CN115460675A

CN115460675A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN115460675A
Application number: CN202110644430.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李晨琬; 陈磊
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-06-09
Filing date: 2021-06-09
Publication date: 2022-12-09
Also published as: WO2022257796A1

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device. The method comprises the following steps: and under the condition that the discontinuous receiving period is greater than the change period of the broadcast control channel, the terminal equipment receives first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed and the time domain position of the changed paging system message is located, and receives the changed paging system message according to the first indication information. The communication method and the communication device can avoid the terminal equipment which does not support the superframe from frequently receiving the system message, thereby saving the power consumption.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and, more particularly, to a communication method and a communication apparatus.

Background

The basic mechanism of Discontinuous Reception (DRX) is to configure a DRX cycle (DRX cycle) for a terminal device, and in an On Duration period, the terminal device normally monitors a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and in other periods, the terminal device may enter a sleep state and does not receive the PDCCH to reduce power consumption, thereby achieving the purpose of saving power.

A system message carried in a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) may vary with a broadcast control channel change period (MP). When the system message changes, the base station sends a paging message to the terminal equipment, wherein the paging message comprises indication information of the change of the system message. When the DRX cycle is less than or equal to the BCCH MP, the time domain location at which the terminal device receives the modified system message is different from when the DRX cycle is greater than the BCCH MP.

Low-complexity or low-power (REDCAP) terminal equipment is introduced in the 5G standard, and the REDCAP terminal equipment has narrower bandwidth, lower power consumption, fewer antennas and the like compared with common terminal equipment, and does not support superframe. Therefore, how the REDCAP terminal device receives the changed system message is a problem to be solved at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can avoid that terminal equipment which does not support superframes frequently receives system messages, thereby saving power consumption.

In a first aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be executed by the terminal device, or may also be executed by a chip or a circuit configured in the terminal device, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: and under the condition that the discontinuous receiving period is greater than the change period of the broadcast control channel, the terminal equipment receives first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information comprises information of the time domain position where the changed paging system message is located. Or, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the terminal device receives first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information also indicates that the time domain position of the changed paging system message is a start boundary of a next superframe or a system frame with a next frame number of 0, where the time domain position of the first indication information is located. And the terminal equipment receives the changed paging system message according to the first indication information.

Based on the above scheme, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the terminal device may receive the changed paging system message (the paging system message is a paging-related system message) according to the first indication information from the network device, and may avoid frequent reception of the system message (the system message includes the changed paging system message) by the terminal device that does not support the superframe, for example, the low-capability terminal device, thereby saving power consumption of the low-capability terminal device.

In a possible embodiment, the terminal device receives second indication information indicating that the network device supports sending the first indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device receives the first indication information in the last superframe of the discontinuous reception acquisition period, and the terminal device receives the changed paging system message according to the first indication information at the start boundary of the next superframe or the system frame with the next frame number of 0 of the time domain position where the first indication information is located.

Based on the scheme, the low-energy terminal equipment can determine the time domain position of the changed paging system message according to the superframe where the first indication information is located.

In the above solution, for a terminal device supporting a superframe, the changed paging system message is received at a start boundary of a next superframe carrying a time domain position of the first indication information. For low-energy terminal devices, the superframe may not be supported, and the start boundary of the next superframe cannot be found, and at this time, the time domain position of the changed paging system message may be determined according to the system frame with the next frame number of 0.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes information of a time domain position where the modified paging system message is located, and the terminal device receives the modified paging system message according to the time domain position.

In the above solution, the low-capability terminal device may directly receive the changed paging system message according to the time domain position indicated by the first indication information, which is more flexible than a scheme of receiving the changed paging system message according to the starting boundary of the next superframe or the system frame with the next frame number of 0.

In one possible embodiment, the terminal device receives the modified system message when the first value tag in the modified system message is different from the local value tag.

Based on the above scheme, when the terminal device initiates a network connection, the terminal device checks the first value tag in the changed system message (it should be understood that the changed system message includes other system messages unrelated to paging), determines whether the first value tag is the same as the locally pre-stored value tag, receives the changed system message if the first value tag is different from the locally pre-stored value tag, and does not receive the changed system message if the first value tag is the same as the locally pre-stored value tag. The scheme can reduce the times of receiving the system message by the terminal equipment, thereby saving power consumption.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

In a second aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be executed by the terminal device, or may also be executed by a chip or a circuit configured in the terminal device, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: and receiving third indication information when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, wherein the third indication information is a system message change indication using the discontinuous reception period (that is, the third indication information is a system message change indication which indicates the terminal device to receive the changed system message according to the discontinuous reception period), and receiving the changed system message at the starting boundary of the next broadcast control channel change period of the first broadcast control channel change period according to the third indication information, and the third indication information is carried in the first broadcast control channel change period.

Based on the scheme, when the terminal device does not receive the first indication information, the terminal device can receive the changed system information according to the third indication information, and the frequency of receiving the system information by the low-capability terminal device can be reduced to a certain extent, so that the power consumption is saved.

In a third aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the network device, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: and under the condition that the discontinuous receiving period is greater than the change period of the broadcast control channel, the network equipment sends first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information comprises the information system message of the time domain position where the changed paging system message is located. Or, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information also indicates that the time domain position of the changed paging system message is the start boundary of the next superframe or the system frame with the next frame number of 0, where the time domain position of the first indication information is located. And the network equipment sends the changed paging system message.

Based on the above scheme, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the network device may instruct the terminal device to receive the changed system message related to paging through the first indication information, so as to avoid frequent reception of the system message by the terminal device that does not support the super-frame, such as the low-power terminal device, thereby saving power consumption of the low-power terminal device.

In one possible embodiment, in the case where the network device broadcasts a support paging system message change indication, second indication information is sent to the terminal device, the second indication information indicating that the network device supports sending the first indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device sends the first indication information in the last superframe of the discontinuous reception acquisition period, and indicates the terminal device to receive the changed paging system message in the system frame of which the starting boundary of the next superframe or the next frame number of the next superframe of the time domain position where the first indication information is located is 0. The network device sends the changed paging system message on the system frame with the next frame number of 0 of the last superframe.

Based on the scheme, the low-energy terminal equipment can determine the time domain position of the changed paging system message according to the superframe in which the first indication information is located.

In the above solution, for a terminal device supporting a superframe, it is determined that the modified paging system message is received at the start boundary of the next superframe carrying the time domain position of the first indication information, and for a terminal device with low capability, the superframe may not be supported, and the start boundary of the next superframe cannot be found, and at this time, the time domain position of the modified paging system message may be determined according to the system frame with the next frame number of 0.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes information of a time domain position where the modified paging system message is located, and the network device sends the modified paging system message according to the time domain position.

