CN115669180A

CN115669180A - Bandwidth checking method and device, computer equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115669180A
Application number: CN202080101566.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李海涛; 胡奕
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-31
Filing date: 2020-07-31
Publication date: 2023-01-31
Also published as: WO2022021308A1

Abstract

The application discloses a bandwidth checking method, a bandwidth checking device, computer equipment and a storage medium, and belongs to the technical field of wireless communication. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts, wherein the bandwidth parameters are used for indicating the bandwidth of the corresponding initial bandwidth parts; the N initial bandwidth parts belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2; acquiring target bandwidth parameters from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts; and executing bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameters, wherein the bandwidth check is used for determining the target cell admission state of the terminal equipment. The scheme realizes the bandwidth check of the cell which defines a plurality of initial bandwidth parts, and expands the application scene of the bandwidth check.

Description

Bandwidth checking method and device, computer equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communications technologies, and in particular, to a bandwidth checking method and apparatus, a computer device, and a storage medium.

Background

In a fifth Generation Mobile communication network (5 th Generation Mobile networks,5 g) system, in order to reduce power consumption of a terminal, a concept of a Bandwidth Part (BWP) is introduced.

In the related art, a cell broadcasts configuration information related to an initial BWP (initial BWP) for access to a terminal through system information, and the terminal initiates access to the cell according to the configuration information related to the initial BWP in the system information.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a bandwidth checking method and device, computer equipment and a storage medium. The technical scheme is as follows:

in one aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a bandwidth checking method, where the method is executed by a terminal device, and the method includes:

acquiring bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts, wherein the bandwidth parameters are used for indicating the bandwidth of the corresponding initial bandwidth parts; the N initial bandwidth parts belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

acquiring target bandwidth parameters from bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts;

and executing bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameters, wherein the bandwidth check is used for determining the target cell admission state of the terminal equipment.

In one possible implementation, the N initial bandwidth portions correspond one-to-one to the N beams of the target cell.

In one possible implementation, the target cell is a cell of a non-terrestrial communication network NTN system, and the N beams are N satellite beams.

In a possible implementation manner, the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts include N bandwidth parameters, and the N bandwidth parameters correspond to the N initial bandwidth parts one to one;

and the terminal equipment is configured with indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the obtaining the target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts includes:

and taking the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the maximum bandwidth value in the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.

and taking the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the initial bandwidth part currently selected by the terminal equipment in the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

when the terminal equipment selects or reselects a new initial bandwidth part, taking a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the new initial bandwidth part as a new target bandwidth parameter;

performing a new bandwidth check according to the new target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts include a single bandwidth parameter, and the single bandwidth parameter corresponds to the N initial bandwidth parts in a unified manner;

the obtaining of the target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts includes:

taking the single bandwidth parameter as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the obtaining bandwidth parameters corresponding to N initial bandwidth parts includes:

and acquiring bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from a system information block SIB1 in a system message.

In a possible implementation manner, the performing a bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter includes:

when the terminal equipment supports the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, determining that the terminal equipment passes the bandwidth check;

and when the terminal equipment does not support the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, determining that the terminal equipment is prohibited from accessing the target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the bandwidth parameter includes at least one of a bandwidth parameter of the corresponding initial downlink bandwidth part and a bandwidth parameter of the corresponding initial uplink bandwidth part.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a bandwidth checking apparatus, where the apparatus is used in a terminal device, and the apparatus includes:

a bandwidth parameter obtaining module, configured to obtain bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions, where the bandwidth parameters are used to indicate bandwidths of the corresponding initial bandwidth portions; the N initial bandwidth parts belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

a target parameter obtaining module, configured to obtain a target bandwidth parameter from bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts;

and the bandwidth checking module is used for executing bandwidth checking according to the target bandwidth parameters, and the bandwidth checking is used for determining the target cell admission state of the terminal equipment.

In one possible implementation, the target cell is a cell of a non-terrestrial communications network NTN system, and the N beams are N satellite beams.

the terminal device is configured with indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating the terminal device to acquire one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the target parameter obtaining module is configured to use a bandwidth parameter corresponding to a maximum bandwidth value of the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the target parameter obtaining module is configured to use, as the target bandwidth parameter, a bandwidth parameter corresponding to an initial bandwidth part currently selected by the terminal device in the N bandwidth parameters.

In one possible implementation of the method according to the invention,

the target parameter obtaining module is further configured to, when the terminal device selects or reselects a new initial bandwidth portion, take a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the new initial bandwidth portion as a new target bandwidth parameter;

the bandwidth checking module is further configured to perform a new bandwidth check according to the new target bandwidth parameter.

the target parameter obtaining module is configured to use the single bandwidth parameter as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the bandwidth parameter obtaining module is configured to obtain the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from a system information block SIB1 in a system message.

In one possible implementation, the bandwidth checking module is configured to,

In yet another aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer device, where the computer device includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, where the memory stores a computer program, and the computer program is used to be executed by the processor, so as to implement the above bandwidth checking method.

