CN116437470A

CN116437470A - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN116437470A
Application number: CN202111675692.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周欢
Original assignee: Beijing Ziguang Zhanrui Communication Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Ziguang Zhanrui Communication Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-31
Filing date: 2021-12-31
Publication date: 2023-07-14

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and a communication device, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit and the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell or not allowed to be sent according to the first configuration information. In the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit and the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell according to the first configuration information; the uplink spectrum resource can be better utilized so as to improve the uplink communication quality. The transmission of the uplink signal may be not allowed by one transmission link of the terminal device in the first time unit, or may be not allowed by all transmission links of the terminal device in the first time unit. The terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is not allowed to be sent in the first time unit according to the first configuration information, so that uplink spectrum resources can be better utilized.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical Field

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

Background

A cell (cell) generally includes an uplink carrier (uplink carrier) and a downlink carrier (downlink carrier), where the uplink carrier and the downlink carrier are in the same frequency band (frequency band). However, in the 5G age, the frequency bands used are relatively high, such as millimeter waves. The higher the frequency band, the greater the signal transmission loss. Since the transmit power of the User Equipment (UE) is limited, this results in limited uplink coverage of the UE. Thus, the industry proposes a supplementary uplink (supplementary uplink, SUL) technique to guarantee uplink coverage for UEs by providing a supplementary uplink (typically in a low frequency band, such as the LTE band). The normal uplink (uplink) of the UE is called UL and the supplementary uplink is called SUL. The SUL generally adopts a 1.8G frequency band, has lower frequency points and smaller signal loss, and can ensure the coverage of UL. It should be noted that DL, UL and SUL belong to one cell, which is the biggest difference between SUL and carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA). The UE may dynamically select a transmission link between UL and SUL, but at the same time, the UE can only select one of them to transmit and cannot transmit uplink on both uplinks at the same time. This is the handover between SUL and UL.

CA, as its name implies, aggregates multiple carriers for transmission. Since each operator can divide a limited frequency band and is not necessarily continuous, if each UE can only use one of the frequency bands, the rate of the UE will be limited. The CA technology solves the problem that spectrum resources in the same frequency band or different frequency bands are aggregated for the UE to use, so that the rate of the UE is improved. Assume that the operator has two bands: band a and Band B. The operator can use CA technology to allocate Band A and Band B to UE together for aggregation. It should be noted that, in carrier aggregation, each carrier corresponds to one cell. The capability of the uplink CA is limited, for example, the downlink CA can support 8 cells, but the uplink CA may only support 2 cells, and even if the operator has more uplink spectrum, the uplink CA cannot be used. There is a need to study schemes that make better use of the uplink spectrum.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and a communication device, which can better utilize uplink spectrum resources so as to improve uplink communication quality.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including: the terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit and the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell or not allowed to be sent according to the first configuration information.

In this embodiment, the terminal device determines, according to the first configuration information, that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit, and that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell or not allowed to be sent. The terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on a first cell in a first time unit and the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on a second cell according to the first configuration information; the uplink spectrum resource can be better utilized so as to improve the uplink communication quality. The transmission of the uplink signal may be not allowed by one transmission link of the terminal device in the first time unit, or may be not allowed by all transmission links of the terminal device in the first time unit. The terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is not allowed to be sent in the first time unit according to the first configuration information, so that uplink spectrum resources can be better utilized.

In one possible implementation manner, the determining, by the terminal device according to the first configuration information, that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit includes: and the terminal equipment determines that the uplink signals are allowed to be sent on the first cell by M antenna ports in the first time unit according to the first configuration information, wherein M is an integer greater than 0.

In the implementation manner, the terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell by M antenna ports in a first time unit according to the first configuration information; the antenna port resources can be more reasonably utilized, so that the uplink communication quality is improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the determining, by the terminal device according to the first configuration information, that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit, and that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell or not allowed to be sent includes: the terminal equipment determines that the first transmitting link of the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit uplink signals on a first cell in a first time unit according to the first configuration information, and the second transmitting link of the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit uplink signals on a second cell or is not allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second transmitting link of the terminal equipment.