In the foregoing solution, the network device may include the information of the time domain location in the first indication information, so that the terminal device receives the changed paging system message more accurately, and is more flexible than a scheme in which the terminal device receives the changed paging system message according to the start boundary of the next superframe or the system frame with the next frame number of 0.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

In a fourth aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method may be performed by a network device, or may be performed by a chip or a circuit configured in the network device, which is not limited in this application. The method comprises the following steps: and when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the network equipment sends third indication information, wherein the third indication information is a system message change indication using the discontinuous reception period, the network equipment sends the changed system message at the initial boundary of the next broadcast control channel change period of the first broadcast control channel change period according to the third indication information, and the third indication information is carried in the first broadcast control channel change period.

Based on the scheme, when the network device does not support sending the first indication information, the terminal device can receive the changed system message according to the third indication information, and frequent receiving of the system message by the low-capability terminal device can be reduced to a certain extent, so that power consumption is saved.

In a fifth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided. The apparatus may be a terminal device, or may also be a chip or a circuit configured in the terminal device, which is not limited in this application. The device comprises a receiving and sending unit: when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the transceiver unit is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information includes information of a time domain location where the changed paging system message is located. Or the transceiving unit is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information further indicates that a time domain position of the changed paging system message is a start boundary of a next superframe of the time domain position of the first indication information or a system frame with a next frame number of 0. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive the changed paging system message. Based on the scheme, under the condition that the discontinuous receiving period is greater than the change period of the broadcast control channel, the terminal equipment can receive the changed paging system message according to the first indication information from the network equipment, and can avoid the low-capability terminal equipment from frequently receiving the system message, so that the power consumption of the low-capability terminal equipment is saved.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that the network device supports sending the first indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive the first indication information in a last superframe of a drx acquisition period, and the processing unit is specifically configured to control the transceiver unit to start at a start boundary of a next superframe of the last superframe or a system frame with a next frame number of 0 according to the first indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes a time domain position where the modified paging system message is located, and the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive the modified paging system message according to the time domain position.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to determine that the first value tag in the modified system message is different from the local value tag, and the transceiver unit is configured to receive the modified system message.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

In a sixth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided. The apparatus may be a terminal device, or may also be a chip or a circuit configured in the terminal device, which is not limited in this application. The device comprises a processing unit and a transmitting and receiving unit: the transceiver unit is configured to receive third indication information when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, where the third indication information is a system message change indication using the discontinuous reception period. The processing unit is configured to control the transceiver unit to receive the changed system message at an initial boundary of a next broadcast control channel change period of the first broadcast control channel change period according to the third indication information, where the third indication information is carried in the first broadcast control channel change period.

Based on the scheme, when the terminal device does not receive the first indication information, the terminal device can receive the changed system message according to the third indication information, and the low-capability terminal device can also reduce frequent receiving of the system message to a certain extent, so that the power consumption is saved.

In a seventh aspect, a communications apparatus is provided. The apparatus may be a network device, or may also be a chip or a circuit configured in the network device, which is not limited in this application. The device comprises a receiving and sending unit: and under the condition that the discontinuous receiving period is greater than the change period of the broadcast control channel, the transceiver unit is used for sending first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information comprises the information of the time domain position of the changed paging system message. Or, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the transceiver unit is configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information further indicates that the time domain position of the changed paging system message is a start boundary of a next superframe or a system frame with a next frame number of 0, where the time domain position of the first indication information is located. The transceiver unit is further configured to transmit the changed paging system message.

Based on the scheme, under the condition that the discontinuous receiving period is greater than the change period of the broadcast control channel, the network equipment can indicate the terminal equipment to receive the changed system information related to paging through the first indication information, so that the low-capability terminal equipment can be prevented from frequently receiving the system information, and the power consumption of the low-capability terminal equipment is saved.

In a possible embodiment, when the processing unit determines that the paging system message change indication is supported by broadcasting, the control transceiving unit sends second indication information to the terminal device, wherein the second indication information indicates that the network device supports sending the first indication information.

In a possible embodiment, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send the first indication information in a last superframe of a drx acquisition cycle, and the processing unit is specifically configured to control the transceiver unit to send the changed paging system message on a system frame with a frame number of 0 next to the last superframe according to the first indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes information of a time domain position where the modified paging system message is located, and the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send the modified paging system message according to the time domain position.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The apparatus may be a network device, or may also be a chip or a circuit configured in the network device, which is not limited in this application. The device comprises a processing unit and a transmitting and receiving unit: the processing unit is further configured to control the transceiver unit to transmit a modified system message at a start boundary of a next broadcast control channel modification period of the first broadcast control channel modification period according to the third indication information, where the third indication information is carried in the first broadcast control channel modification period.

In a ninth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which may be the terminal device in the first or second aspect, or an electronic device configured in the terminal device, or a larger device including the terminal device. The apparatus is configured to perform the method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect. The communication device includes a transceiver.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a processor, coupled to the memory, and configured to execute the instructions in the memory to implement the method in any of the possible implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect, and the first aspect and the second aspect. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a memory, which may be disposed separately from the processor or may be disposed centrally. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip configured in a terminal device. When the device is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit on the chip or a chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transmit-receive circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, but is not limited to, that received and input by the receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be, but is not limited to, that output to and transmitted by the transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit that functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and various circuits.

In a tenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which may be the network device in the third or fourth aspect, or an electronic device configured in the network device, or a larger device including the network device. The apparatus is configured to perform the method provided in the third aspect or the fourth aspect. The apparatus includes a transceiver.

Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory, and the processor is coupled to the memory and configured to execute instructions in the memory to implement the communication method in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, and any one of the third aspect and the fourth aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory, which may be deployed separately from the processor or may be deployed centrally. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip configured in a network device. When the device is a chip configured in a network device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit on the chip or a chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions), which when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and of the first to fourth aspects described above.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to fourth aspects and the first to fourth aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the network device and the terminal device.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 suitable for use with embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication network architecture in the communication system 100 provided in the present application.

Fig. 3 is a distribution diagram of the location of a communication message in the time domain according to the present application.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in the present application.

Fig. 5 is a distribution diagram of positions of another communication message in a time domain according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a distribution diagram of positions of another communication message in a time domain according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 may include a network device, such as the macro base station 20, the

small base station

21 or 22 shown in fig. 1. The communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 10 shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 1, the terminal device 10 is located within the coverage area of one or more cells (carriers) provided by the macro base station 20, and the number of cells serving the terminal device 10 may be one or more. When there are a plurality of serving cells for the terminal apparatus 10, the terminal apparatus 10 may operate according to Carrier Aggregation (CA), dual Connectivity (DC), or coordinated multipoint transmission. Wherein at least one cell provides at least one parameter set (numerology) while providing radio resources for terminal device 10. The connection between the terminal device and the network device and between the terminal device and the terminal device can be established for communication, and the sending device can indicate the scheduling information of the data through the control information, so that the receiving device can correctly receive the data according to the control information.