In still another aspect, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored in the storage medium, and the computer program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the above bandwidth checking method.

In another aspect, a computer program product or computer program is provided, the computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the computer device to execute the above-mentioned bandwidth checking method.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can bring the following beneficial effects:

for the condition that one cell corresponds to a plurality of initial bandwidth parts, the cell configures bandwidth parameters of the plurality of initial bandwidth parts, and the terminal acquires the bandwidth parameters of the plurality of initial bandwidth parts and selects a target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters to perform subsequent bandwidth check, so that the bandwidth check of the cell defining the plurality of initial bandwidth parts is realized, and the application scene of the bandwidth check is expanded.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the description below are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a network architecture diagram of an NTN system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a bandwidth checking method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a bandwidth checking method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the selection of target bandwidth parameters according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another selection of target bandwidth parameters according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating selection of another target bandwidth parameter according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another target bandwidth parameter selection according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a bandwidth checking device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

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

Detailed Description

To make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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

Referring to fig. 1, a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The network architecture may include: a terminal 10 and a base station 20.

The number of terminals 10 is usually plural, and one or more terminals 10 may be distributed in a cell managed by each base station 20. The terminal 10 can include various handheld devices, vehicle mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication capability, as well as various forms of User Equipment (UE), mobile Station (MS), terminal Equipment (terminal device), and so forth. For convenience of description, in the embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as a terminal.

The base station 20 is a device deployed in an access network to provide a wireless communication function for the terminal 10. The base stations 20 may include various forms of satellite base stations, macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, access points, and the like. In systems using different Radio access technologies, names of devices having a base station function may be different, for example, in a 5G New Radio (NR) system, called a nodeb or a gNB. The name "base station" may change as communication technology evolves. For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned apparatuses providing the terminal 20 with the wireless communication function are collectively referred to as a base station.

Optionally, not shown in fig. 1, the network architecture further includes other network devices, such as: a Central Control Node (CNC), an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) device, a Session Management Function (SMF) or User Plane Function (UPF) device, and so on.

The "5G NR system" in the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be referred to as a 5G system or an NR system, but those skilled in the art can understand the meaning thereof. The technical scheme described in the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to a 5G NR system, and may also be applied to a subsequent evolution system of the 5G NR system.

Before describing the aspects illustrated in the various embodiments that follow, the present application will be described with reference to several noun concepts.

1) 5G NR system

The 5G NR system is a new generation wireless communication system that is proposed based on user requirements for rate, delay, high-speed mobility, energy efficiency of wireless communication, and diversity and complexity of wireless communication services in future life. The main application scenarios of the 5G system are as follows: enhanced Mobile Ultra wide band (eMBB), low-Latency and high-reliability Communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC).

In a 5G network environment, in order to reduce air interface signaling, recover Radio connection quickly, and recover data service quickly, a new Radio Resource Control (RRC) state, i.e., an RRC INACTIVE state (RRC _ INACTIVE) state, is defined, which is different from an RRC IDLE state (RRC _ IDLE) and an RRC connected state (RRC _ ACTIVE). The three RRC states are as follows:

RRC _ IDLE: the mobility is cell selection and reselection based on the UE, paging is initiated by a CN, a paging area is configured by the CN, the UE AS context does not exist on the base station side, and RRC connection does not exist between the UE and the base station.

RRC _ CONNECTED: an RRC connection exists between the UE and the base station, and the base station and the UE have a UE AS context. The network side knows that the location of the UE is at a specific cell level. Mobility is network side controlled mobility. Unicast data may be transmitted between the UE and the base station.

RRC _ INACTIVE: mobility is cell selection and reselection based on UE, connection between CN-NR exists, UE AS context exists on a certain base station, paging is triggered by a Radio Access Network (RAN), a paging area based on the RAN is managed by the RAN, and a Network side knows that the position of the UE is based on the paging area level of the RAN.

2) Bandwidth part (BWP)

The maximum channel bandwidth supported in NR systems can be up to 400MHz, and the power consumption of the UE is significant if the UE remains operating on a wideband carrier at all times. In order to adjust the Radio Frequency (RF) bandwidth of the UE according to the actual throughput of the UE, which may optimize the power consumption of the UE, a bandwidth part is introduced.

The terminal in the connected state has at most one active downlink BWP and one active uplink BWP at the same time. The network side may configure up to 4 uplink BWPs and up to 4 downlink BWPs for the connected terminal, and for the fdd system, there is no explicit correspondence (association) between the uplink BWPs and the downlink BWPs. For example, the network side may configure 4 uplink BWPs (for example, indexes index of 0,1,2,3, respectively) and 4 downlink BWPs (indexes index of 0,1,2,3, respectively) for a connected terminal, where the currently active UL BWP index may be 0 and the currently active downlink BWP index may be 1; if the network side switches the Downlink BWP to another BWP through Downlink Control Information (DCI), for example, the currently activated DL BWP 1 is switched to DL BWP 2, the ul BWP may remain unchanged.

