CN116097770A

CN116097770A - Communication method, device and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN116097770A
Application number: CN202080104788.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周涵; 铁晓磊; 张战战; 黄雯雯
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-07
Filing date: 2020-08-07
Publication date: 2023-05-09
Also published as: WO2022027677A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium, comprising the following steps: determining a first paging opportunity, wherein the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to terminal equipment or a terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located; receiving first indication information corresponding to a first paging opportunity from network equipment; when the first indication information indicates that a page exists, a page from the network device is received at a first paging opportunity. According to the embodiment of the invention, the terminal equipment receives the paging only after receiving the indication information for indicating the existence of the paging, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

Description

Communication method, device and computer readable storage medium

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communications method, an apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium.

Background

In a New Radio (NR), the terminal device periodically wakes up when it is in an idle state or inactive state. After waking up, the terminal device may attempt to receive a page (paging) by listening to a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH). However, the network device does not send a page to the terminal device after each wake-up of the terminal device, so that the power consumption of the terminal device is large.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium, which are used for reducing power consumption.

The first aspect discloses a communication method, which may be applied to a terminal device, or may be applied to a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and will be described below by taking the terminal device as an example. The communication method may include: determining a first paging opportunity, wherein the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to terminal equipment or a terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located; receiving first indication information corresponding to a first paging opportunity from network equipment; when the first indication information indicates that a page exists, a page from the network device is received at a first paging opportunity.

In the embodiment of the invention, the terminal equipment can firstly determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal equipment or the terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located, receive the indication information at the paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal equipment or the terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located, and receive the paging from the network equipment at the paging opportunity when the indication information indicates that the paging exists, thereby solving the technical problem that the terminal equipment needs to periodically receive the paging in the prior art. Since the terminal device receives the page only when receiving the indication information for indicating the presence of the page, the terminal device can not receive the page when not receiving the page, and the number of times of receiving the page can be reduced, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

As a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is used to indicate whether paging exists.

In the embodiment of the invention, the first indication information can indicate whether paging exists, so that the terminal equipment can determine whether paging exists according to the indication information, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

As a possible implementation, the first paging opportunity is determined according to an identity of the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the invention, the paging opportunities are determined according to the identification of the terminal equipment, so that the number of paging sent to different terminal equipment on the same paging opportunity can be reduced, the awakening times and the false alarm probability of the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

As a possible implementation, the first paging opportunity is a Paging Occasion (PO) or a paging frame.

As one possible implementation manner, the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging exists or not includes: the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise first paging opportunities.

In the embodiment of the invention, instead of indicating whether a paging opportunity exists, an indication message has a function of indicating whether the paging opportunity exists in a time window corresponding to the indication message. Therefore, one indication information has the function of indicating a plurality of paging opportunities, the number of the indication information can be reduced, the number of transmission information can be reduced, and accordingly transmission resources can be saved.

As a possible implementation manner, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the terminal device receiving the first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from the network device includes: determining a first resource from the first PO; first indication information from a network device is received on a first resource.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the terminal equipment determines the PO, the resource for transmitting the indication information can be determined according to the PO so as to receive the indication information on the determined resource, and whether paging exists or not is further determined according to the indication information, and the paging is received only when the paging exists, so that the paging receiving frequency can be reduced, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

As one possible implementation manner, the first indication information is received in a first bandwidth, the paging is received in a second bandwidth, the first bandwidth is different from the second bandwidth, the switching time from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth is less than or equal to a first time, and the first time is a maximum time required for switching from the bandwidth for receiving the first indication information to the bandwidth for receiving the paging.

In the embodiment of the invention, the bandwidth for receiving the indication information and the bandwidth for receiving the paging can be different. For example, the bandwidth of receiving the indication information may be smaller than the bandwidth of receiving the page, and the smaller the bandwidth is, the smaller the power consumption is, and thus, reducing the bandwidth of receiving the indication information may reduce the power consumption of the terminal device. Further, since the bandwidth of the reception instruction information is different from the bandwidth of the reception page, the terminal device needs to perform bandwidth switching after receiving the instruction information for indicating the presence of the page, and the time for bandwidth switching is less than or equal to the maximum time required to switch from the bandwidth of the reception instruction information to the bandwidth of the reception page, so that the terminal device can perform bandwidth switching quickly to receive the page.

As a possible implementation, a time interval between the time of receipt of the first indication information and the start time of the first time window is greater than or equal to the first time.

Since the bandwidth of receiving the indication information is different from the bandwidth of receiving the paging, after receiving the indication information for indicating that the paging exists, the terminal device needs to perform bandwidth switching, and the time interval between the receiving time of the indication information and the starting time of the corresponding time window is greater than or equal to the first time, so that the terminal device can be ensured to have enough time to perform bandwidth switching.

As a possible implementation, the first indication information is received in a first bandwidth part (BWP), the page is received in a second BWP, the first BWP is different from the second BWP, and a switching time from the first BWP to the second BWP is less than or equal to a second time, which is a maximum time required for switching from the BWP receiving the first indication information to the BWP receiving the page.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the BWP receiving the indication information may be different from the BWP receiving the paging. For example, the BWP receiving the indication information may be smaller than the BWP receiving the page, and the smaller the BWP is, the smaller the power consumption is, and thus, reducing the BWP receiving the indication information may reduce the power consumption of the terminal device. Further, since the BWP receiving the indication information is different from the BWP receiving the page, the terminal device needs to perform BWP switching after receiving the indication information indicating the presence of the page, and the BWP switching time is less than or equal to the maximum time required to switch from the BWP receiving the indication information to the BWP receiving the page, so that the terminal device can rapidly perform BWP switching to receive the page.

As a possible implementation, a time interval between the time of receipt of the first indication information and the start time of the first time window is greater than or equal to the second time.

Since the BWP receiving the indication information is different from the BWP receiving the page, the terminal device needs to perform BWP switching after receiving the indication information indicating the presence of the page, and a time interval between the reception time of the indication information and the start time of the corresponding time window is greater than or equal to the second time, it can be ensured that the terminal device has sufficient time to perform BWP switching.

The second aspect discloses a communication method that can be applied to a network device, and also to a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device, and will be described below by taking the network device as an example. The communication method may include: determining a first paging opportunity, wherein the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to terminal equipment or a terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located; transmitting first indication information corresponding to a first paging opportunity; sending paging to the terminal equipment at a first paging opportunity; the first indication information is used for the terminal equipment to receive paging at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that paging exists.