Terminal equipment in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment, access terminals, subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, wireless communication devices, user agents, or user devices. The terminal in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart 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, a wireless local loop (wireless local) station, a personal digital assistant (wldigital assistant), a wireless terminal with wireless modem or other onboard network processing device connected to a wireless communication network, or other onboard communication device with wireless modem or wireless network processing function.

Wherein, wearable equipment also can be called as wearing formula smart machine, is the general term of using wearing formula technique to carry out intelligent design, developing the equipment that can dress to daily wearing, like glasses, gloves, wrist-watch, dress and shoes etc.. The wearable device is either worn directly on the body or is a portable device that is integrated into the user's clothing or accessory. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also realizes powerful functions through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable smart device includes full functionality, large size, and can implement full or partial functionality without relying on a smart phone, such as: smart watches or smart glasses and the like, and only focus on a certain type of application function, and need to be matched with other equipment such as a smart phone for use, such as various smart bracelets for physical sign monitoring, smart jewelry and the like.

In addition, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an internet of things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and the main technical characteristic of the IoT is to connect articles with a network through a communication technology, so that an intelligent network of man-machine interconnection and article-object interconnection is realized. The specific form of the terminal device is not limited in the present application.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be an apparatus for implementing a function of the terminal device, and may also be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, for example, a system on a chip, and the apparatus may be installed in the terminal. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be any device having a wireless transceiving function. Such devices include, but are not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Home Base Station (e.g., home NodeB or Home Node B, HNB), a Base Band Unit (BBU), an Access Point (Access Point, AP) in a Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) system, a Wireless relay Node, a Wireless backhaul Node, a Transmission Point (TP) or a transmission reception Point (transmission and reception Point, trpdu) may also be 5G, such as NR, a gbb in a system, or a trpg or a transmission Point (TP or TP) in a system, one or more antennas in a 5G system may also include a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), or a BBU, or the like, and a Base Band Unit (BBU) may also be 5G, such as an NR, a BBU, or a Base Station antenna panel in a system, or a Base Band Unit may also be a distributed Base Station (eNB) or a BBU.

In some deployments, the network devices may include Centralized Units (CUs) and DUs, or access network (RAN) devices including CU nodes and DU nodes. For example, in the LTE system, the RAN device including CU nodes and DU nodes splits apart the protocol layers of the eNB in the LTE system, and the functions of some protocol layers are centrally controlled by the CUs, and the functions of some or all protocol layers are distributed in the DUs, and the DUs are centrally controlled by the CUs. The gNB may further include an Active Antenna Unit (AAU). For example, in a 5G system, a CU implements part of the function of a gNB, and a DU implements part of the function of the gNB. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing a physical layer protocol and a real-time service, and implements functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. The AAU realizes part of physical layer processing function, radio frequency processing and active antenna related function. Since the information of the RRC layer eventually becomes or is converted from the information of the PHY layer, the higher layer signaling, such as the RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the DU + AAU under this architecture. It is to be understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in the RAN, or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an apparatus for implementing a function of the network device, and may also be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, for example, a system on chip, and the apparatus may be installed in the network device.

It should also be understood that the network device and the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; or deployed on the surface; or on aerial airplanes, balloons, and satellites. The embodiment of the application does not limit the application scenarios of the network device and the terminal device.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), an LTE system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5 g) system, or a future-evolution communication system, vehicle-to-other devices (vehicle-to-X V X), where V2X may include vehicle-to-Internet (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), etc., long term evolution (long term evolution-vehicle) for vehicle-to-vehicle, LTE-V), internet of vehicle, machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC), internet of things (Internet of things, ioT), long term evolution (long term evolution-machine, LTE-M) for machine-to-machine (M2M), device-to-device (D2D), etc.

It should be understood that the present application may be applied to independently deployed 5G or LTE systems, and may also be applied to non-independently deployed 5G or LTE systems, such as DC scenarios, including dual connectivity (E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity, EN-DC) and the like, and Carrier Aggregation (CA) scenarios.

Fig. 2 (a) illustrates a communication network architecture in the communication system 100 provided by the present application, and the embodiments provided in the following can be applied to the architecture. The first network device is a source network device (or called as a working network device or a serving network device) of a terminal device (hereinafter, UE is taken as an example for explanation), and the second network device is a target network device (or called as a standby network device) of the UE, that is, a network device that provides service for the UE after handover. It should be noted that in this application, "failure" may be understood as a failure of a network device and/or failure to provide service for one or more UEs for other reasons, which is simply referred to as failure. The "handover" in the present application refers to handover of a network device that provides service for a UE, and is not limited to "cell handover". For convenience of description, the network device is taken as a base station for example. The "handover" may refer to a handover due to a change in a base station serving the UE. For example, when a source base station of the UE fails, the UE is served by a standby base station. For another example, during the handover of the UE from the source base station to the communication with another base station, the target base station after the handover provides the UE with service. The accessed cells before and after the UE is switched can be changed or not. It is to be understood that the standby network device is a relative concept, e.g., with respect to one UE, base station 2 is the standby network device of base station 1, and with respect to another UE, base station 1 is the standby network device of base station 2.

The first network device and the second network device may be two different devices, e.g., the first network device and the second network device are two different base stations. Optionally, the first network device and the second network device may also be two sets of function modules in the same device. The functional modules may be hardware modules, or software modules, or both hardware modules and software modules. For example, the first network device and the second network device are located in the same base station, and are two different functional modules in the base station. In one implementation, the first network device and the second network device are not transparent to the UE. The UE, when interacting with the respective network device, can know which network device to interact with at all. In another implementation, the first network device and the second network device are transparent to the UE. The UE is able to communicate with the network devices but does not know with which of the two network devices it is interacting. Alternatively, it may be possible for the UE to consider only one network device. The first network device and the second network device may not be transparent to the UE, or may be transparent. In the following description, the first network device, the second network device, and the terminal device (taking UE as an example) may be the first network device, the second network device, and the UE in the network architecture shown in (a) in fig. 2, respectively, and in the drawings corresponding to the embodiments of the present application, the steps indicated by dashed lines are optional steps, and are not described in detail in the following text.