A terminal in idle state and inactive state acquires a Master Information Block (MIB) and a System Information Block (SIB), such as SIB1 Information, of a camping Cell through a Cell Defining Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel Block (CD-SSB). SIB1 indicates the configuration information of the initial BWP used by the terminal for initial access, which includes an initial Uplink BWP (initial Uplink BWP) and an initial Downlink BWP (initial Downlink BWP). In UL BWP configuration, a base station configures random access resources for a terminal initially accessed, and there is a correspondence between the random access resources and SSBs. The network side controls the selection of UE random access resources by configuring a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) Threshold (RSRP-Threshold SSB), when a random access process is triggered, after the UE selects an SSB with an RSRP measurement value meeting the RSRP Threshold, the corresponding random access resources are selected according to the corresponding relation between the random access resources and the SSB to send preamble sequence preamble (namely Msg 1), and random access response messages (namely Msg 2) sent by the base station are answered on the selected SSB.

3) Non-ground communication Network (Non Terrestrial Network, NTN)

Currently, related standards organizations are researching NTN technologies, and NTN generally provides communication services to terrestrial users by means of satellite communication. Satellite communications have many unique advantages over terrestrial cellular communications. First, satellite communication is not limited by user regions, for example, general terrestrial communication cannot cover regions where communication equipment cannot be set up, such as oceans, mountains, deserts, and the like, or communication coverage is not performed due to sparseness of population, and for satellite communication, since one satellite can cover a large ground and the satellite can orbit around the earth, theoretically every corner on the earth can be covered by satellite communication. Second, satellite communication has great social value. Satellite communication can cover in remote mountain areas, poor and laggard countries or areas with low cost, so that people in the areas can enjoy advanced voice communication and mobile internet technology, the digital gap of developed areas is favorably reduced, and the development of the areas is promoted. Thirdly, the satellite communication distance is long, and the communication cost is not obviously increased when the communication distance is increased; and finally, the satellite communication has high stability and is not limited by natural disasters.

Communication satellites are classified into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) satellites, high-elliptic Orbit (HEO) satellites, and the like according to the difference in orbital height. The NTN technology mainly studied at the present stage is a communication technology based on LEO satellites and GEO satellites.

LEO satellite:

the height range of the low orbit satellite is 500 km-1500 km, and the corresponding orbit period is about 1.5 hours-2 hours. The signal propagation delay for inter-user single-hop communications is typically less than 20ms. Maximum satellite visibility time 20 minutes. The signal propagation distance is short, the link loss is less, and the requirement on the transmitting power of the user terminal is not high.

GEO satellite:

a geosynchronous orbit satellite, with an orbital altitude of 35786km, has a period of 24 hours of rotation around the earth. The signal propagation delay for inter-user single-hop communications is typically 250ms.

In order to ensure the coverage of the satellite and improve the system capacity of the whole satellite communication system, the satellite adopts multiple beams to cover the ground, and one satellite can form dozens of or even hundreds of beams to cover the ground; a satellite beam may cover a terrestrial region several tens to hundreds of kilometers in diameter.

Satellite beam:

a satellite beam is the smallest unit of coverage of the earth's surface by a satellite, corresponding to different directions. Typically, a satellite provides coverage of the earth's surface by hundreds or thousands of satellite beams. These satellite beams may be deployed in different cells or within the same cell. In consideration of the co-channel interference that may be caused between adjacent satellite beams, a frequency reuse factor greater than 1 is generally considered, that is, adjacent satellite beams are distinguished by different frequency points/carriers/frequency bands.

Taking the base station 20 in the system shown in fig. 1 as a satellite base station implemented based on a communication satellite as an example, please refer to fig. 2, which shows a network architecture diagram of an NTN system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the NTN system includes a terminal 201, a satellite base station 202, and a gateway device 203. The satellite base station 202 and the gateway device 203 are connected in a wireless manner, and the gateway device 203 is connected with a data network. Wherein the satellite base station 202 covers the surface of the earth with a plurality of satellite beams 202a, each beam covering a certain area of range. The terminal 201 may initiate random access and communication to the base station 202 when it is within the coverage of one satellite beam 202 a.

In the discussion of the 5G standard, different frequency points/carriers/frequency bands are used for adjacent satellite beams, and one method is to configure different BWPs in the same cell for different satellite beams, so that when a terminal moves between satellite beams, cell handover is not required, and only BWP handover in the cell is required. Accordingly, for a non-connected terminal, a plurality of different initial BWPs need to be configured for a plurality of different satellite beams.

In the current 5G system, each cell has only one initial BWP, the terminal reads SIB1 through the information indicated by the MIB, acquires the bandwidth parameter of the initial BWP in SIB1, and performs bandwidth check according to the bandwidth parameter of the initial BWP to determine whether the access to the cell is prohibited. However, for a cell defining multiple initial BWPs, such as the NTN cell described above, there is no corresponding solution for bandwidth checking.

The scheme shown in the subsequent embodiments of the present application proposes a bandwidth checking scheme for a cell defining multiple initial BWPs.