In this implementation, the terminal device determines, according to the first configuration information, whether the first transmission link and the second transmission link allow transmission of the uplink signal, so as to better utilize the uplink spectrum resources through the two transmission links.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell; the first configuration information further indicates that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell in the first time unit and the terminal device is allowed to transmit the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports used by the uplink signals on the second cell, or the first configuration information further indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

In this implementation manner, the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine, according to the first configuration information, the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and that the terminal device is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell. The terminal device can accurately and quickly determine the maximum antenna port number or the actual antenna port number which is allowed to be used by the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell in the first time unit and the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell according to the first configuration information, or the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit according to the first configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell in the first time unit; the first configuration information further indicates that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell in the first time unit and the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the second cell, or the first configuration information further indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

In this implementation manner, the terminal device may accurately and quickly determine, according to the first configuration information, a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and that the first transmission link is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell. The terminal device can accurately and quickly determine the maximum antenna port number or the actual antenna port number which is allowed to be used by the second transmitting link to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell in the first time unit and the second transmitting link to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell according to the first configuration information, or the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine that the second transmitting link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit according to the first configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes second configuration information and third configuration information, where the second configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell in the first time unit and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell; the third configuration information indicates that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell in the first time unit and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell, or indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

In this implementation, the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine how to allow the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit according to the second configuration information and the third configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes second configuration information and third configuration information, where the second configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell; the third configuration information indicates that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell in the first time unit and the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the second cell, or the third configuration information indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

In this implementation, the terminal device may accurately and quickly determine, according to the second configuration information and the third configuration information, how to allow the first transmission link and the second transmission link to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit.

In one possible implementation manner, the allowing the uplink signal to be sent on the second cell includes: and allowing the terminal equipment to send uplink signals on the second cell by using N antenna ports, wherein N is an integer greater than 0, and the sum of M and N is smaller than or equal to the maximum number of the antenna ports which can be used in parallel by the terminal equipment.

In this implementation, the sum of M and F is less than or equal to the maximum number of antenna ports that can be used in parallel by the terminal device, so that the maximum transmission capability of the terminal device is not exceeded when the terminal device transmits the uplink signal.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device transmits uplink signals on the first cell with M antenna ports and transmits uplink signals on the second cell with N antenna ports in the first time unit.

In the implementation manner, the terminal equipment sends the uplink signals through different cells in the same time unit, so that the uplink resource utilization rate can be improved.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device transmits uplink signals on the first cell through a first transmission link and M antenna ports at the first time unit, and transmits uplink signals on the second cell through a second transmission link and N antenna ports or does not transmit uplink signals through a second transmission link.

In the implementation manner, the terminal equipment sends the uplink signal through the first sending link and the second sending link, so that the uplink resource utilization rate can be improved.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, where the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use when sending an uplink signal on the first cell; the first configuration information further includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the second cell, or the first configuration information further includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

In this implementation manner, the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, and the terminal device can be indicated to send the uplink signal on the first cell in the first time unit and send the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports that the uplink signal is allowed to use on the first cell by using fewer bits. In addition, the first identifier indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit, and occupied bits are fewer.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, where the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell; the first configuration information further includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link is allowed to use for transmitting the uplink signal on the second cell, or the first configuration information further includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit.

In this implementation, the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, and the first transmission link can be indicated to transmit the uplink signal on the first cell in the first time unit and transmit the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports that the uplink signal is allowed to use on the first cell by using fewer bits. In addition, the first identification indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit uplink signals at the first time unit with fewer occupied bits.

In a possible implementation manner, the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, where the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use when sending an uplink signal on the first cell; the third configuration information includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the second cell, or the third configuration information includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

In this implementation manner, the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell and the first number information, and the terminal device can be indicated to send the uplink signal on the first cell in the first time unit and send the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports that the uplink signal is allowed to use on the first cell by using fewer bits.

In a possible implementation manner, the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, where the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell; the third configuration information includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link is allowed to use for transmitting the uplink signal on the second cell, or the third configuration information includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the first transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit.

In this implementation, the second configuration information and the third configuration information may indicate that different transmission links allow transmission of the uplink signal at the same time unit, and occupy fewer bits.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the network device.

In this implementation, the terminal device receives first configuration information from the network device to determine how to transmit the uplink signal according to the first configuration information.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal equipment executes or does not execute uplink switching when the number of uplink carriers and/or antenna ports adopted by the uplink signal sent by the first time unit and the uplink signal sent by the second time unit is different; the second time unit is a next time unit adjacent to the first time unit.