Fig. 2 (b) shows another communication network architecture in the communication system 100 provided by the present application. As shown in fig. 2 (b), the communication system includes a CN and a RAN. Wherein the network equipment (e.g., base stations) in the RAN includes baseband devices and radio frequency devices. The baseband device may be implemented by one or more nodes, and the radio frequency device may be implemented independently as a remote device, integrated into the baseband device, or partially integrated into the baseband device. Network devices in a RAN may include Centralized Units (CUs) and Distributed Units (DUs), which may be centrally controlled by one CU. The CU and the DU may be divided according to the functions of the protocol layers of the radio network provided therein, for example, the functions of the PDCP layer and the above protocol layers are provided in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer, for example, the functions of the RLC layer and the MAC layer, are provided in the DU. It should be noted that this division of the protocol layers is only an example, and may be divided in other protocol layers. The radio frequency device may be remote, not placed in the DU, or integrated in the DU, or partially remote and partially integrated in the DU, which is not limited in this application.

Fig. 2 (c) shows another communication network architecture in the communication system 100 provided by the present application. With respect to the architecture shown in fig. 2 (b), the Control Plane (CP) and the User Plane (UP) of a CU can also be implemented by being separated and divided into different entities, respectively a control plane CU entity (CU-CP entity) and a user plane CU entity (CU-UP entity). In the network architecture, the signaling generated by the CU may be sent to the UE through the DU, or the signaling generated by the UE may be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU may pass through the UE or CU directly through protocol layer encapsulation without parsing the signaling. In the network architecture, the CUs may be divided into network devices on the RAN side and CN side, which is not limited in the present application.

In an embodiment of the present application, the difference between the first terminal device and the second terminal device may include at least one of the following:

1. the bandwidth capabilities are different. For example, the carrier bandwidth of the first terminal device is not greater than 50MHz, for example, at least one of 50MHz, 40MHz, 20MHz, 15MHz, 10MHz, or 5MHz, and the carrier bandwidth of the second terminal device is greater than 50MHz.

2. The number of the transmitting and receiving antennas is different. For example, the first terminal device may support 2 receive-1 transmit (2 receive antennas and 1 transmit antenna), or 1 receive-1 transmit (1 receive antenna and 1 transmit antenna). The second terminal device may support 4 receive and 2 transmit (4 receive antennas and 2 transmit antennas). It can be understood that, under the condition of achieving the same data transmission rate, since the number of the transceiving antennas of the first terminal device is less than that of the transceiving antennas of the second terminal device, the maximum coverage range that can be achieved by the data transmission between the first terminal device and the base station is less than that which can be achieved by the data transmission between the second terminal device and the base station.

3. The maximum uplink transmit power is different. For example, the maximum transmit power upstream of the first terminal device may be one of 4 decibel-milliwatts (dBm) to 20 dBm. The maximum transmit power upstream of the second terminal device may be 23dBm or 26dBm.

4. The protocol versions are different. The first terminal device may be a terminal device in NR version 17 (release-17, rel-17) or a later version of NR Rel-17. The second terminal device may be, for example, a terminal device in NR version 15 (release-15, rel-15) or NR version 16 (release-16, rel-16). The second terminal device may also be referred to as an NR legacy (NR legacy) terminal device.

5. The carrier aggregation capabilities are different. For example, the first terminal device does not support carrier aggregation, and the second terminal device may support carrier aggregation. For another example, both the first terminal device and the second terminal device may support carrier aggregation, but the maximum number of carrier aggregation simultaneously supported by the first terminal device is smaller than the maximum number of carrier aggregation simultaneously supported by the second terminal device, for example, the first terminal device may support aggregation of 2 carriers at most simultaneously, and the second terminal device may support aggregation of 5 carriers or 32 carriers at most simultaneously.

6. The duplex capabilities differ. For example, the first terminal supports half duplex Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD). The second terminal device supports full duplex FDD.

7. The processing time capability of the data is different. For example, the minimum time delay between the first terminal device receiving the downlink data and sending the feedback to the downlink data is greater than the minimum time delay between the second terminal device receiving the downlink data and sending the feedback to the downlink data; and/or the minimum time delay between the sending of the uplink data and the receiving of the feedback of the uplink data by the first terminal equipment is larger than the minimum time delay between the sending of the uplink data by the second terminal equipment and the receiving of the feedback of the uplink data.

8. The processing power (ability/capability) differs. For example, the baseband processing capability of the first terminal device is lower than the baseband processing capability of the second terminal device. Wherein the baseband processing capability may include at least one of: the maximum number of MIMO layers supported by the terminal device for data transmission, the number of HARQ processes supported by the terminal device, and the maximum Transport Block Size (TBS) supported by the terminal device.

9. The transmission peak rates of the uplink and/or downlink are different. The transmission peak rate refers to a maximum data transmission rate that can be achieved by the terminal device per unit time (e.g., per second). The peak uplink rate supported by the first terminal device may be lower than the peak uplink rate supported by the second terminal device, and/or the peak downlink rate supported by the first terminal device may be lower than the peak downlink rate supported by the second terminal device. For example, the uplink peak rate of the first terminal device is less than or equal to 50Mbps, the downlink peak rate is less than or equal to 150Mbps, the uplink peak rate of the second terminal device is greater than or equal to 50Mbps, and the downlink peak rate is greater than or equal to 150Mbps. For another example, the uplink peak rate or the downlink peak rate of the first terminal device is in the order of hundreds Mbps, and the uplink peak rate or the downlink peak rate of the second terminal device is in the order of Gbps.

10. The buffers (buffers) vary in size. The buffer may be understood as a Layer 2 (L2) buffer total size, which is defined as a sum of a number of bytes buffered in a Radio Link Control (RLC) transmission window and reception and reordering window and a number of bytes buffered in a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) reordering window for all radio bearers of the terminal device. Alternatively, the buffer may also be understood as the total number of soft channel bits that can be used by a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the first terminal device may be a REDCAP terminal device in an NR system, or may also be referred to as a low-capability terminal device, a Reduced-capability terminal device, a REDCAP UE, a Reduced Capacity UE, an mtc UE, or the like. The NR system may further include other terminal devices, for example, a second terminal device, where the second terminal device may be a Legacy capability or/normal capability/high capability terminal device, and may also be referred to as a Legacy terminal device or Legacy UE, and the second terminal device has the above distinguishing feature from the first terminal device.

Of course, the above is only an example, and there may be other differences between the REDCAP terminal device and the legacy terminal device, which are not illustrated herein one by one.

DRX period: the discontinuous reception cycle in the embodiment of the present application is used for the terminal device to discontinuously receive the PDCCH in the RRC connected state, or for the terminal device to receive the paging message in the idle state.

eDRX period: the extended discontinuous reception cycle in the embodiment of the present application is longer than the normal DRX cycle.

BCCH MP: in the embodiment of the present application, the change period of the broadcast channel is described. The system messages do not change during this period, and the MP can be configured to be N times the DRX period, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The MP may also be configured to be smaller than the DRX cycle.