Referring to fig. 3, a flowchart of a bandwidth checking method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method may be performed by a terminal device, where the terminal device may be a terminal in the network architecture shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2. The method may include the steps of:

step 301, acquiring bandwidth parameters corresponding to N initial bandwidth parts, where the bandwidth parameters are used to indicate bandwidths of the corresponding initial bandwidth parts; the N initial bandwidth portions belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal obtains the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from the system message.

In one possible implementation, the target cell has N beams, and each beam defines an initial BWP.

The configuration information of the initial BWP of the target cell is broadcasted by the target cell to the terminals in the coverage area of each beam of the target cell through a system message, where the system message includes bandwidth parameters of the initial BWP corresponding to each of the N beams in addition to the configuration of the initial BWP corresponding to each of the N beams.

Step 302, obtaining the target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts.

In the embodiment of the present application, for a case that a target cell defines corresponding initial BWPs for respective beams, a terminal determines target bandwidth parameters to be used for bandwidth check subsequently from bandwidth parameters of the initial BWPs corresponding to the respective beams.

In a possible implementation manner, the target bandwidth parameter is one of bandwidth parameters of the initial BWP corresponding to each beam.

Step 303, performing bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter, where the bandwidth check is used to determine the target cell admission status of the terminal device.

In this embodiment, the target cell admission status may be used to indicate whether the terminal is prohibited from accessing the target cell.

In summary, in the solution shown in the embodiment of the present application, for a situation where one cell corresponds to multiple initial bandwidth portions, the cell configures bandwidth parameters of the multiple initial bandwidth portions, and the terminal obtains the bandwidth parameters of the multiple initial bandwidth portions and selects a target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters to perform subsequent bandwidth check, thereby implementing bandwidth check on the cell in which the multiple initial bandwidth portions are defined, and expanding an application scenario of the bandwidth check.

In the scheme shown in fig. 3, the target cell may configure different bandwidth parameters for a plurality of initial bandwidth portions, or the target cell may also configure the same or partially the same bandwidth parameters for a plurality of initial bandwidth portions, and for the configuration situation of different bandwidth parameters, the corresponding bandwidth checking manner is also different. The following embodiments of the present application will introduce a bandwidth checking scheme under different bandwidth parameter configurations.

Referring to fig. 4, a flowchart of a bandwidth checking method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown, where the method may be performed by a terminal device and a network side device, where the terminal device may be a terminal in the network architecture shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2, and the network side device may be a base station/satellite base station in the network architecture shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2. The method may include the steps of:

step 401, a network side device configures N initial bandwidth portions of a target cell and bandwidth parameters of the N initial bandwidth portions.

In this embodiment, the N initial bandwidth portions belong to a target cell, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, that is, in this embodiment, one target cell defines a plurality of initial bandwidth portions.

The bandwidth parameter is used to indicate a bandwidth of the corresponding initial bandwidth portion, for example, the bandwidth parameter includes a bandwidth size of the corresponding initial bandwidth portion, or the bandwidth parameter includes an index of the bandwidth of the corresponding initial bandwidth portion.

In a possible implementation manner, the bandwidth parameter includes at least one of a bandwidth parameter of the corresponding initial downlink bandwidth portion and a bandwidth parameter of the corresponding initial uplink bandwidth portion.

In a possible implementation manner, the N initial bandwidth portions correspond to N beams of the target cell one to one.

In a possible implementation manner, the target cell is a cell of a non-terrestrial communication network NTN system, and the N beams are N satellite beams.

Taking the example that the network-side device is a satellite base station corresponding to a target cell, the target cell corresponds to N satellite beams, the satellite base station configures an initial bandwidth portion for the N satellite beams, and configures bandwidth parameters for the N initial bandwidth portions corresponding to the N satellite beams one to one.

Step 402, the network side device sends a system message carrying configuration information of the initial bandwidth part, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the system message.

The initial bandwidth part configuration information includes N initial bandwidth parts of the target cell and bandwidth parameters of the N initial bandwidth parts.

In a possible implementation manner, the network side device carries the initial bandwidth part configuration information through a system information block SIB1 in a system message, or the network side device may also carry the initial bandwidth part configuration information through another system information block in the system message.

Taking the example that the network side device is a satellite base station corresponding to the target cell, the satellite base station broadcasts the initial bandwidth partial configuration information to the ground area covered by the N satellite beams of the target cell through the system message.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the terminal device is in the coverage of the target cell, the system message of the network side device may be received. For example, when the terminal device is in an idle state or an inactive state, the system message may be monitored.

For example, taking the example that the network-side device is a satellite base station corresponding to the target cell, when the terminal device is located in a ground area covered by N satellite beams of the target cell, if the terminal device is in an idle state or an inactive state, the terminal device may monitor a system message broadcast by the satellite base station.

In step 403, the terminal device obtains bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device obtains bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from a system information block SIB1 in the system message.

Taking the example that the network side device carries the configuration information of the initial bandwidth part through SIB1, when monitoring the system message, the terminal device reads SIB1 through core #0 and search space #0 indicated in MIB in the system message, and when receiving SIB1, the terminal device obtains a plurality of initial bandwidth parts and bandwidth parameters of the plurality of initial bandwidth parts.