In this implementation, the terminal device may more reasonably utilize uplink resources by performing or not performing uplink handover.

In one possible implementation, the first configuration information is included in a carrier switching pattern, where the carrier switching pattern indicates periodic uplink carrier switching. The carrier switching pattern includes two or more time units. The terminal device may apply the carrier switching pattern periodically on the time unit to achieve periodic uplink carrier switching.

In this implementation, the first configuration information is included in a carrier switching pattern. The terminal equipment can realize periodic uplink carrier switching according to the carrier switching pattern, and signaling overhead is reduced.

In one possible implementation manner, the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a subcarrier interval adopted by the reference cell of the terminal device, or the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval adopted by the terminal device for transmitting an uplink signal.

In the implementation manner, the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a subcarrier interval adopted by a reference cell of the terminal equipment, or the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval adopted by the terminal equipment for transmitting an uplink signal; the uplink spectrum of different cells can be better utilized, and the flexibility is strong.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communication method, including: the network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device, where the first configuration information is used for the terminal device to determine that the terminal device allows uplink signals to be sent on the first cell and allows uplink signals to be sent on the second cell or does not allow uplink signals to be sent.

In the embodiment of the application, the network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit and that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell or not allowed to be sent according to the first configuration information. The terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on a first cell in a first time unit and the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on a second cell according to the first configuration information; the uplink spectrum resource can be better utilized so as to improve the uplink communication quality. The terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is not allowed to be sent in the first time unit according to the first configuration information, so that uplink spectrum resources can be better utilized.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information is specifically used for the terminal device to determine that, in the first time unit, uplink signals are allowed to be sent on the first cell by using M antenna ports, where M is an integer greater than 0.

In this implementation manner, the first configuration information is specifically used for determining that the terminal device allows the uplink signal to be sent on the first cell by using the M antenna ports at the first time unit, so that the terminal device determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell by using the M antenna ports at the first time unit according to the first configuration information, and further more reasonably utilizes the antenna port resources, thereby improving the uplink communication quality.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information is specifically used for determining, by the terminal device, that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit an uplink signal on the first cell and the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit an uplink signal on the second cell or the second transmission link of the terminal device is not allowed to transmit an uplink signal in the first time unit.

In this implementation, the terminal device may be enabled to determine, according to the first configuration information, whether the first transmission link and the second transmission link allow transmission of the uplink signal, so as to better utilize the uplink spectrum resources through the two transmission links.

In the implementation manner, the terminal equipment can accurately and rapidly determine the maximum antenna port number or the actual antenna port number which is allowed to be used by the terminal equipment to transmit the uplink signal on the first cell and transmit the uplink signal on the first cell according to the first configuration information; the terminal device can also accurately and quickly determine the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports which are allowed to be used by the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell and the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell according to the first configuration information, or the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the first time unit according to the first configuration information.

In the implementation manner, the terminal equipment can accurately and rapidly determine the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports which are allowed to be used by the first transmission link to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and transmit uplink signals on the first cell on the first time unit according to the first configuration information; the terminal device can also accurately and quickly determine, according to the first configuration information, the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell and the second transmission link is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell, or can accurately and quickly determine, according to the first configuration information, that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the second transmission link.

In this implementation manner, the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine how to allow the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit according to the second configuration information and the third configuration information.

In this implementation manner, the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine how to allow the first transmission link and the second transmission link to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit according to the second configuration information and the third configuration information.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes: and the transmitting unit is used for transmitting uplink signals on the first cell by M antenna ports and transmitting uplink signals on the second cell by N antenna ports in the first time unit.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes: and the transmitting unit is used for transmitting uplink signals on the first cell through a first transmitting link and M antenna ports at the first time unit, and transmitting uplink signals on the second cell through a second transmitting link and N antenna ports or not transmitting uplink signals through a second transmitting link.

In this implementation, the uplink resource utilization may be improved by transmitting the uplink signal through the first transmission link and the second transmission link.

In one possible implementation, the first configuration information is included in a carrier switching pattern, where the carrier switching pattern indicates periodic uplink carrier switching.