In the embodiment of the invention, the network device can determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device or the terminal device group where the terminal device is located, and then can send the indication information corresponding to the paging opportunity. The indication information is used for indicating that paging exists when paging is required to be sent to the terminal equipment or the terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located, and is used for indicating that paging does not exist when paging is not required to be sent to the terminal equipment or the terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located. When the paging needs to be sent to the terminal equipment or the terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located, after the network equipment sends the indication information to the terminal equipment, the paging can be sent to the terminal equipment at the paging opportunity. It can be seen that the network device sends the paging to the terminal device after sending the indication information for indicating that the paging exists to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can determine whether the paging exists according to the indication information, thereby determining whether the paging needs to be received, and further solving the technical problem that the terminal device needs to periodically receive the paging in the prior art. Because the network device only sends the indication information for indicating the existence of paging to the terminal device when the paging is required to be sent to the terminal device, the terminal device can receive the paging according to the indication information, the number of times of receiving the paging by the terminal device can be reduced, and the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

In the embodiment of the invention, the first indication information can indicate whether paging exists, when the network equipment needs to send the paging to the terminal equipment or the terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located, the network equipment can send the indication information for indicating the paging to the terminal equipment, and when the network equipment does not need to send the paging to the terminal equipment, the network equipment can send the indication information for indicating the paging to the terminal equipment or does not send the indication information to the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can determine whether the paging exists according to the indication information, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

As a possible implementation, the first paging opportunity is a paging occasion PO or a paging frame.

As a possible implementation manner, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the network device sending the first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity includes: determining a first resource from the first PO; and sending first indication information on the first resource.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the network equipment determines the PO, the resource for transmitting the indication information can be determined according to the PO so as to send the indication information on the determined resource, so that the terminal equipment can determine whether paging exists according to the indication information, and only receive the paging when the paging exists, the paging receiving frequency of the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

A third aspect discloses a communication apparatus, which may be a terminal device or may be a module (e.g. a chip) in a terminal device, and the communication apparatus may include: a determining unit, configured to determine a first paging opportunity, where the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to a terminal device or a terminal device group where the terminal device is located; a receiving unit, configured to receive first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from a network device; the receiving unit is further configured to receive a page from the network device at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that there is a page.

As a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging exists.

As a possible implementation manner, the first paging opportunity is determined according to the identification of the terminal device.

As a possible implementation manner, the first paging opportunity is a PO or paging frame.

As a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging exists or not includes: the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise the first paging opportunities.

As a possible implementation manner, when the first paging opportunity is a first PO, the receiving unit receiving first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from a network device includes: determining a first resource according to the first PO; first indication information from a network device is received on the first resource.

As a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is received in a first bandwidth, the paging is received in a second bandwidth, the first bandwidth is different from the second bandwidth, and a switching time from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth is less than or equal to a first time, and the first time is a maximum time required for switching from a bandwidth for receiving the first indication information to a bandwidth for receiving the paging.

As a possible implementation manner, a time interval between the time of receiving the first indication information and the start time of the first time window is greater than or equal to the first time.

As a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is received at a first BWP, the paging is received at a second BWP, the first BWP is different from the second BWP, and a switching time from the first BWP to the second BWP is less than or equal to a second time, and the second time is a maximum time required for switching from the BWP receiving the first indication information to the BWP receiving the paging.

As a possible implementation manner, a time interval between the receiving time of the first indication information and the starting time of the time window corresponding to the first indication information is greater than or equal to the second time.

A fourth aspect discloses a communication apparatus, which may be a network device or may be a module (e.g. a chip) in a network device, and the communication apparatus may include: a determining unit, configured to determine a first paging opportunity, where the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to a terminal device or a terminal device group where the terminal device is located; a sending unit, configured to send first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity; the sending unit is further configured to send a page to the terminal device at the first paging opportunity; the first indication information is used for the terminal equipment to receive paging at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that paging exists.

As a possible implementation manner, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the sending unit sends first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity includes: determining a first resource according to the first PO; and sending first indication information on the first resource.

A fifth aspect discloses a communication apparatus, which may be a terminal device or a module (e.g. a chip) within a terminal device. The communication device may comprise a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from a communication device other than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to a communication device other than the communication device, which when executing a computer program stored in the memory causes the processor to execute the communication method disclosed in the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect.

A sixth aspect discloses a communication apparatus, which may be a network device or a module (e.g. a chip) within a network device. The communication device may comprise a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from a communication device other than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to a communication device other than the communication device, which when executing a computer program stored in the memory causes the processor to execute the communication method disclosed in the second aspect or any one of the embodiments of the second aspect.

A seventh aspect discloses a communication system comprising the communication apparatus of the fifth aspect and the communication apparatus of the sixth aspect.

An eighth aspect discloses a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or computer instructions which, when run, implement the communication method as disclosed in the above aspects.

A ninth aspect discloses a chip comprising a processor for executing a program stored in a memory, which when executed causes the chip to perform the above method.

As a possible implementation, the memory is located off-chip.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of correspondence between SSB and MO according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a time window corresponding to an SSB period according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a UE receiving SSB and paging according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a first time disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of another first time disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a second time disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another second time disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of PO and SSB cycles according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural view of still another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of still another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium, which are used for reducing power consumption. The following will describe in detail.

For a better understanding of embodiments of the present invention, some terms and concepts are described below.

1. Power consumption saving technique

The third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) standards organization is currently making protocol standards for the 5th generation (5th Generation,5G) cellular mobile communications system. 5G may also be referred to as NR. NR supports a larger transmission bandwidth, more transmit-receive antenna arrays, higher transmission rates, and a more flexible, less granular scheduling mechanism than long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems. The above characteristics of NR, while providing a large range of applications, greatly increases the power consumption burden of a User Equipment (UE).

To reduce the power consumption of the UE, 3GPP introduced a power saving (power saving) study in NR rel-16/17 release. The method is mainly used for researching possible power consumption reduction schemes of the UE in various states, namely a connected state (connected), an idle state (idle) and an inactive state (inactive). How to save the power consumption of the UE in idle state as well as in inactive state is an important research point.

The idle state refers to a state in which the UE completes camping in the cell, but is in when the random access procedure is not performed. The UE typically enters an idle state after power-on, or after release of radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC).

The connection state corresponds to the idle state, and the connection state refers to a state when the UE does not perform RRC release after completing the random access procedure. The UE may perform data transmission with the network device in a connected state. The UE in the idle state will migrate to the connected state after completing the random access procedure. The UE in the connected state migrates to the idle state after completing RRC release.

The inactive state is a state between the connected state and the idle state. The user plane bearer and the control plane bearer between the radio access network (radio access network, RAN) device and the Core Network (CN) device of the UE in the inactive state are maintained. When the UE initiates a call or service request, the user plane bearer of the air interface needs to be activated, and the user plane bearer and the control plane bearer between the existing RAN-CNs are reused.

2. Paging mechanism

Paging (paging) is also called paging message (paging message) for triggering the UE to establish RRC connection, or notifying the UE of system information update, and sending an earthquake tsunami alarm, etc. The content of the paging message is sent to the UE over a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH) which is scheduled by a PDCCH scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identity (paging radio network temporary identifier, P-RNTI).

The process of the UE obtaining the paging message is as follows: the UE in idle state or inactive state wakes up periodically before paging occasion, after the UE wakes up, monitors PDCCH scrambled by P-RNTI, and analyzes downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) in the PDCCH to determine scheduling information of PDSCH including time-frequency location information. And receiving the PDSCH according to the scheduling information of the PDSCH, and acquiring the paging message from the PDSCH. It is determined whether the paging message includes an identity of itself, and if so, a corresponding operation is performed, such as establishing an RRC connection or returning to an idle state from an inactive state, etc.