For the second terminal device, when the system message changes, the system message change notification manner is divided into the following two types:

mode 1

And when the DRX period is less than or equal to the BCCH MP, the network equipment sends a paging message to the terminal equipment, wherein the paging message comprises a system message change indication. Correspondingly, after receiving the system message change instruction, the terminal device receives the changed system message at the boundary point between the first MP and the next MP. It should be appreciated that the end device receives the system message change indication within the first MP.

Mode 2

When the DRX cycle is greater than the BCCH MP, the DRX cycle at this time can be considered as an eDRX cycle. The network device sends a paging message to the terminal device, where the paging message includes a system message change indication using the eDRX cycle (using the eDRX cycle, that is, the terminal device may determine a time domain location according to the eDRX cycle to receive the changed system message). Correspondingly, after receiving the system message change instruction, the terminal device acquires the changed system message at the eDRX acquisition cycle boundary. As shown in fig. 3, the DRX cycle is larger than the BCCH MP, and the length of the DRX cycle includes the lengths of a plurality of BCCH MPs. The small blocks in the figure are one superframe and M-eDRX is eDRX acquisition period, and typically, the M-eDRX length is at least M superframes (H-SFN), where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and M =256 as shown in the figure. 1 superframe is equal to 1024 System Frame Numbers (SFNs). In fig. 3, a paging message including a system message change indication using an eDRX cycle is received within a superframe of a start boundary of an nth MP, and a system message is received at a boundary of an eDRX acquisition cycle.

Alternatively, the system message acquired by the terminal device at the boundary of M-DRX may be considered to be related to paging, and the system message that changes within the M-DRX cycle may be considered to be unrelated to paging.

The scheme can enable the terminal device to be paged or found by the network device or the base station under the condition that the terminal device is configured with a longer DRX period. In order to avoid the influence of the change of other system messages (not related to paging) in the longer period (M-eDRX period), the subsequent terminal device receives the changed system message again when initiating the connection with the network side.

For the first terminal device, there are cases where the configured DRX cycle does not exceed 10.24 seconds at maximum. When the DRX cycle of the first terminal device is greater than the BCCH MP and the first terminal device does not support the H-SFN, the system message changes, and it is difficult for the first terminal device to accurately find the boundary of the system message after reading or receiving the change.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 200 shown in FIG. 4 includes:

step S230: and under the condition that the discontinuous reception period is greater than the change period of the broadcast control channel, the network equipment sends first indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the first indication information.

Optionally, before step S230, the method 200 includes step S210: and the terminal equipment or the network equipment determines that the DRX period is larger than the BCCH MP.

It should be understood that the paging system message is a system message that includes a paging configuration.

Optionally, the first indication information may be carried in the paging message, or the first indication information may also be carried in Downlink Control Information (DCI) of the scheduling paging message.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information further indicates a time domain location where the changed paging system message is located.

Exemplarily, the time domain position of the changed paging system message is a starting boundary of a next superframe or a system frame with a next frame number of 0 of the time domain position of the first indication information.

Optionally, the network device sends the first indication information in the DRX acquisition cycle, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information in the DRX acquisition cycle.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a last superframe of a DRX acquisition cycle.

Illustratively, the terminal device listens for a Paging message (Paging) in an idle state or an inactive state (inactive), as shown in fig. 5, the DRX cycle is larger than the BCCH MP, and the length of the DRX cycle includes the lengths of a plurality of BCCH MPs. The small blocks in the figure are one superframe, and M-eDRX is an eDRX acquisition period, and typically, the length of M-eDRX is at least M superframes, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and M =256 is shown in the figure. The terminal device receives a paging message including a system message change indication using the eDRX cycle within a superframe of a start boundary of the nth MP. The terminal device receives a Paging message on the last superframe in the DRX acquisition cycle, where the Paging message includes first indication information, for example, paging includes a Paging system message modification information element (Paging modification).

For example, the DRX acquisition cycle length is 256 superframes. The length of the MCCH MP is 5 system frames (one system frame is 10 ms), and the configured DRX or eDRX cycle of the terminal device is 10 system frames. When the paging related system message is to be changed, the network device may send the first indication information to the terminal device in a paging opportunity in a 256 th superframe, and for the terminal device that does not support HSFN or the terminal device that is only interested in changing the paging related system message, the network device may receive the updated system message at the end of the 256 th superframe and at the beginning of the 257 th superframe; and for the terminal equipment which does not support the HSFN, the updated system message can be received at the time domain position with the next system frame number of 0 through the first indication information. Namely, the scheme is not only suitable for the terminal equipment which does not support HSFN, but also suitable for the terminal equipment which is only interested in the paging related system message.

In another possible implementation manner, the first indication information is carried in one of superframes in a DRX acquisition cycle, and the first indication information includes information of a time domain position where a paging system message after being changed is located.

Illustratively, the terminal device listens for a Paging message (Paging) in an idle state or an inactive state (inactive), as shown in fig. 6, the DRX cycle is larger than the BCCH MP, and the length of the DRX cycle includes the lengths of a plurality of BCCH MPs. The small block in the figure is a superframe, and M-eDRX is an eDRX acquisition period, and typically, the length of M-eDRX is at least M superframes, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and M =256 in the figure. The terminal device receives a paging message including a system message change indication using a DRX period within a superframe of a start boundary of an nth MP. The terminal equipment receives a paging message in one superframe (not at the boundary of the DRX acquisition cycle) in the DRX acquisition cycle, wherein the paging message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information comprises information of time domain position, such as frame number, subframe number or system frame with the Nth frame number being N, wherein N is not less than 1,n and not less than 0.

For example, the DRX acquisition cycle length is 256 superframes. The length of MCCH MP is 5 system frames, and the configured DRX or eDRX cycle of the terminal device is 10 system frames. When the paging related system message is to be changed, the network device may send first indication information to the terminal device in a paging opportunity in a 200 th superframe, and the first indication information indicates that the terminal device receives an updated system message on a system frame with a first frame number of 1 after the 200 th superframe; and the terminal equipment which does not support the HSFN can start receiving the updated system message through the specific time domain position indicated by the first indication information. Similarly, the scheme is not only applicable to the terminal device which does not support HSFN, but also applicable to the terminal device which is only interested in paging related system messages.

In the above scheme, the low-capability terminal device may directly receive the changed paging system message according to the time domain position indicated by the first indication information, which is more flexible than a scheme of receiving the changed paging system message according to the starting boundary of the next superframe or the system frame with the next frame number of 0.

Optionally, before step S230, the method 200 may further include step S220 of determining whether the network device broadcasts the paging system message change support indication.