According to the different number of bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts, the terminal device may perform the following step 404 or step 405.

In step 404, when the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions include N bandwidth parameters, the terminal device obtains one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as a target bandwidth parameter.

The terminal device is configured with indication information, and the indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device to acquire one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as a target bandwidth parameter.

In this embodiment of the present application, the indication information may be preset in the terminal device, or the indication information may also be configured to the terminal device by the network side device through wireless signaling, for example, the indication information may be configured to the terminal device by the network side device through RRC signaling or a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

In this embodiment, the N bandwidth parameters correspond to the N initial bandwidth portions one to one.

In a possible implementation manner, each of the bandwidth parameters corresponds to at least one of a bandwidth parameter of an initial uplink bandwidth portion and a bandwidth parameter of an initial downlink bandwidth portion.

For example, taking the example that the network-side device is a satellite base station corresponding to a target cell, the target cell corresponds to N satellite beams, and after the satellite base station configures an initial bandwidth portion for the N satellite beams, the satellite base station also configures corresponding bandwidth parameters for the initial bandwidth portion corresponding to each satellite beam. Correspondingly, the system message also indicates the bandwidth parameters of the initial bandwidth parts of the N satellite beams, and the terminal device can acquire the N bandwidth parameters according to the system message.

Since the N initial bandwidth parts respectively correspond to one bandwidth parameter, the bandwidth parameters of the N initial bandwidth parts are usually different from each other or partially the same, that is, the terminal device may support all the bandwidth parameters or only part of the bandwidth parameters, or does not support any one of the bandwidth parameters, if a bandwidth check is performed for each bandwidth parameter, the bandwidth check delay is too high, especially when the value of N is large (for example, when the target cell is a satellite base station, there may be many satellite beams, correspondingly, there may be many initial bandwidth parts), the bandwidth check delay is too high, and then the subsequent access delay is too high, and the service requirement of low delay cannot be met, therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, after the terminal device acquires the N bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts respectively, a bandwidth parameter meeting the bandwidth check requirement is acquired from the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter, so as to reduce the bandwidth check delay.

In a possible implementation manner, when the terminal device obtains one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter, according to the indication information, the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the maximum bandwidth value in the N bandwidth parameters is taken as the target bandwidth parameter.

For the case that there are N bandwidth parameters, if the terminal device can pass the bandwidth check of the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the maximum bandwidth value, then the terminal device can also pass the bandwidth check of other bandwidth parameters with smaller bandwidth values, so in a possible scheme of the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device selects the bandwidth parameter with the maximum bandwidth as the target bandwidth parameter.

For example, please refer to fig. 5, which shows a schematic diagram of selecting a target bandwidth parameter according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the target cell is configured with 3 initial bandwidth portions, which are an initial bandwidth portion 51, an initial bandwidth portion 52 and an initial bandwidth portion 53, respectively, where a bandwidth parameter of the initial bandwidth portion 51 is BW1, a bandwidth parameter of the initial bandwidth portion 52 is BW2, a bandwidth parameter of the initial bandwidth portion 53 is BW3, and BW3 is the maximum value of the 3 bandwidth parameters, and then the terminal device takes BW3 as the target bandwidth parameter.

In another possible implementation manner, when the terminal device obtains one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter, according to the indication information, the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the initial bandwidth part currently selected by the terminal device in the N bandwidth parameters is used as the target bandwidth parameter.

For the case that N initial bandwidth parts exist, the terminal device may select different initial bandwidth parts in different time periods, and when the terminal device needs to access a cell, random access may be initiated based on the currently selected initial bandwidth part, and correspondingly, the terminal device only needs to initiate bandwidth check on the currently selected initial bandwidth part, so in this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device takes a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the currently selected initial bandwidth part as a target bandwidth parameter.

For example, please refer to fig. 6, which shows another schematic diagram of selecting a target bandwidth parameter according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the target cell is configured with 3 initial bandwidth portions, i.e., an initial bandwidth portion 61, an initial bandwidth portion 62 and an initial bandwidth portion 63, and the bandwidth parameters of the 3 initial bandwidth portions are BW1, BW2 and BW3, respectively, at time T1, the initial bandwidth portion selected by the terminal device is the initial bandwidth portion 62, and then the terminal device uses BW2 as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, when the terminal device selects or reselects a new initial bandwidth portion, the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the new initial bandwidth portion is used as the new target bandwidth parameter.

In the case where there are N initial bandwidth portions, the terminal device may select or reselect the initial bandwidth portion, thereby causing the currently selected initial bandwidth portion to change, and the bandwidth parameter of the newly selected initial bandwidth portion is different from the bandwidth parameter of the previous initial bandwidth portion, so that when the terminal device selects the new initial bandwidth portion, a new target bandwidth parameter is also reselected.