The specific time for the UE to receive a page may be determined by Paging Frames (PFs) and POs. The PF indicates a frame to transmit a page, i.e., a UE in an idle state or an inactive state will only attempt to receive a page in the PF. The POs indicates an opportunity to attempt to receive paging within one PF, and since the paging message is actually scheduled using the P-RNTI-scrambled DCI, one PO may actually correspond to detection opportunities of S P-RNTI-scrambled DCI, S may be obtained by the number of system messages.

PF may be defined by the following formula:

(SFN+PF_offset)modT＝(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N) (1)

wherein the SFN is a system frame number (system frame number, SFN). Pf_offset is the frame offset of PF. T is a period of discontinuous reception (discontinuous reception, DRX) that is a unit of time, it being understood that the UE may have one or more opportunities to attempt to receive pages within a time T. N is the number of PFs included in each DRX cycle. The ue_id is an identity of the UE, and may include a 5G globally unique temporary UE identity (5G globally unique temporary UE identity,5G-S-TMSI) mod 1024, a full (full) inactive radio network temporary identity (inactive radio network temporary identifier, I-RNTI), or other information that may uniquely identify the UE, which is not limited herein. mod is a modulo operation. div is the integer division operation.

When an SFN satisfies the above equation, the SFN is considered a PF. The UE will attempt to receive pages within the PF.

Each PF may correspond to a plurality of POs. The calculation formula of PO can be as follows:

wherein i_s is the index number of PO,

to round down, ns is the number of POs that a PF includes.

Furthermore, when the index numbers of the POs determined according to the formula (2) and the identities of the plurality of terminal apparatuses are the same, the plurality of terminal apparatuses may be determined as one terminal apparatus group.

It should be noted that the network device may not send paging messages to the UE on every PO, and the UE will detect paging DCI at the POs to determine whether the network device is sending a page.

3. Beam measurement and synchronization Signal Block (synchronization signal block, SSB)

A beam is a spatial communication resource and a network device or terminal device may shape a transmit beam in an analog, digital or hybrid manner through an antenna array. Different beams are generally considered as resources of different spaces, and thus the same information may be transmitted by different beams to cover a plurality of different spatial regions, or different information may be transmitted by different beams to maximize the space resources.

The beam may be divided into a transmission beam and a reception beam of the network device, and a transmission beam and a reception beam of the terminal device.

SSBs in NR are typically transmitted using multiple beams as described above. The SSB has a transmission period, and in each SSB period, a cell may transmit SSBs of a plurality of different beams in a time division manner. When the UE is started to reside in a cell or is switched to the cell, a plurality of SSB in one SSB period of the cell can be measured, the beam with the best receiving quality is determined, and when the beam is selected in the follow-up cell access and uplink and downlink data transmission, the measured beam quality of the SSB is used as a reference. The above-mentioned transmission SSB period is typically 20ms at a low frequency.

Taking paging as an example, in each PO there are M paging PDCCH listening opportunities (monitoring occasion, MO). The number of M and the number of SSBs of different beams of the cell configuration are the same, and each SSB corresponds to one MO of the POs, that is, the beam of the paging PDCCH transmitted in the MO and the corresponding SSB are the same. And the contents of the paging PDCCH transmitted on different MOs are the same. Therefore, the UE may select one MO with the best receiving performance to receive the paging PDCCH according to the beam measurement result of the SSB, or may receive multiple paging PDCCHs in a beam polling manner, and finally combine all the receiving results.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of SSB and MO according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 1, the cell is configured with 2 SSBs and 4 POs. Thus, there are two MOs in each PO that can send paging PDCCHs, SSB1 corresponds to MO1 in one PO, and SSB2 corresponds to MO2 in one PO.

Optionally, the beam may also correspond to information associated with reference signal resources of the network device. The reference signals may be channel state information reference signals (channel state informationreference signal, CSI-RS), SSB, demodulation reference signals (demodulation reference signal, DMRS), phase tracking signals (phase tracking reference signal, PTRS), tracking reference signals (tracking reference signal, TRS), etc. The information associated with the reference signal resource may be a reference signal resource identifier, quasi co-location (QCL) information, etc. The reference signal resource identity corresponds to a transceiving beam pair previously established based on the reference signal resource measurement, and therefore the UE can infer beam information through the reference signal resource index.

Optionally, the beam may also correspond to spatial filters (spatial filters/spatial domain filter), spatial transmission filters (spatial domain transmission filter).

4. UE wake-up

Before the UE wakes up in the idle state to attempt to receive the page, in order to ensure the receiving performance, a part of parameters of the receiver need to be adjusted first, and the adjusting step may include the following steps:

(1) Beam measurement and SSB selection.

(2) Time-frequency tracking (time frequency tracking).

Also known as time-frequency synchronization. The frequency generation crystal oscillator precision used by the UE is not particularly high due to manufacturing cost limitations, which can cause deviations between the time and operating frequency of the UE itself to be maintained and the clock and frequency of the network device after the UE is powered on and operated for a period of time. Therefore, a specific reference signal needs to be sent by the network device for the UE to estimate the timing offset, frequency domain offset, delay spread and doppler spread between itself and the network device, and compensate the time-frequency offset difference of itself. In the idle state, the UE generally performs preliminary time-frequency tracking by receiving the SSB, and in the connected state, the UE may perform fine time-frequency tracking by further receiving the TRS, CSI-RS, and the like.

(3) Automatic gain control (automatic gain control, AGC).

The signal output power of the baseband and radio frequency circuits is adjusted according to the power of the received signal. In the idle state, the UE typically performs AGC estimation by receiving SSBs.

In addition to the above steps, the UE may need to perform signal-to-interference ratio (signal inference ratio, SIR) estimation.

5. Bandwidth portion (BWP)

Compared with the LTE system, the NR system has the characteristic that the network equipment side and the UE side can be configured with different bandwidths. The NR may configure the maximum operating bandwidth of the UE according to the traffic demand and the UE category. One BWP is a continuous band of frequency resources on one cell carrier, and the base station may configure BWP of different bandwidth sizes for different UEs. When one BWP is configured and activated, this BWP is called an active BWP, and both data and control information uplink transmitted by the UE or data and control information received downlink will be limited within the active BWP. In the NR Rel-15 version protocol, it is specified that only one active BWP can be provided for one UE.

In order to enable the UE to operate on different BWP according to service needs to send and receive data at different times, NR support may trigger the UE to perform BWP handover in DCI of the scheduled data.

In general, DCI of scheduling data is called scheduling (DCI). The DCI includes DCI formats (formats) 1_0,1_1,1_2 for scheduling the UE to receive downlink PDSCH data, and may include DCI formats 0_0,0_1,0_2 for scheduling the UE to transmit uplink PUSCH data. After receiving the scheduling DCI, the UE switches to the new BWP indicated by the DCI and receives or transmits data. The above formats are exemplary only and not limiting. The DCI format may be other formats, which are not limited herein.

Switching of a UE from one BWP to another BWP requires at least one of the following operations:

(1) Receiving and analyzing BWP switching indication in DCI;

(2) Switching the radio frequency device to a new BWP, including center frequency switching, sampling rate switching and other operations;

(3) The application of configuration parameters on the new BWP works normally.