In this implementation manner, the first configuration information is included in the carrier switching pattern, so that the terminal device can implement periodic uplink carrier switching according to the carrier switching pattern, and signaling overhead is reduced.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: and the determining unit is used for determining that the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the first cell at the first time unit and the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell or not allowed to transmit the uplink signal according to the first configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the first configuration information, that the terminal device is allowed to transmit, at the first time unit, an uplink signal on the first cell with M antenna ports, where M is an integer greater than 0.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes: and the receiving unit is used for receiving the first configuration information from the network equipment.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes: the execution unit is used for executing or not executing uplink switching when the number of uplink carriers and/or antenna ports adopted by the uplink signal sent by the first time unit and the uplink signal sent by the second time unit is different; the second time unit is a next time unit adjacent to the first time unit.

With regard to the technical effects brought about by the third aspect or various alternative embodiments, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementation manner.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides another communication apparatus, comprising: and the sending unit is used for sending first configuration information to the terminal equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for determining that the terminal equipment allows sending the uplink signal on the first cell and allows sending the uplink signal on the second cell or does not allow sending the uplink signal at the first time unit.

Regarding the technical effects brought about by the fourth aspect or various alternative embodiments, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the second aspect or corresponding implementation.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communications apparatus comprising a processor operable to execute computer-executable instructions stored in a memory to cause a method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or to cause a method as shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In the embodiment of the present application, in the process of executing the above method, the process of sending information in the above method may be understood as a process of outputting information based on an instruction of a processor. In outputting the information, the processor outputs the information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. This information, after being output by the processor, may also need to be subjected to other processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it to the processor. Further, after the transceiver receives the information, the information may need to be further processed before being input to the processor.

Operations such as sending and/or receiving, etc., referred to by a processor, may be generally understood as processor-based instruction output if not specifically stated or if not contradicted by actual or inherent logic in the relevant description.

In implementation, the processor may be a processor dedicated to performing the methods, or may be a processor that executes computer instructions in a memory to perform the methods, such as a general-purpose processor. For example, the processor may also be configured to execute a program stored in the memory, which when executed, causes the communication device to perform the method as described above in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

In one possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

In one possible implementation, the memory is located within the communication device.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor and the memory may also be integrated in one device, i.e. the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver for receiving a message or transmitting a message, etc.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device including a processing circuit and an interface circuit for acquiring data or outputting data; the processing circuitry is to perform the respective method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect or the respective method as shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The communication means may be, for example: a chip, or a chip module.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect or the method as shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect to be performed.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program or computer code which, when run on a computer, causes the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to be performed or causes the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect to be performed.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, where the communication system includes a terminal device according to any possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the third aspect, and a network device according to any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect.

Drawings

In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments or the background of the present application, the following description will describe the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments or the background of the present application.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system provided in the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of carrier switching according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another carrier switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 110 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description, claims and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular sequential order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Such as a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to the list of steps or elements but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The terminology used in the following embodiments of the application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," "the," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used in this application refers to and encompasses any or all possible combinations of one or more of the listed items. For example, "a and/or B" may represent: only a, only B and both a and B are present, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The term "plurality" as used in this application refers to two or more.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly understand that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

The network architecture to which the present application relates will be described in detail below.

The technical scheme provided by the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX) telecommunications system, fifth generation (5th generation,5G) telecommunications system or New Radio (NR), as well as other future telecommunications systems such as 6G, etc. The communication system applicable to the technical scheme provided by the application comprises at least three entities, wherein one entity (for example, UE) can send uplink signals on different cells (that is, send uplink signals by using different subcarriers), and the other two entities are entities (for example, base stations) corresponding to two different cells. The communication system provided in the embodiment of the present application may include a plurality of UEs and entities corresponding to a plurality of cells, where each UE may perform uplink signal transmission on a different cell, i.e. perform uplink cell or carrier switching. It should be understood that the technical solution provided in the present application is applicable to any communication system including at least three entities described above and involving uplink cell or carrier switching. An example of a communication system provided herein is described below.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system provided in the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system includes two or more network devices (e.g., base stations), and only three network devices, namely, a network device 1, a network device 2, and a network device 3 are exemplified in fig. 1; and one or more UEs in communication with the network device, only one user device being exemplified in fig. 1 as UE1. The communication system in fig. 1 is suitable for a communication scenario in which a UE transmits uplink signals on different cells at different times, i.e. a communication scenario in which an uplink cell or carrier is switched.