For example, please refer to fig. 7, which illustrates a schematic diagram of selecting another target bandwidth parameter according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the target cell is configured with 3 initial bandwidth parts, i.e., an initial bandwidth part 71, an initial bandwidth part 72, and an initial bandwidth part 73, and the bandwidth parameters of the 3 initial bandwidth parts are BW1, BW2, and BW3, respectively; at time T1, the initial bandwidth part selected by the terminal device is the initial bandwidth part 72, and BW2 is used as the target bandwidth parameter; at time T2, the terminal device reselects the initial bandwidth part, where the reselected initial bandwidth part is the initial bandwidth part 73, and then at time T2, the terminal device takes BW3 as a new target bandwidth parameter.

Step 405, when the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts include a single bandwidth parameter, the terminal device takes the single bandwidth parameter as a target bandwidth parameter.

Wherein the single bandwidth parameter corresponds to the N initial bandwidth parts in a unified manner.

In the embodiment of the present application, N initial bandwidth portions of the target cell may correspond to the same bandwidth parameter.

For example, taking the example that the network-side device is a satellite base station corresponding to a target cell, the target cell corresponds to N satellite beams, and after the satellite base station configures an initial bandwidth portion for the N satellite beams, the satellite base station also configures the same bandwidth parameters for the initial bandwidth portions corresponding to the N satellite beams. Correspondingly, the bandwidth parameter of the initial bandwidth part of each of the N satellite beams is indicated by a single bandwidth parameter in the system message, and the terminal device can acquire the single bandwidth parameter according to the system message and directly use the single bandwidth parameter as the target bandwidth parameter.

For example, please refer to fig. 8, which shows a schematic diagram of another target bandwidth parameter selection according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the target cell is configured with 3 initial bandwidth parts, namely an initial bandwidth part 81, an initial bandwidth part 82 and an initial bandwidth part 83, and the bandwidth parameters of the 3 initial bandwidth parts are BW1; the terminal device takes BW1 as the target bandwidth parameter.

And 406, performing a bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter, where the bandwidth check is used to determine the target cell admission status of the terminal device.

And the target cell admission state is used for indicating whether the terminal equipment is forbidden to access the target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the process of the terminal device performing the bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter may be as follows:

when the terminal device supports the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, it is determined that the terminal device passes the bandwidth check, that is, the target cell admission state is: the terminal equipment passes the bandwidth check;

when the terminal device does not support the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, determining that the terminal device is prohibited to access the target cell, that is, the target cell admission state is: the terminal device is barred from accessing the target cell.

When the bandwidth parameter includes a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial uplink bandwidth part, if the terminal device supports the bandwidth parameter of the initial uplink bandwidth part, it is determined that the terminal device passes the bandwidth check, otherwise, it is determined that the terminal device is prohibited from accessing the target cell.

When the bandwidth parameter includes a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial downlink bandwidth part, if the terminal device supports the bandwidth parameter of the initial downlink bandwidth part, determining that the terminal device passes the bandwidth check, otherwise, determining that the terminal device is prohibited from accessing the target cell.

When the bandwidth parameter includes a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial uplink bandwidth part and a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial downlink bandwidth part, if the terminal device supports the bandwidth parameter of the initial uplink bandwidth part and the bandwidth parameter of the initial downlink bandwidth part at the same time, it is determined that the terminal device passes the bandwidth check, otherwise, it is determined that the terminal device is prohibited from accessing the target cell.

In one possible implementation, after the terminal device selects a new initial bandwidth portion and reselects a new target bandwidth parameter, a new bandwidth check is performed according to the new target bandwidth parameter.

If the target bandwidth parameter is a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the initial bandwidth portion currently selected by the terminal device, the terminal device also needs to perform bandwidth check again according to the bandwidth parameter of the new initial bandwidth portion after selecting the new initial bandwidth portion each time.

In summary, in the solution shown in the embodiment of the present application, for a situation where one cell corresponds to multiple initial bandwidth portions, the cell carries bandwidth parameters of the multiple initial bandwidth portions through system information, and the terminal obtains the bandwidth parameters of the multiple initial bandwidth portions from the system information and selects a target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters to perform subsequent bandwidth check, so that bandwidth check on the cell in which the multiple initial bandwidth portions are defined is achieved, and an application scenario of the bandwidth check is expanded.

When the scheme shown in the foregoing embodiment of the present application is applied to an NTN system, a bandwidth checking method under configuration of multiple initial BWPs in an NTN may be provided, where when multiple initial BWPs configure the same bandwidth, an arbitrary bandwidth is selected for bandwidth checking, and when multiple initial BWPs configure the bandwidth individually, a maximum initial BWP bandwidth check is introduced, or an initial BWP selection is performed first and then the bandwidth of the selected initial BWP is checked, so that it is ensured that a UE can operate normally on a selected cell and the initial BWP, and communication failure is avoided.

Besides the NTN system scenario, the solution shown in the above embodiment of the present application may also be applied to any other communication scenario in which multiple initial BWPs are configured for one cell.

The following are embodiments of the apparatus of the present application that may be used to perform embodiments of the method of the present application. For details which are not disclosed in the embodiments of the apparatus of the present application, reference is made to the embodiments of the method of the present application.