The above operations require a certain processing delay, which may be referred to as T _{BWPswitchDelay} . This value may be defined as: if the UE receives DCI for switching BWP on time slot n, the UE should be at n+T _{BWPswitchDelay} The slots have the ability to transmit a physical uplink shared channel (physicaluplink shared channel, PUSCH) or receive PDSCH on the BWP after the handover. According to the difference of UE capabilities, NR defines two different processing delay types (types), which are shown in table 1:

TABLE 1 BWP handoff delay

Wherein μ is a subcarrier spacing parameter of the current UE operation, i.e., the subcarrier spacing of the UE operation is 2 ^μ 15kHz. The UE may report to the base station whether the supported BWP handover capability is type 1 or type 2.

In order to better understand a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention, an application scenario of the embodiments of the present invention is described below. Currently, in NR, a terminal device periodically wakes up when it is in an idle state or inactive state. After waking up, the terminal device may attempt to receive pages by listening to the PDCCH. However, the network device does not send a page to the terminal device at each PF or PO, and therefore the terminal device is not necessarily able to receive pages at each PF or PO. It can be seen that many of the processes of receiving pages by the terminal device are inefficient processes, so that power consumption of the terminal device is wasted.

In addition, since the terminal device must perform beam selection, time-frequency tracking, etc. through the SSB before receiving the page, receiving the SSB has a large power consumption overhead, so that the terminal device has a large power consumption.

In order to better understand a communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention, a network architecture used in the embodiments of the present invention is described below. Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the network device may include a core network device 201, an access network device 202, and a plurality of terminal devices 203 (only one terminal device is schematically shown in the figure). When the core network device 201 needs to establish a connection with the terminal device 203, the identity of the terminal device to be paged may be sent to the access network device 202. After receiving the identity of the terminal device from the core network device 201, the access network device 202 may send a page to the terminal device. After the terminal device 203 receives the page from the access network device 602, a connection may be established with the core network device 601 according to the page.

The above-described functions of the core network device, the access network device, and the terminal device are merely exemplary, and the functions of the core network device, the access network device, and the terminal device are not configured as terminal devices.

A terminal device, which may also be referred to as a UE, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc., is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. The terminal device may be a handheld terminal, a notebook computer, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a cellular phone (cellular phone), a smart phone (smart phone), a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA) computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem (modem), a handheld device (handheld), a laptop computer (lapop computer), a cordless phone (cordiss phone) or a wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, a machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC) terminal, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a pedometer, etc.), an in-vehicle device (e.g., an automobile, a bicycle, an electric car, an airplane, a ship, a train, a high-speed rail, etc.), a virtual reality (virtual reality), VR) devices, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control (industrial control), smart home devices (e.g., refrigerator, television, air conditioner, electricity meter, etc.), smart robots, workshop devices, wireless terminals in self driving (self driving), wireless terminals in teleoperation (remote medical surgery), wireless terminals in smart grid (smart grid), wireless terminals in transportation safety (transportation safety), wireless terminals in smart city (smart city), or wireless terminals in smart home (smart home), flying devices (e.g., smart robot, hot air balloon, drone), aircraft) or other device that has access to a network.

The access network device provides wireless access for the terminal device and is mainly responsible for the functions of radio resource management, quality of service (quality of service, qoS) stream management, data compression, encryption and the like on the air interface side. The network devices may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, and the like. The network device may also include a wireless internet (wireless fidelity, wiFi) access node (AP). The network device may also include a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMax) Base Station (BS).

The core network device may be a Core Network (CN) device corresponding to different devices in different systems. A serving support node (servingGPRSsupport node, SGSN) for general packet radio service technology (general packet radio service, GPRS) and/or a gateway support node (gateway GPRS support node, GGSN) for GPRS may be corresponded in 3G. In 4G may correspond to a mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME) and/or a serving gateway (S-GW). In 5G there may be corresponding access and mobility management functions (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management functions (session management function, SMF) or user plane functions (user plane function, UPF).

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 3, the communication method may include the following steps. Wherein the functions performed by the terminal device in the following steps may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and the functions performed by the network device in the following steps may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the network device.

301. The network device determines a first paging opportunity.

The network device may determine a first paging opportunity if there is a traffic demand. For example, the network device may determine the first paging opportunity after receiving an identification of a terminal device from the core network device that needs to be paged. The above-described trigger conditions for triggering the network device to determine the first paging opportunity are exemplary only and not limiting. The triggering condition for triggering the network device to determine the first paging opportunity may be other information, message, signaling, etc. with the same function, which is not limited herein. The first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal equipment or the terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located. The first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity of the terminal device, and can be understood that one terminal device corresponds to one paging opportunity. The first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to a terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located, and can be understood that a plurality of terminal equipment corresponds to one paging opportunity.

It will be appreciated that the first paging opportunity may be a paging frame or a PO.

The network device may determine the first paging opportunity based on the identity of the terminal device. For example, when the first paging opportunity is a paging frame, the network device may determine the first paging opportunity using equation (1). For another example, when the first paging opportunity is a paging frame, the network device may determine the first paging opportunity using various modified formulas of formula (1). For another example, when the first paging opportunity is PO, the network device may determine the first paging opportunity using equation (1) and equation (2), and for another example, when the first paging opportunity is PO, the network device may determine the first paging opportunity using equations of various variants of equation (1) and equation (2). The foregoing is merely illustrative of determining the first paging opportunity based on the identity of the terminal device and is not limiting. The network device may also determine the first paging opportunity based on the identity of the terminal device using other means or formulas, not limited herein.

The identifier of the terminal equipment may be 5G-S-TMSImod 1024, or may be fulll i-RNTI, or may be other information that may uniquely identify the terminal equipment, which is not limited herein.

302. The terminal device determines a first paging opportunity.

The terminal device may periodically determine the first paging opportunity when the terminal device is in an idle state or inactive state. The period may be a DRX period, a period configured by the network device, a pre-configured period, a period configured by default, or a period determined by other means, which is not limited herein.

The manner in which the terminal device determines the first paging opportunity is the same as the manner in which the network device determines the first paging opportunity, and the detailed description may refer to the description of determining the first paging opportunity by the network device in step 301, which is not repeated herein.

303. The network equipment sends first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity.

After the network device determines the first paging opportunity, the network device may send first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity to the terminal device, or send first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity to all terminal devices in the terminal device group where the terminal device is located, or send first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity to the terminal device in the terminal device group where the terminal device is located.