In one possible implementation, if it is determined that the network device broadcasts the paging system message change supporting indication, the second indication information is sent to the terminal device, i.e., step S221. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information, and the second indication information indicates that the network device supports sending the first indication information.

Illustratively, the second indication information is carried in a system message, such as a System Information Block (SIB) message: SIB1, SIB2, etc.

If the terminal device does not receive the second indication information, the terminal device may attempt to receive the changed system message at the boundary where all or part of the system message is changed, based on a default paging cycle configured by the network device or a smaller cycle in a RAN paging cycle, in a manner that a DRX cycle is smaller than the MCCH MP.

Step S240: and the network equipment sends the changed paging system message, and correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the changed paging system message according to the first indication information.

Optionally, the terminal device receives the changed paging system message according to the time domain position of the first indication information. That is, the first indication information implicitly indicates the time domain position of the changed paging system message.

In one possible implementation, if the first indication information is carried in the last superframe of the DRX acquisition cycle, the paging-related system message is updated at the start boundary of the next superframe of the last superframe or the system frame with the next frame number of 0.

It should be understood that terminal devices supporting a superframe may receive the changed paging system message according to the start boundary of the next superframe of the last superframe, and terminal devices not supporting a superframe may receive the changed paging system message according to the system frame with the next frame number of 0 of the last superframe.

Illustratively, when the DRX acquisition cycle length is 256 superframes, the DRX or eDRX cycle with which the terminal device is configured is 10 system frames. The first indication information is carried in the paging opportunity in the 256 th superframe, and the terminal device may receive the updated system message at the end of the 256 th superframe and at the beginning of the 257 th superframe. For terminal devices that do not support HSFN, the updated system message may be received at the time domain location with the next system frame number of 0 after the 256 th superframe.

It should be appreciated that in this scheme, the network device does not send the first indication information in the paging opportunity before the last superframe of the DRX acquisition cycle, thereby saving power consumption. For terminal equipment which does not support a superframe, the first indication information sent before the last superframe of the DRX acquisition cycle cannot obtain an accurate paging system message change boundary.

It should also be understood that, for the first terminal device, since the superframe is not supported, the boundary of the superframe cannot be determined, and therefore, it is determined that the reception of the changed system message is started on the system frame whose next System Frame Number (SFN) after the indication information is received is 0, and the system message includes the system message related to the paging configuration.

And for the second terminal device, it may be determined that the modified system message is received at a start boundary of a superframe next to a last superframe in the DRX acquisition cycle, specifically including the system message related to the paging configuration.

It should be understood that the boundary of the paging system message change is multiplexed with the DRX acquisition cycle boundary, so that the terminal device supporting the super frame and the terminal device not supporting the super frame can acquire the changed system message at a uniform time point, and thus the network device does not need to send the system message updated twice for the terminal devices with different capabilities, thereby saving signaling overhead.

In another possible implementation manner, if the first indication information is carried in one superframe of the DRX acquisition cycle, and the first indication information further indicates a time domain location where the changed paging system message is located. The modified system message including paging association may be acquired according to the time domain location indicated by the first indication information. Illustratively, the paging system message is carried on the frame number, the subframe number, or the system frame with the nth frame number N indicated by the first indication information, where N ≧ 1,n ≧ 0.

For example, the DRX acquisition cycle length is 256 superframes, and the terminal device is configured with a DRX or eDRX cycle of 10 system frames. The first indication information is carried in the paging opportunity in the 200 th superframe, and the first indication information indicates that the terminal device receives the updated system message on the first system frame with the frame number of 1 after the 200 th superframe. The terminal device which does not support the HSFN may start receiving the updated system message through the specific time domain position indicated by the first indication information, i.e. the system frame with the first frame number of 1 after the 200 th superframe.

Illustratively, the paging system message may be a Master Information Block (MIB) message and/or a SIB message.

Alternatively, after step S240, when the terminal device acquires the changed system message:

in a possible implementation manner, the terminal device needs to check a first value tag (Valuetag) of the system message after the change, and if the first value tag is inconsistent with a second value tag, the terminal device receives the changed system message, where the second value tag is a value tag that is stored locally by the second terminal device.

It should be understood that the changed system message may be received when the terminal device initiates a network connection, or may be a system message unrelated to paging, and the above-mentioned scheme can reduce the number of times that the terminal device receives the system message, thereby saving power consumption.

In another possible implementation, the terminal device receives the changed system message directly, for example, receives all the required system messages.

Specifically, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device starts to receive the modified system message at the corresponding time domain location, where the modified system message may be only the modified system message related to the paging configuration, or may be all the modified system messages, and all the modified system messages include the modified system message related to the paging.

It should be appreciated that the method 200 is one communication method in which the terminal device receives the first indication. If the terminal device does not receive the first indication, the communication may be performed by the method 300, which is described below as method 300.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 300 shown in FIG. 7 includes:

optionally, in step S310, the network device or the terminal device determines that the DRX cycle is greater than the BCCH MP.

Step S320, the network device sends third indication information to the terminal device, where the third indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the third indication information.

For example, the third indication information may be a system message change indication using a DRX cycle, and may be carried in the Paging message, and the third indication information may be a system message change information element (systemlnfodification-eDRX) related to DRX in Paging. Alternatively, the third indication information may be a system message change indication (e.g., systemlnfomformation) for a DRX cycle smaller than BCCHMP.

Step S330, the network device sends the changed system message to the terminal device at the starting boundary of the next MP of the first MP, and the third indication information is carried in the first MP. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the changed system message at the starting boundary of the next MP of the first MP.

For example, the length of MCCH MP is 5 system frames, and the terminal device is configured with DRX or eDRX cycle of 10 system frames. When the paging related system message is to be changed, it is assumed that the network device sends the third indication information to the terminal device in the first MP, i.e. the system frame with frame number 0-4, and the terminal device starts to receive the updated system message on the starting boundary of the next MP, i.e. the system frame with frame number 5.

It should be appreciated that the

above methods

200 and 300 are applicable in a scenario where the DRX cycle is greater than the BCCH MP, and if the DRX cycle is less than or equal to the BCCH MP, the network device and the terminal device can communicate through the method 400, which is described below with reference to the method 400.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 400 shown in FIG. 8 includes:

optionally, in step S410, the terminal device or the network device determines that the DRX cycle is less than or equal to the BCCH MP.

Step S420, the network device sends fourth indication information to the terminal device, where the fourth indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the fourth indication information.

For example, the fourth indication information may be a system message change indication, which may be carried in the Paging message, and the fourth indication information may be a system message change information element (systemlnfodification) in the Paging.

Step S430, the network device sends the changed system message to the terminal device at the starting boundary of the next MP of the first MP, and the fourth indication information is carried in the first MP. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the changed system message at the starting boundary of the next MP of the first MP.