Referring to fig. 9, a block diagram of a bandwidth checking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The device is used in a terminal device and has a function of realizing the steps executed by the terminal device in the bandwidth checking method. As shown in fig. 9, the apparatus may include:

a bandwidth parameter obtaining module 901, configured to obtain bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions, where the bandwidth parameters are used to indicate bandwidths of the corresponding initial bandwidth portions; the N initial bandwidth parts belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

a target parameter obtaining module 902, configured to obtain a target bandwidth parameter from bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions;

a bandwidth checking module 903, configured to perform bandwidth checking according to the target bandwidth parameter, where the bandwidth checking is used to determine a target cell admission state of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the target parameter obtaining module 902 is configured to use, as the target bandwidth parameter, a bandwidth parameter corresponding to a maximum bandwidth value in the N bandwidth parameters.

In a possible implementation manner, the target parameter obtaining module 902 is configured to use, as the target bandwidth parameter, a bandwidth parameter corresponding to an initial bandwidth portion currently selected by the terminal device in the N bandwidth parameters.

In one possible implementation form of the method,

the target parameter obtaining module 902 is further configured to, when the terminal device selects or reselects a new initial bandwidth portion, use a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the new initial bandwidth portion as the new target bandwidth parameter;

the bandwidth checking module 903 is further configured to perform a new bandwidth check according to the new target bandwidth parameter.

the target parameter obtaining module 902 is configured to use the single bandwidth parameter as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the bandwidth parameter obtaining module 901 is configured to obtain bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from a system information block SIB1 in a system message.

In one possible implementation, the bandwidth checking module 903 is configured to,

In summary, in the solution shown in the embodiment of the present application, for a situation where one cell corresponds to multiple initial bandwidth portions, the cell carries bandwidth parameters of the multiple initial bandwidth portions through system information, and the terminal obtains the bandwidth parameters of the multiple initial bandwidth portions from the system information and selects a target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters to perform subsequent bandwidth check, thereby implementing bandwidth check on the cell in which the multiple initial bandwidth portions are defined, and expanding an application scenario of the bandwidth check.

It should be noted that, when the apparatus provided in the foregoing embodiment implements the functions thereof, only the division of the above functional modules is illustrated, and in practical applications, the above functions may be distributed by different functional modules according to actual needs, that is, the content structure of the device is divided into different functional modules, so as to complete all or part of the functions described above.

With regard to the apparatus in the above-described embodiment, the specific manner in which each module performs the operation has been described in detail in the embodiment related to the method, and will not be elaborated here.

Referring to fig. 10, a schematic structural diagram of a computer device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The computer device 1000 may include: a processor 1001, a receiver 1002, a transmitter 1003, a memory 1004, and a bus 1005.

The processor 1001 includes one or more processing cores, and the processor 1001 executes various functional applications and information processing by running software programs and modules.

The receiver 1002 and the transmitter 1003 may be implemented as one communication component, which may be one communication chip. The communication chip may also be referred to as a transceiver.

The memory 1004 is connected to the processor 1001 through a bus 1005.

The memory 1004 may be used for storing a computer program, which the processor 1001 is configured to execute in order to implement the various steps performed by the terminal device in the above-described method embodiments.

Further, memory 1004 may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile storage devices, including, but not limited to: magnetic or optical disks, electrically erasable programmable read-only memories, static random access memories, read-only memories, magnetic memories, flash memories, programmable read-only memories.

In an exemplary embodiment, the computer device includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver (which may include a receiver for receiving information and a transmitter for transmitting information);

in one possible implementation, when the computer device is implemented as a terminal device,

the processor is configured to obtain bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions, where the bandwidth parameters are used to indicate bandwidths of the corresponding initial bandwidth portions; the N initial bandwidth portions belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

the processor is further configured to obtain a target bandwidth parameter from bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts;

the processor is further configured to perform bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter, where the bandwidth check is used to determine a target cell admission state of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the processor is configured to use, as the target bandwidth parameter, a bandwidth parameter corresponding to a maximum bandwidth value in the N bandwidth parameters.

In a possible implementation manner, the processor is configured to use, as the target bandwidth parameter, a bandwidth parameter corresponding to an initial bandwidth portion currently selected by the terminal device in the N bandwidth parameters.

In one possible implementation form of the method,

the processor is further configured to use a bandwidth parameter corresponding to a new initial bandwidth portion as a new target bandwidth parameter when the terminal device selects or reselects the new initial bandwidth portion;

the processor is further configured to perform a new bandwidth check based on the new target bandwidth parameter.

the processor is configured to use the single bandwidth parameter as the target bandwidth parameter.

In a possible implementation manner, the processor is configured to acquire bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from a system information block SIB1 in a system message.

In one possible implementation, the processor is configured to,

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored in the storage medium, and the computer program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the steps executed by the terminal device in the bandwidth checking method shown in fig. 3 or fig. 4.

The present application also provides a computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes the steps executed by the terminal device in the bandwidth checking method shown in fig. 3 or fig. 4.