The first indication information is used to indicate whether a page exists. For example, the first indication information may be a bit, and when the value of the bit is a first value, it may indicate that there is a page, and when the value of the bit is a second value, it may indicate that there is no page. For another example, the first indication information may include a plurality of bits, and when the plurality of bits is the first sequence, a page may be indicated to exist, and when the plurality of bits is the second sequence, a page may be indicated to not exist. For another example, the first indication information may include a plurality of bits, each bit indicating whether indication information for one terminal device exists. For another example, the first indication information may be an index of indication information, and when the index value is an index value of one information, there may be indicated that there is a page, and when the index value is an index value of another information, there may be indicated that there is no page. For another example, when the network device is to send a page to the terminal device, the network device may send first indication information to the terminal device, which may be understood as the network device sending information to the terminal device on a resource configured for the first indication information, and accordingly, when the terminal device receives information on this resource, indicating that a page exists. When the network device does not send a page to the terminal device, the network device does not send the first indication information to the terminal device on the resource configured for the first indication information, and correspondingly, when the terminal device does not receive information on the resource, the network device indicates that no page exists. It will be appreciated that the foregoing examples of the first indication information are merely illustrative and not limiting, and the first indication information may be any form of information, message, signaling, etc. that indicates whether there is a page, and is not limited herein. For example, the first indication information may be a reference signal sequence, PDCCH, PDSCH, or the like. The resources may include time domain resources, frequency domain resources, sequence resources, and the like.

Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from the network equipment.

Optionally, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the network device may determine the first resource according to the first PO, and may then send the first indication information on the first resource. Accordingly, the terminal device may determine the first resource according to the first PO, and then may receive the first indication information from the network device on the first resource. Wherein the first resource may be understood as a time domain resource.

In addition, the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, and may send the first SSB to the terminal device, which may be understood that the network device sends the first indication information and the first SSB to the terminal device, which may be understood that the first indication information and the first SSB are continuously sent, which may be understood that the first indication information and the first SSB are transmitted in the same time unit, which may be understood that the first indication information and the first SSB are transmitted in adjacent time units. The time unit may be various time units such as a slot, a subframe, a symbol, a frame, etc., which are not limited herein. The first indication information and the first SSB are continuously sent, so that the first indication information can be directly received without power consumption state switching and receiving parameter switching after the terminal equipment receives the first SSB, the first indication information receiving parameter is ensured to be the same as the corresponding SSB, and meanwhile, extra unnecessary power consumption expenditure is not introduced due to the power consumption state switching.

After determining the first paging opportunity, the terminal device may receive first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from the network device. The resource of the network device for sending the first indication information may be configured by the network device or may be configured by default. The terminal device may receive the first indication information from a resource to which the indication information corresponds. Because the power consumption and the complexity of the terminal equipment for receiving the first indication information are far smaller than those of the paging, and the probability of the network equipment sending the paging to the terminal equipment when the terminal equipment is in an idle state or an inactive state is smaller, the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced by the first indication information.

In one implementation, the first indication information may be indication information scrambled by an identifier of the terminal device (or a group in which the terminal device is located). Accordingly, the indication information can only be descrambled by the terminal device corresponding to the identifier, i.e. only the terminal device corresponding to the identifier receives the indication information successfully. The indication information may be a paging (P) -RNTI scrambled PDCCH, or a PDCCH scrambled by other identifiers of the terminal device or the terminal device group, or a reference signal sequence generated by the identifier of the terminal device or the terminal device group, or a reference signal sequence generated by other information of the terminal device or the terminal device group, which is not limited herein.

In another implementation manner, the first indication information may carry an identifier of the terminal device. The first indication information may be received successfully by the plurality of terminal devices. After receiving the first indication information, the terminal equipment needs to judge whether the identifier of the terminal equipment carried by the first indication information is the same as the identifier of the terminal equipment, and when judging that the identifier of the terminal equipment carried by the first indication information is the same as the identifier of the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment indicates that the first indication information is the indication information sent to the terminal equipment, and then whether paging aiming at the terminal equipment exists can be further determined according to the first indication information. When the identification of the terminal equipment carried by the first indication information is judged to be different from the identification of the terminal equipment, the first indication information is not the indication information sent to the terminal equipment, and the indication information can be discarded.

In yet another implementation, the first indication information may be received by all terminal devices in the terminal device group where the terminal device is located, and after the terminal devices receive the first indication information, when the first indication information indicates that there is a paging, the terminal devices may all receive the paging. When the page is a page for all the terminal devices in the group of terminal devices, the terminal devices may successfully receive the page. In one case, when the page is a page for one terminal device in the group of terminal devices, only that terminal device can successfully receive the page. In another case, when the paging is a paging for one terminal device in the terminal device group, the terminal devices in the terminal device group may successfully receive the paging, and then further determine which terminal device the paging is based on the identity of the terminal device carried by the paging.

In one implementation, one SSB period may correspond to one time window when the terminal device is in an idle state or inactive state. Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a time window corresponding to an SSB period according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 4, the time window may be determined by two values, one value being the start time of the time window and the other value being the end time of the time window. The interval between the start time of the time window and the transmission time of the SSB period corresponding to the time window is minimum, and the interval between the end time of the time window and the transmission time of the SSB period corresponding to the time window is maximum. The time interval between the start time of the time window and the reception time of the corresponding SSB period may represent a processing time necessary for the terminal device from receiving the SSB and the indication information to receiving the page, may include a time when the terminal device receives the SSB and the indication information, a time when the terminal device processes the SSB and the indication information, and the like.

The start time of the time window may be determined by the corresponding SSB period transmission end time and time window start time interval. For example, the last transmission slot of one SSB period is numbered n, the start time interval of the time window is T1 slots, and the slot number of the start time of the time window is n+t1. The time window starting time interval may be a value agreed in advance by the network device and the terminal device, or may be a value configured by the network device to the terminal device, which is not limited herein.

The end time of the time window may be determined by the corresponding SSB period transmission end time and time window end time interval. For example, the last transmission slot of one SSB period is numbered n, the start time interval of the time window is T2 slots, and the slot number of the end time of the time window is n+t2. The time window end time interval may be a value agreed in advance by the network device and the terminal device, or may be a value configured by the network device to the terminal device, which is not limited herein.

The end time of the time window may also be the sum of the start time of the time window and a time period, which is the size of the time window.

In another implementation, one indication information may correspond to one time window, that is, the indication information corresponds to one time window, and one SSB period may correspond to a plurality of time windows.

Generally, the length of the time window is greater than the length of the paging opportunities, so that only one paging opportunity is indicated by one indication information, which may cause waste of transmission resources. Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, the first indication information may indicate whether the paging opportunity in the first time window is paging, where the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunity in the first time window includes the first paging opportunity. The paging opportunities in the first time window may be all within the first time window or may be partially within the first time window. For example, when the first half of paging opportunity 1 is within time window 1 and the second half is within time window 2, paging opportunity 1 may be considered to be within time window 1. When one SSB period corresponds to one time window, the time window corresponding to the first indication information may be understood as the time window corresponding to the SSB period corresponding to the first indication information. When the indication information corresponds to the time windows one by one, the time window corresponding to the first indication information may be understood as the time window corresponding to the first indication information.

It will be appreciated that the different time windows may be consecutive, i.e. the end time of one time window is the start time of another time window, and accordingly, a paging opportunity may only be within one time window. The different time windows may also overlap, and accordingly, a paging opportunity may be located within multiple time windows. The different time windows may also be discontinuous, not limited herein.

Determining the first resource from the first PO may be understood as determining a resource corresponding to a time window comprising the first PO. When the time window is one, the resource may be a resource corresponding to an SSB period, or may be a resource corresponding to an indication message. When the time window is multiple, the resource may be a resource corresponding to multiple SSB periods, or may be a resource corresponding to multiple indication information. The plurality of indication information may be in one SSB period or may be in a plurality of SSB periods, which is not limited herein.