Wherein the network device may be a device capable of communicating with the user device. The network device may be any device with a radio transceiver function, which may be a base station, an access point or a transmission and reception point (transmission reception point, TRP) or may be a device in an access network that communicates with a user equipment over an air interface through one or more sectors (cells), etc., which is not limited in this application. For example, the base station may be an evolved base station (evolutional Node B, eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access point, or a next generation base station (gNB) in a 5G network, or the like. It will be appreciated that the base station may also be a base station in a future evolved public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN), etc.

Optionally, the network device may also be an access node, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, etc. in a wireless local area network (wireless fidelity, wiFi) system.

Optionally, the network device may also be a wireless controller in a cloud wireless access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario.

Alternatively, in some deployments of base stations, the base stations may include Centralized Units (CUs), distributed Units (DUs), and the like. In other deployments of base stations, CUs may also be divided into CU-Control Plane (CP) and CU-User Plane (UP), etc. In other deployments of the base station, the base station may also be an open radio access network (ora) architecture, and the specific deployment manner of the base station is not limited in this application.

Among them, a User Equipment (UE) may be referred to as a terminal device. The user equipment in the present application may be a device with a radio transceiver function, and may communicate with one or more Core Network (CN) devices (or may also be referred to as core devices) via an access network device (or may also be referred to as an access device) in a radio access network (radioaccess network, RAN). The user device may send uplink signals to the network device and/or receive downlink signals from the network device. The user equipment can comprise a mobile phone, a car, a tablet personal computer, an intelligent sound box, a train detector, a gas station and the like, and the main functions comprise collecting data (part of the user equipment), receiving control information and downlink data of the network equipment, and transmitting uplink data to the network equipment. Alternatively, the user equipment may also be referred to as an access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless network device, user agent, user equipment, or the like. Alternatively, the user device may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); but may also be deployed in the air (e.g., on aircraft, balloon, satellite, etc.). Optionally, the user device may be a handheld device with a wireless communication function, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device or an internet of things, a terminal in the internet of vehicles, a 5G network, a terminal in any form in a future network, or the like, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, in the communication system shown in fig. 1, the user equipment and the user equipment may further communicate through a device-to-device (D2D), a vehicle-to-device (V2X), or a machine-to-machine (machine to machine, M2M) technology, and the communication method between the user equipment and the user equipment is not limited in this application.

In the communication system shown in fig. 1, a network device and a user equipment may be used to perform the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

As described in the background, a study is currently required on how to better utilize the uplink spectrum. The application provides a communication method capable of better utilizing uplink spectrum resources. The main principle of the communication method provided by the application is to introduce a mechanism for switching the semi-static configuration uplink carrier. In the communication method provided by the application, the terminal equipment performs uplink transmission by using the semi-statically configured uplink carrier switching mechanism, so that the network equipment and the terminal equipment can keep the consistency of uplink carrier switching, and meanwhile, the scheduling flexibility is considered.

The following describes a communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

201. The terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit and the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell or not allowed to be sent according to the first configuration information.

The first cell and the second cell are different. After performing step 201, the terminal device may send an uplink signal in the first time unit in a manner that is allowed by its actual needs, e.g. in the first cell.

The duration of the first time unit (e.g., 1ms, 0.5ms, etc.) may be considered as one granularity at which the terminal device performs carrier switching. That is, the duration of the terminal device transmitting the uplink signal on one cell at a time is equal to the duration of the first time unit or an integer multiple of the duration of the first time unit. The duration of the first time unit may be a slot length corresponding to a subcarrier spacing (e.g. 15 Khz) adopted by a reference cell (reference cell) of the terminal device. The duration of the first time unit may be an integer multiple of a time slot length corresponding to a subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 Khz) employed by a reference cell (reference cell) of the terminal device. The duration of the first time unit may be a time slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval used for transmitting the uplink signal by the terminal device. The duration of the first time unit may be an integer multiple (e.g., 2 times) of a slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval used by the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal. The slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 15Khz is 1ms, the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 30Khz is 0.5ms, the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 60Khz is 0.25ms, the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 120Khz is 0.125ms, and so on.

In one possible implementation, the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length configured by the terminal device for performing cell or carrier switching. In this implementation manner, the duration of the first time unit is the time slot length configured by the terminal device for executing cell or carrier switching, and different time slot lengths can be configured according to actual requirements so as to meet requirements of different communication scenarios. In one possible implementation, the terminal device may further perform the following operations: the terminal equipment receives a time slot length configuration instruction; and the terminal equipment configures the time slot length for executing cell or carrier switching according to the time slot length configuration instruction. The slot length configuration instruction may be radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) signaling. For example, the slot length configuration instruction indicates that the slot length of the terminal device performing cell or carrier switching is the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of the reference cell. For another example, the slot length configuration instruction indicates that the slot length of the terminal device performing cell or carrier switching is the slot length corresponding to the maximum subcarrier spacing of the terminal device.

