number and the fourth group number, the at least one second group number set is in one-to-one correspondence with at least one group number, and the at least one group number includes the second group number.

27. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the first mapping relationship is used to instruct the core network device to perform a remainder operation on the number of groups supported by the access network device and the number of groups that can be allocated by the core network device according to the number of groups supported by the core network device.

28. The method of any one of claims 22 to 27, further comprising:

and dividing each terminal device into groups with the first group number according to at least one of the paging probability of each terminal device, the Radio Resource Connection (RRC) state of each terminal device or the power consumption sensitivity of each terminal device.

29. A communications apparatus comprising a processor configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-28.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a program or instructions for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 28 are stored.