304. The network device sends a page to the terminal device at a first paging opportunity.

After the network device sends the first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity, the network device may send a page to the terminal device at the first paging opportunity.

Accordingly, the terminal device receives a page from the network device at the first paging opportunity. When the first indication information indicates that there is a page, the terminal device may receive a page from the network device at a first paging opportunity.

The network device may send the indication information in a slot of the SSB. Accordingly, the terminal device may receive the indication information in a slot in which the SSB is received.

Optionally, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the network device may send a page to the terminal device at an MO in the first PO, which may be understood that each MO in the first PO sends a page to the terminal device, which may be understood that the network device uses all angles included in the SSB period corresponding to the first PO to send a page to the terminal device, and which may be understood that the network device uses a beam included in the SSB period corresponding to the first PO to send a page to the terminal device. The beams and the SSBs may be in one-to-one correspondence, and the angles and the SSBs may be in one-to-one correspondence. The network device sends paging at the MO, which may be understood as that the network device sends PDCCH, where the PDCCH carries DCI, where the DCI includes scheduling information of PDSCH resources, and the network device sends paging messages on PDSCH corresponding to the resources. The PDCCH may be P-RNTI scrambled or other information scrambled, as long as it can be embodied that the PDCCH is a paging-specific PDCCH, which is not limited herein.

Accordingly, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the terminal device may determine the first MO in the first PO first, and then may receive the page from the network device at the first MO in the first PO. The terminal device may determine a first MO of the first POs according to the SSB. The terminal device may determine a first MO of the POs according to the signal strength of the SSB. For example, the terminal device may determine, as the first MO, an MO corresponding to an SSB with the strongest signal strength among SSBs included in the SSB corresponding to the first SSB period in the first PO. For another example, when an SSB greater than or equal to (or greater than) the first threshold exists in the signal strengths of SSBs included in the SSB corresponding to the first SSB period, the terminal device may determine, as the first MO, an MO corresponding to an SSB having the strongest signal strength among SSBs included in the SSB corresponding to the first SSB period in the first PO. For another example, when SSBs each having a signal strength of which is smaller than (or smaller than or equal to) the second threshold value are present in the SSBs included in the SSB corresponding to the first SSB period, the terminal device may determine, as the first MO, MOs corresponding to two or two SSBs included in the SSB corresponding to the first SSB period in the first PO. After the terminal device receives the paging from the network device, two or more MOs in the first PO may combine the received multiple pages to obtain a final paging. The combination may be a weighted combination or an accumulation. The above examples of determining the first MO in the first PO are exemplary only and not limiting. The terminal device may also determine the first MO determination in the first PO in other ways, which are not limited herein. It can be seen that the first MO may be one MO in the first PO corresponding to the terminal device, or may be two or more MOs in the first PO corresponding to the terminal device. The terminal device receives paging at the MO, which may be understood as that the terminal device receives PDCCH at the MO, obtains DCI from the PDCCH, determines a resource of PDSCH according to the DCI, and receives paging message on PDSCH corresponding to the resource. The PDCCH may be P-RNTI scrambled or other information scrambled, as long as it can be embodied that the PDCCH is a paging-specific PDCCH, which is not limited herein.

The terminal device typically receives the paging PDCCH and PDSCH using a larger bandwidth, which is typically greater than or equal to 20MHz. Whereas the synchronization signal typically only transmits 20 physical resource blocks (physical resource block, PRBs), the bandwidth only needs 7.2MHz at a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It can be seen that the bandwidth actually required for receiving the synchronization signal is much smaller than the bandwidth actually required for receiving the page. Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a UE receiving SSB and paging according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 5, the operating bandwidth actually required by the UE to receive SSB is smaller than the operating bandwidth actually required to receive paging. And the larger the operating bandwidth, the greater the power consumption of the terminal device.

In one implementation, the first indication information may be received in a first bandwidth, which may be understood that the terminal device may receive the first indication information in the first bandwidth. The page may be received at the second bandwidth, which may be understood as the terminal device may receive the page at the second bandwidth. The first bandwidth is different from the second bandwidth. The switching time from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth is less than or equal to (or less than) the first time, which is understood to mean that the switching time from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth of the first terminal device is less than or equal to (or less than) the first time. The first time is a maximum time required for switching from a bandwidth receiving the first indication information to a bandwidth receiving the page. For example, the terminal device starts switching bandwidths at n, has the capability to receive and/or transmit information at n+t, T being the first time. The time units of n and T may be as described above for the time units.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a first time according to an embodiment of the present invention when an SSB period corresponds to a time window. As shown in fig. 6, the first time may be the time from the receipt of the last indication information in the SSB period to the start time of the corresponding time window of the SSB period. Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another first time according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 7, the terminal device determines that there is a page for itself according to the indication information 1, and starts switching from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth after receiving the indication information 1. The first time is the time from the receipt of the indication information 1 to the start time of the time window corresponding to this SSB period.

It can be seen that, when the indication information for indicating that there is a page exists in the indication information included in one SSB period, the terminal device may switch from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth after receiving the last indication information in the SSB period; it is also possible to start switching from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth immediately after receiving the indication information for indicating the presence of paging in this SSB period, without waiting for switching after receiving all the indication information in this SSB period.

Optionally, a time interval between the time of receiving the first indication information and the start time of the time window corresponding to the first indication information is greater than or equal to the first time.

When the terminal device receives the first indication information and the paging by using different bandwidths, the terminal device needs to readjust the radio frequency and the baseband chip after receiving the first indication information, or readjust the working parameters, that is, the terminal device needs to switch from the bandwidth for receiving the first indication information to the bandwidth for receiving the paging, and the switching process needs a certain time, and the terminal device cannot receive the information in the certain time. Therefore, in order to ensure that the terminal device can receive the page from the network device, a time interval between the time of receipt of the first indication information and the start time of the time window corresponding to the first indication information may be greater than or equal to the first time.

In another implementation, the first indication information may be received at the first BWP, which may be understood that the terminal device may receive the first indication information at the first BWP. The paging may be received at the second BWP, which may be understood as the terminal device may receive the paging at the second BWP. The first BWP is different from the second BWP. The switching time of the first BWP to the second BWP is less than or equal to the second time, which may be understood as the switching time of the first terminal device to the second BWP is less than or equal to (or less than) the second time. The second time is a maximum time required for switching from the BWP receiving the first indication information to the BWP receiving the page. For example, the terminal device starts switching bandwidths at n, has the capability to receive and/or transmit information at n+t, T being the second time.

In case that one SSB period corresponds to one time window, when the terminal device receives SSB/indication information and paging using BWP, the second time may be a time between the reception of any one of the SSB periods to the start time of the time window corresponding to the SSB period. Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a second time according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 8, the terminal device determines that there is a page for itself according to the indication information 1, and starts to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP after receiving the indication information 1. The second time is the time from the receipt of the indication information 1 to the start time of the time window corresponding to this SSB period.