For example, the length of MCCH MP is 5 system frames, and the terminal device is configured with DRX or eDRX cycle of 10 system frames. When the paging related system message is to be changed, it is assumed that the network device sends the fourth indication information to the terminal device on the first MP, i.e., the system frame with frame number 0-4, and the terminal device starts to receive the updated system message on the starting boundary of the next MP, i.e., the system frame with frame number 5.

It should be understood that the DRX acquisition cycle mentioned above may also be an eDRX acquisition cycle, which is not limited in any way by the present application.

It should be noted that the execution main bodies illustrated in fig. 4, fig. 7, and fig. 8 are only examples, and the execution main body may also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the execution main body to implement the

methods

200, 300, and 400, which is not limited in this application.

Method embodiments of the present application are described above with reference to the drawings, and apparatus embodiments of the present application are described below. It is understood that the description of the method embodiments and the description of the apparatus embodiments may correspond to each other, and therefore reference may be made to the previous method embodiments for parts that are not described.

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

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is understood that each network element, for example, the transmitting end device or the receiving end device, includes a hardware structure and/or a software module for performing each function in order to implement the above functions. Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrative components and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

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

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 500 comprises a transceiving unit 510 and a processing unit 520. The transceiving unit 510 may communicate with the outside, and the processing unit 520 is used to perform data processing. The transceiving unit 510 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

The communication apparatus 500 may be a terminal device, wherein the transceiving unit 510 is configured to perform operations of receiving or transmitting by the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment, and the processing unit 520 is configured to perform operations of processing inside the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment.

In one design, in a case that the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the transceiver unit 510 is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information includes information of a time domain location where the changed paging system message is located. Or, in a case that the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the transceiver unit 510 is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information further indicates that a time domain position of the changed paging system message is a start boundary of a next superframe or a system frame with a next frame number of 0, where the time domain position of the first indication information is the next superframe. The processing unit 520 is configured to control the transceiver unit 510 to receive the changed paging system message according to the first indication information.

In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 510 is further configured to receive second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that the network device supports sending the first indication information.

The transceiver unit 510 receives the changed paging system message according to the time domain location of the first indication information.

In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 510 is specifically configured to receive the first indication information in a last superframe of a discontinuous reception acquisition period. The processing unit 520 is specifically configured to control the transceiving unit 510 to receive the changed paging system message on the system frame with the next frame number of 0 of the last superframe according to the first indication information.

In a possible embodiment, the first indication information includes information of a time domain location where the modified paging system message is located, and the transceiver unit 510 is specifically configured to receive the modified paging system message according to the time domain location.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 520 is specifically configured to determine that the first value tag in the modified system message is different from the local value tag, and the transceiver unit 510 receives the modified system message.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

In another design, the transceiving unit 510 is configured to receive third indication information when the drx cycle is greater than the bcch change cycle, where the third indication information is a system message change indication using the drx cycle. The processing unit 520 is further configured to control the transceiver unit 510 to receive the changed system message at the start boundary of the next bcch change period of the first bcch change period according to the third indication information, where the third indication information is carried in the first bcch change period.

Optionally, the communication device 500 may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions or/and data, and the processing unit 520 may read the instructions or/and data in the storage unit.

It is also to be understood that the transceiving unit 510 in the terminal device may correspond to the transceiver 710 in the terminal device shown in fig. 11, and the processing unit 520 in the terminal device may correspond to the processor 720 in the terminal device shown in fig. 11.

It is further understood that the transceiving unit 510 in the terminal device may be implemented by a communication interface (such as a transceiver or an input/output interface), for example, may correspond to an antenna and a control circuit in the terminal device shown in fig. 11, the processing unit 520 in the terminal device may be implemented by at least one processor, for example, may correspond to a processor in the terminal device shown in fig. 11, and the processing unit 520 in the terminal device may also be implemented by at least one logic circuit.

Optionally, the terminal device may further include a storage unit, where the storage unit may be configured to store instructions or data, and the processing unit may call the instructions or data stored in the storage unit to implement corresponding operations.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 600 comprises a transceiving unit 610 and a processing unit 620. The transceiving unit 610 may communicate with the outside, and the processing unit 620 is used to perform data processing. The transceiving unit 610 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

The communication apparatus 600 may be a network device, wherein the transceiver unit 610 is configured to perform operations of receiving or transmitting by the network device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 620 is configured to perform operations of processing inside the network device in the above method embodiment.

Optionally, the communication device 600 may further include a storage unit, and the storage unit may be configured to store instructions or/and data, and the processing unit 620 may read the instructions or/and data in the storage unit.

In one design, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the transceiver unit 610 is configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information includes information of a time domain location where the changed paging system message is located. Or, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the transceiver unit 610 is configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the paging system message is changed, and the first indication information further indicates that a time domain position of the changed paging system message is a start boundary of a next superframe or a system frame with a next frame number of 0, where the time domain position of the first indication information is located. The transceiving unit 610 is also used to transmit the changed paging system message.

In one possible implementation, when the processing unit 620 determines that the paging system message change supporting indication is broadcasted, the transceiving unit 610 sends second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information indicates that the network device supports sending the first indication information.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 610 is specifically configured to transmit the first indication information in a last superframe of a discontinuous reception acquisition period. The transceiver unit 610 is further specifically configured to transmit the changed paging system message on the system frame with frame number 0 next to the last superframe.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes a time domain location where the modified paging system message is located, and the transceiver unit 610 is specifically configured to send the modified paging system message according to the time domain location.

Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

In another design, when the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the transceiving unit 610 is configured to send third indication information, where the third indication information is a system message change indication using the discontinuous reception period, and the processing unit 620 is configured to control the transceiving unit 610 to send a changed system message at a start boundary of a next broadcast control channel change period of the first broadcast control channel change period according to the third indication information, where the third indication information is carried in the first broadcast control channel change period.

Optionally, the network device may further include a storage unit, where the storage unit may be configured to store instructions or data, and the processing unit may call the instructions or data stored in the storage unit to implement corresponding operations.

It is further understood that the transceiving unit 610 in the network device may be implemented by a communication interface (such as a transceiver or an input/output interface), the processing unit 620 in the network device may be implemented by at least one processor, for example, may correspond to the processing unit in the network device shown in fig. 12, and the processing unit 620 in the network device may be implemented by at least one logic circuit.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

The terminal device 700 may be adapted to the system shown in fig. 1, fig. 2 (a), fig. 2 (b), or fig. 2 (c). For convenience of explanation, fig. 11 shows only main components of the terminal device 700. As shown in fig. 11, the terminal device 700 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input-output means. The processor is mainly used for processing a communication protocol and communication data, controlling the entire terminal device 700, executing a software program, and processing data of the software program. The memory is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, microphones, keyboards, etc., are mainly used for receiving data input by users and outputting data to users.