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

The above description is only exemplary of the present application and should not be taken as limiting the present application, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and the like that are made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

A bandwidth checking method, characterized in that the method is executed by a terminal device, the method comprising:

acquiring bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts, wherein the bandwidth parameters are used for indicating the bandwidth of the corresponding initial bandwidth parts; the N initial bandwidth parts belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

acquiring target bandwidth parameters from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts;

and executing bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter, wherein the bandwidth check is used for determining the target cell admission state of the terminal equipment.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts include N bandwidth parameters, and the N bandwidth parameters correspond to the N initial bandwidth parts in a one-to-one correspondence;

and the terminal equipment is configured with indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the obtaining the target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts comprises:

and taking the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the maximum bandwidth value in the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.
The method according to claim 2, wherein said obtaining target bandwidth parameters from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts comprises:

and taking the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the initial bandwidth part currently selected by the terminal equipment in the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.
The method of claim 4, further comprising:

when the terminal equipment selects or reselects a new initial bandwidth part, taking a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the new initial bandwidth part as a new target bandwidth parameter;

performing a new bandwidth check according to the new target bandwidth parameter.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts include a single bandwidth parameter, and the single bandwidth parameter corresponds to the N initial bandwidth parts uniformly;

the obtaining of the target bandwidth parameter from the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts includes:

taking the single bandwidth as the target bandwidth parameter.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts comprises:

and acquiring bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from a system information block SIB1 in a system message.
The method of claim 1, wherein performing a bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter comprises:

when the terminal equipment supports the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, determining that the terminal equipment passes the bandwidth check;

and when the terminal equipment does not support the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, determining that the terminal equipment is prohibited from accessing the target cell.
The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the bandwidth parameters comprise at least one of a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial downlink bandwidth portion and a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial uplink bandwidth portion.
The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein said N initial bandwidth portions correspond one-to-one to N beams of said target cell.
The method of claim 10, wherein the target cell is a cell of a non-terrestrial communications network (NTN) system, and wherein the N beams are N satellite beams.
A bandwidth checking apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus is used in a terminal device, the apparatus comprising:

a bandwidth parameter obtaining module, configured to obtain bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions, where the bandwidth parameters are used to indicate bandwidths of the corresponding initial bandwidth portions; the N initial bandwidth parts belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

a target parameter obtaining module, configured to obtain a target bandwidth parameter from bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts;

and the bandwidth checking module is used for executing bandwidth checking according to the target bandwidth parameter, and the bandwidth checking is used for determining the target cell admission state of the terminal equipment.
The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts include N bandwidth parameters, and the N bandwidth parameters correspond to the N initial bandwidth parts in a one-to-one correspondence;

and the terminal equipment is configured with indication information, and the indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire one bandwidth parameter from the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.
The apparatus of claim 13,

and the target parameter acquisition module is used for taking the bandwidth parameter corresponding to the maximum bandwidth value in the N bandwidth parameters as the target bandwidth parameter.
The apparatus of claim 13,

the target parameter obtaining module is configured to use, as the target bandwidth parameter, a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the initial bandwidth part currently selected by the terminal device among the N bandwidth parameters.
The apparatus of claim 15,

the target parameter obtaining module is further configured to, when the terminal device selects or reselects a new initial bandwidth portion, use a bandwidth parameter corresponding to the new initial bandwidth portion as a new target bandwidth parameter;

the bandwidth checking module is further configured to perform a new bandwidth check according to the new target bandwidth parameter.
The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts include a single bandwidth parameter, and the single bandwidth parameter corresponds to the N initial bandwidth parts uniformly;

the target parameter obtaining module is configured to use the single bandwidth parameter as the target bandwidth parameter.
The apparatus of claim 12,

the bandwidth parameter acquiring module is configured to acquire bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts from a system information block SIB1 in a system message.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the bandwidth checking module is configured to,

when the terminal equipment supports the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, determining that the terminal equipment passes the bandwidth check;

and when the terminal equipment does not support the bandwidth indicated by the target bandwidth parameter, determining that the terminal equipment is prohibited from accessing the target cell.
The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 19, wherein the bandwidth parameters comprise at least one of a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial downlink bandwidth portion and a bandwidth parameter of a corresponding initial uplink bandwidth portion.
The method according to any of claims 12 to 19, wherein said N initial bandwidth portions are in one-to-one correspondence with N beams of said target cell.
The method of claim 21, wherein the target cell is a cell of a non-terrestrial communication network (NTN) system, and wherein the N beams are N satellite beams.
A computer device, wherein the computer device is implemented as a terminal device, the computer device comprising a processor, a memory, and a transceiver;

the processor is configured to obtain bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth portions, where the bandwidth parameters are used to indicate bandwidths of the corresponding initial bandwidth portions; the N initial bandwidth parts belong to a target cell; n is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

the processor is further configured to obtain a target bandwidth parameter from bandwidth parameters corresponding to the N initial bandwidth parts;

the processor is further configured to perform a bandwidth check according to the target bandwidth parameter, where the bandwidth check is used to determine a target cell admission state of the terminal device.
A computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, the computer program being adapted to be executed by a processor to implement the bandwidth checking method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.