In the case that one SSB period corresponds to one time window, when the terminal device receives SSB/indication information and paging using BWP, please refer to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of another second time disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 9, the second time may be a time from the time when the last indication information in the SSB period is received to the start time of the time window corresponding to the SSB period.

It can be seen that, when there is indication information for indicating that there is a page in the indication information included in one SSB period, the terminal device may switch from the first BWP to the second BWP after receiving the last indication information in the SSB period; it is also possible to start switching from the first BWP to the second BWP immediately after receiving the indication information indicating the presence of paging in this SSB period, without waiting for switching after receiving all the indication information in this SSB period.

Optionally, a time interval between the time of receiving the first indication information and the start time of the time window corresponding to the first indication information is greater than or equal to the second time.

When the terminal device receives the first indication information and paging using different BWP, the terminal device needs to readjust the radio frequency and baseband chip after receiving the first indication information, or readjust the operation parameters, i.e. the terminal device needs to switch from BWP receiving the indication information to BWP receiving paging, and the switching process needs a certain time, during which the terminal device cannot receive information. Therefore, in order to ensure that the terminal device can receive the page from the network device, a time interval between the time of receipt of the first indication information and the start time of the time window corresponding to the first indication information may be greater than or equal to the second time.

It can be seen that in order to reduce power consumption of the terminal device, the terminal device may receive the indication information using a bandwidth (or BWP) smaller than that of receiving the page. For example, the terminal device may receive the SSB and the indication information using a bandwidth of 10 MHz. The above examples of receiving SSB and bandwidth of indication information are for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting. The bandwidth (or BWP) of receiving the SSB and the indication information may be any bandwidth (or BWP) smaller than the bandwidth (or BWP) of receiving the page, which is not limited herein. Thus, the first bandwidth may be smaller than the second bandwidth, and the first BWP may be smaller than the second BWP.

It is understood that the first time may be the same as the second time or may be different.

The first time and the second time may be configured by the network device, or may be determined by the network device according to capability information of the terminal device, or may be determined by the terminal device according to the capability information, which is not limited herein.

The first time (or the second time) may be a maximum time required for switching from the bandwidth (or BWP) receiving the indication information/to the bandwidth (or BWP) receiving the page. This indication information is indication information in the SSB period for indicating that there is a page for the terminal device.

For example, referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of PO and SSB cycles according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 10, each SSB period may include three SSBs of SSB1, SSB2, and SSB 3. PO1 and PO2 lie in the time window 1 corresponding to the first SSB period, MO1 and MO2 in PO3 lie in the time window 1 corresponding to the first SSB period, and PO3 can be considered to lie in the time window 1 corresponding to the first SSB period as well. PO4 is in the time window corresponding to the second SSB period. SSB1 in the SSB period corresponds to MO1 in the PO, SSB2 in the SSB period corresponds to MO2 in the PO, and SSB3 in the SSB period corresponds to MO3 in the PO. The terminal device of the paging opportunity in PO1, PO2 or PO3 can determine whether there is a paging for itself according to the indication information in the first SSB period, and when it is determined that there is a paging for itself, beam selection can be performed according to the signal strength of the SSB included in the first SSB period. Similarly, the terminal device with paging opportunity in PO4 can determine whether there is paging for itself according to the indication information in the second SSB period.

When the network device transmits the page to the terminal device, the page may be transmitted in units of the terminal device. The network device transmits the page in units of terminal devices, which may be understood as that the network device transmits one page for each terminal device, or may be understood as that the page of each terminal device is transmitted by the network device separately. For example, the network device sends page 1 to terminal device 1, the network device sends page 2 to terminal device 2, page 1 being a different page than page 2. The network device may send the page to the terminal device in a unicast manner, may send the page to the terminal device in a multicast manner, or may send the page to the terminal device in a broadcast manner.

When the network device sends the page to the terminal device, the network device may also send the page by using the terminal device group as a unit. The network device sends the paging by using the terminal device group as a unit, which is understood that the network device only needs to send one paging to the terminal devices in the terminal device group, and each terminal device in the terminal device group does not need to send the paging separately.

The group identifier of the terminal equipment group may be 5G-S-TMSImod 1024, or may be a fulll i-RNTI, or may be other information that may uniquely identify the terminal equipment, which is not limited herein.

Wherein, the content related to the above different steps can be referred to each other, and is not limited to the corresponding steps.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11, the communication apparatus may include:

a determining unit 1101, configured to determine a first paging opportunity, where the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to a terminal device or a terminal device group where the terminal device is located;

a receiving unit 1102, configured to receive first indication information corresponding to a first paging opportunity from a network device;

the receiving unit 1102 is further configured to receive a page from the network device at a first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that there is a page.

In one embodiment, the first indication information is used to indicate whether a page is present.

In one embodiment, the first paging opportunity is determined based on an identification of the terminal device.

In one embodiment, the first paging opportunity is a PO or paging frame.

In one embodiment, the first indication information for indicating whether there is a page includes:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise first paging opportunities.

In one embodiment, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the receiving unit 1102 receives first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from the network device, including:

determining a first resource from the first PO;

first indication information from a network device is received on a first resource.

In one embodiment, the first indication is received at a first bandwidth and the page is received at a second bandwidth, the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth, the switching time from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth being less than or equal to a first time, the first time being a maximum time required to switch from the bandwidth receiving the first indication to the bandwidth receiving the page.

In one embodiment, a time interval between a receiving time of the first indication information and a start time of a time window corresponding to the first indication information is greater than or equal to the first time.

In one embodiment, the first indication information is received at a first BWP and the page is received at a second BWP, the first BWP being different from the second BWP, a switch time from the first BWP to the second BWP being less than or equal to a second time, the second time being a maximum time required for the switch from the BWP receiving the first indication information to the BWP receiving the page.

In one embodiment, a time interval between the time of receipt of the first indication information and the start time of the time window corresponding to the first indication information is greater than or equal to the second time.

The more detailed description about the determining unit 1101 and the receiving unit 1102 may be directly obtained by referring to the related description of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3, which is not repeated herein.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 12, the communication apparatus may include:

a determining unit 1201, configured to determine a first paging opportunity, where the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to a terminal device or a terminal device group where the terminal device is located;

a transmitting unit 1202, configured to transmit first indication information corresponding to a first paging opportunity;

a sending unit 1202, configured to send a page to the terminal device at the first paging opportunity;

the first indication information is used for the terminal equipment to receive paging at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that paging exists.

In one embodiment, the first paging opportunity is a PO or paging frame.

the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise the first paging opportunities.

In one embodiment, when the first paging opportunity is the first PO, the transmitting unit 1202 transmits the first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity includes:

determining a first resource from the first PO;

and sending first indication information on the first resource.

The more detailed description about the determining unit 1201 and the transmitting unit 1202 may be directly obtained by referring to the related description of the network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 3, which is not repeated herein.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 13, the communication device may include a processor 1301, a memory 1302, an input interface 1303, an output interface 1304, and a bus 1305. The memory 1302, which may be separate, may be coupled to the processor 1301 by a bus 1305. Memory 1302 may also be integrated with processor 1301. Wherein bus 1305 is used to implement the connections between these components.