Taking the terminal device 700 as a mobile phone as an example, when the terminal device 700 is powered on, the processor may read the software program in the storage unit, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs baseband signals to the control circuit, and the control circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signals and sends the radio frequency signals to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is transmitted to the terminal device 700, the control circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that fig. 11 shows only one memory and processor for the sake of illustration. In some embodiments, terminal device 700 may include multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, and the like, which is not limited in this respect in the embodiment of the present invention.

As an alternative implementation manner, the processor may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit, the baseband processor is mainly used for processing the communication protocol and the communication data, and the central processing unit is mainly used for controlling the whole terminal device 700, executing a software program, and processing data of the software program. The processor in fig. 11 integrates the functions of the baseband processor and the central processor, and those skilled in the art will understand that the baseband processor and the central processor may also be independent processors, and are interconnected through a bus or the like. The terminal device 700 may include a plurality of baseband processors to accommodate different network systems, the terminal device 700 may include a plurality of central processors to enhance its processing capability, and various components of the terminal device 700 may be connected through various buses. The baseband processor can also be expressed as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit can also be expressed as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and the communication data may be built in the processor, or may be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, and the software program is executed by the processor to realize the baseband processing function.

In one example, the antenna and the control circuit having the transceiving function may be regarded as the transceiving unit 710 of the terminal device 700, and the processor having the processing function may be regarded as the processing unit 720 of the terminal device 700. As shown in fig. 11, the terminal device 700 includes a transceiving unit 710 and a processing unit 720. A transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving device, etc. Optionally, a device for implementing the receiving function in the transceiving unit 710 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing the transmitting function in the transceiving unit 710 may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the transceiving unit 710 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. For example, a receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, etc., and a transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting circuit, etc.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a network device, which may be used in the foregoing embodiments. The network device comprises means (means), units and/or circuits to implement the network device or the functionality of the network device as described in the embodiments shown in fig. 2 (a), 2 (b), or 2 (c), fig. 4, fig. 7, and/or fig. 8. For example, the network device includes a transceiver module for supporting the terminal device to implement a transceiver function, and a processing module for supporting the network device to process the signal.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 12, the network device 20 may be suitable for use in the systems shown in fig. 1, fig. 2 (a), fig. 2 (b), or fig. 2 (c). The network device 20 is, for example, the network device 20 shown in fig. 1. The network device 20 may serve as a first network device for one or some UEs, or may serve as a second network device for one or some UEs. The network device includes: baseband device 201, rf device 202, antenna 203. In the uplink direction, rf apparatus 202 receives information transmitted by the terminal device through antenna 203, and transmits the information transmitted by the terminal device to baseband apparatus 201 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 201 processes the information of the terminal device and sends the information to the radio frequency device 202, and the radio frequency device 202 processes the information of the terminal device and sends the information to the terminal device through the antenna 203.

The baseband device 201 includes one or more processing units 2011, a storage unit 2012, and an interface 2013. Wherein the processing unit 2011 is configured to support the network device to perform the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The storage unit 2012 stores software programs and/or data. Interface 2013 is used for exchanging information with RF device 202 and includes interface circuitry for the input and output of information. In one implementation, the processing units are integrated circuits, such as one or more ASICs, or one or more DSPs, or one or more FPGAs, or a combination of these types of integrated circuits. These integrated circuits may be integrated together to form a chip. The memory unit 2012 and the processing unit 2011 may be located in the same chip, i.e., on-chip memory devices. Alternatively, the memory unit 2012 and the processing unit 2011 can be on a different chip than the processing unit 2011, i.e., an off-chip memory unit. The storage unit 2012 may be a memory or a general term for a plurality of memories or storage elements.

Some or all of the steps in the above described method embodiments may be implemented by a network device in the form of one or more processing unit schedulers. For example, to implement the corresponding functionality of the network device of fig. 2 (a), fig. 4, fig. 7, and/or fig. 8. The one or more processing units can support wireless access technologies of the same system, and can also support wireless access systems of different systems.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which computer instructions for implementing the method performed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiment are stored.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement the method performed by the terminal device or the network device in the above-described method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product containing instructions, where the instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method performed by the terminal device or the network device in the foregoing method embodiments.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the network device and the terminal device in the above embodiments.

For the explanation and the beneficial effects of the related contents in any of the above-mentioned apparatuses, reference may be made to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which are not described herein again.

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

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 device embodiments are merely illustrative, for example, the division of the units is only one logical functional division, the units illustrated as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

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 solutions of the present application, in essence or part of the technical solutions contributing to the prior art, may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several 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 methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: a computer-readable medium may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM), a universal serial bus flash disk (universal serial bus flash disk), a removable hard disk, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. In addition, 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 (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), or direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

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

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

in case that the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the terminal device receives first indication information indicating that the paging system message is changed,

the first indication information comprises information of a time domain position of the changed paging system message, or the first indication information indicates that the time domain position of the changed paging system message is a starting boundary of a next superframe of the time domain position of the first indication information or a system frame with a next frame number of 0;

and the terminal equipment receives the changed paging system message according to the first indication information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the time domain position of the first indication information is a last superframe of a discontinuous reception acquisition period.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and under the condition that the first value label in the changed system message is different from the local value label, the terminal equipment receives the changed system message.

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

and the terminal equipment receives second indication information, and the second indication information indicates that the network equipment supports sending the first indication information.

5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

6. A method of communication, comprising:

in case that the discontinuous reception period is greater than the broadcast control channel change period, the network device transmits first indication information indicating that the paging system message is changed,

the first indication information comprises information of a time domain position of the changed paging system message, or the first indication information further indicates that the time domain position of the changed paging system message is a starting boundary of a next superframe of the time domain position of the first indication information or a system frame with a next frame number of 0;

and the network equipment sends the changed paging system message.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the time domain position of the first indication information is a last superframe of a discontinuous reception acquisition period.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the network equipment sends second indication information, wherein the second indication information indicates that the network equipment supports sending the first indication information.

9. The method according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the first indication information is carried in a paging message.

10. A communications apparatus, comprising:

means for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 5; or

Means for implementing the method of any one of claims 6 to 9.

11. A communications apparatus comprising a processor coupled to a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor,

cause the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5, or

Causing the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 6 to 9.

12. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises a network device and a terminal device, the terminal device being configured to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 5, and the network device being configured to perform the method according to any of claims 6 to 9.

13. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program which, when run on a computer,

cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5, or

Causing the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 6 to 9.

14. A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product comprises a computer program which, when being executed,

cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5, or

Causing the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 6 to 9.