In an embodiment, the communication apparatus may be a terminal device or a module (e.g. a chip) within the terminal device, the processor 1301 is configured to control the receiving unit 1102 to perform the operations performed in the above embodiment when the computer program instructions stored in the memory 1302 are executed, the processor 1301 is further configured to perform the operations performed in the above embodiment by the determining unit 1101, the input interface 1303 is configured to perform the operations performed by the receiving unit 1102 in the above embodiment, and the output interface 1304 is configured to output information to other communication apparatuses than the communication apparatus. The terminal device or the module in the terminal device may also be used to execute the various methods executed by the terminal device in the embodiment of the method in fig. 3, which are not described herein.

In an embodiment, the communication apparatus may be a network device or a module (e.g., a chip) within the network device, the processor 1301 is configured to control the transmitting unit 1202 to perform the operations performed in the above embodiment when the computer program instructions stored in the memory 1302 are executed, the processor 1301 is further configured to perform the operations performed in the above embodiment by the determining unit 1201, the input interface 1303 is configured to receive information from other communication apparatuses than the communication apparatus, and the output interface 1304 is configured to perform the operations performed by the transmitting unit 1202 in the above embodiment. The above network device or the modules in the network device may also be used to execute the various methods executed by the network device in the above embodiment of the method of fig. 3, which are not described herein.

Based on the above network architecture, please refer to fig. 14, fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 14, the communication device may include an input interface 1401, a logic circuit 1402, and an output interface 1403. The input interface 1401 and the output interface 1403 are connected through a logic circuit 1402. Wherein input interface 1401 is for receiving information from other communication devices and output interface 1403 is for outputting, scheduling or transmitting information to other communication devices. The logic circuit 1402 is for performing operations other than those of the input interface 1401 and the output interface 1403, for example, realizing the functions realized by the processor 1301 in the above-described embodiment. The communication device may be a network device or a module of a network device, or may be a terminal device or a module of a terminal device. The more detailed descriptions of the input interface 1401, the logic circuit 1402 and the output interface 1403 may be directly obtained by directly referring to the related descriptions of the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiment, which is not described herein.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a computer readable storage medium, wherein the instructions are stored, and the instructions are executed to execute the method in the embodiment of the method.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed, perform the method of the above method embodiment.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a communication system which comprises network equipment and terminal equipment, and the specific description can refer to the communication method shown in fig. 3.

The foregoing embodiments have been provided for the purpose of illustrating the technical solution and advantageous effects of the present application in further detail, and it should be understood that the foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solution of the present application should be included in the scope of the present application.

Claims

A method of communication, comprising:

determining a first paging opportunity, wherein the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to terminal equipment or a terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located;

receiving first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from network equipment;

and receiving paging from the network equipment at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that paging exists.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether a page exists.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first paging occasion is a paging occasion PO or a paging frame.
A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first indication information for indicating whether a page is present comprises:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise the first paging opportunities.
The method of claim 4, wherein when the first paging opportunity is a first PO, the receiving first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from a network device comprises:

determining a first resource according to the first PO;

first indication information from a network device is received on the first resource.
The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the first indication is received at a first bandwidth and the page is received at a second bandwidth, the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth, a switching time from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth being less than or equal to a first time, the first time being a maximum time required to switch from a bandwidth receiving the first indication to a bandwidth receiving the page.
The method of claim 6, wherein a time interval between a time of receipt of the first indication information and a start time of the first time window is greater than or equal to the first time.
The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the first indication information is received at a first bandwidth portion BWP, wherein the page is received at a second BWP, wherein the first BWP is different from the second BWP, wherein a switching time from the first BWP to the second BWP is less than or equal to a second time, and wherein the second time is a maximum time required for switching from the BWP receiving the first indication information to the BWP receiving the page.
A method of communication, comprising:

determining a first paging opportunity, wherein the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to terminal equipment or a terminal equipment group where the terminal equipment is located;

transmitting first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity;

sending a page to the terminal device at the first paging opportunity;

the first indication information is used for the terminal equipment to receive paging at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that paging exists.
The method of claim 9, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether a page exists.
The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the first paging occasion is a paging occasion PO or a paging frame.
The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the first indication information for indicating whether a page exists comprises:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise the first paging opportunities.
The method of claim 12, wherein when the first paging opportunity is a first PO, the transmitting first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity comprises:

determining a first resource according to the first PO;

and sending first indication information on the first resource.
A communication device, comprising:

a determining unit, configured to determine a first paging opportunity, where the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to a terminal device or a terminal device group where the terminal device is located;

A receiving unit, configured to receive first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from a network device;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a page from the network device at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that there is a page.
The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether a page is present.
The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity, PO, or a paging frame.
The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the first indication information for indicating whether a page exists comprises:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise the first paging opportunities.
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein when the first paging opportunity is a first PO, the receiving unit receiving first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity from a network device comprises:

Determining a first resource according to the first PO;

first indication information from a network device is received on the first resource.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-18, wherein the first indication is received at a first bandwidth and the page is received at a second bandwidth, the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth, a switching time from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth being less than or equal to a first time, the first time being a maximum time required to switch from a bandwidth receiving the first indication to a bandwidth receiving the page.
The apparatus of claim 19, wherein a time interval between a time of receipt of the first indication information and a start time of the first time window is greater than or equal to the first time.
The apparatus of any of claims 14-18, wherein the first indication information is received at a first bandwidth portion, BWP, and wherein the page is received at a second BWP, wherein the first BWP is different from the second BWP, wherein a switching time from the first BWP to the second BWP is less than or equal to a second time, and wherein the second time is a maximum time required for switching from the BWP receiving the first indication information to the BWP receiving the page.
A communication device, comprising:

a determining unit, configured to determine a first paging opportunity, where the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity corresponding to a terminal device or a terminal device group where the terminal device is located;

a sending unit, configured to send first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity;

the sending unit is further configured to send a page to the terminal device at the first paging opportunity;

the first indication information is used for the terminal equipment to receive paging at the first paging opportunity when the first indication information indicates that paging exists.
The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether a page is present.
The apparatus of claim 22 or 23, wherein the first paging opportunity is a paging opportunity, PO, or a paging frame.
The apparatus according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the first indication information for indicating whether a page exists comprises:

the first indication information is used for indicating whether paging opportunities exist in a first time window, the first time window is a time window corresponding to the first indication information, and the paging opportunities in the first time window comprise the first paging opportunities.
The apparatus of claim 25, wherein when the first paging opportunity is a first PO, the transmitting unit transmitting first indication information corresponding to the first paging opportunity comprises:

determining a first resource according to the first PO;

and sending first indication information on the first resource.
A communication device comprising a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from other communication devices than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to other communication devices than the communication device, the processor invoking a computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 1-8.
A communication device comprising a processor, a memory, an input interface for receiving information from other communication devices than the communication device, and an output interface for outputting information to other communication devices than the communication device, the processor invoking a computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 9-13.
A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored therein a computer program or computer instructions, which, when executed, implement the method of any of claims 1-13.
A chip comprising a processor for executing a program stored in a memory, which when executed causes the chip to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13.