The terminal device determines, according to the first configuration information, that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit may be: the terminal device determines, according to the first configuration information, that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell by M antenna ports in the first time unit, where M is an integer greater than 0, for example, M is 1 or 2.

One possible implementation of step 201 is as follows: the terminal equipment determines that the first transmitting link of the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell in the first time unit according to the first configuration information, and the second transmitting link of the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell or is not allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second transmitting link of the terminal equipment. The terminal device may have two or more sets of transmit chains (TX chains). For example, according to the first configuration information, the terminal device determines that its first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell with M antenna ports and its second transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell with N antenna ports or its second transmission link is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit; wherein M and N are integers greater than 0, and the sum of M and F is less than or equal to the maximum number of antenna ports that the terminal device can use in parallel. For another example, the terminal device determines, according to the first configuration information, that its first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell with M antenna ports at the first time unit and that its second transmission link is not allowed to transmit uplink signals; wherein M is an integer greater than 1. In this implementation, the terminal device determines, according to the first configuration information, whether the first transmission link and the second transmission link allow transmission of the uplink signal, so as to better utilize the uplink spectrum resources through the two transmission links.

In one possible implementation manner, the first configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell in the first time unit; the first configuration information further indicates that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell in the first time unit and the second transmission link is allowed to transmit the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports used by the uplink signal on the second cell, or the first configuration information further indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit. In this implementation manner, the terminal device may accurately and quickly determine, according to the first configuration information, a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and that the first transmission link is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell. The terminal device can accurately and quickly determine the maximum antenna port number or the actual antenna port number which is allowed to be used by the second transmitting link to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell in the first time unit and the second transmitting link to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell according to the first configuration information, or the terminal device can accurately and quickly determine that the second transmitting link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit according to the first configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes second configuration information and third configuration information, where the second configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell in the first time unit; the third configuration information indicates that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell in the first time unit and the second transmission link is allowed to transmit the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports used for transmitting the uplink signal on the second cell, or the third configuration information indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit. In this implementation, the terminal device may accurately and quickly determine, according to the second configuration information and the third configuration information, how to allow the first transmission link and the second transmission link to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit.

202. The terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the third cell in the second time unit and that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the fourth cell or not allowed to be sent according to the fourth configuration information.

The duration of the second time unit is equal to the duration of the first time unit. The second time unit is adjacent or not adjacent to the first time unit. The third cell may be the same as or different from the first cell. The fourth cell may be the same as or different from the second cell. The fourth configuration information and the first configuration information are configuration information corresponding to different time units. After performing step 202, the terminal device may send an uplink signal in the second time unit in a manner that is allowed by its actual needs, e.g. in the third cell.

One possible implementation of step 202 is as follows: the terminal device determines, according to the fourth configuration information, that its first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the third cell or not allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second time unit, and that its second transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the fourth cell or not allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second transmission link. For example, the terminal device determines, according to the fourth configuration information, that its first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the third cell with P antenna ports and its second transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the fourth cell with Q antenna ports in the second time unit; wherein, P and Q are integers greater than 0, and the sum of P and Q is less than or equal to the maximum number of antenna ports that can be used in parallel by the terminal device. For another example, the terminal device determines, according to the fourth configuration information, that its first transmission link is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the third cell with P antenna ports in the second time unit, and that its second transmission link is not allowed to transmit uplink signals; wherein P is an integer greater than 1. In this implementation, the terminal device determines, according to the fourth configuration information, whether the first transmission link and the second transmission link allow transmission of the uplink signal, so as to better utilize the uplink spectrum resources through the two transmission links.

In a possible implementation manner, the fourth configuration information indicates that the first transmitting link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the third cell and the first transmitting link is allowed to transmit the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports used by the uplink signal on the third cell in the second time unit, or the fourth configuration information indicates that the first transmitting link of the terminal device is not allowed to transmit the signal in the second time unit; the fourth configuration information further indicates that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the fourth cell in the second time unit and the second transmission link is allowed to transmit the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports used by the uplink signal on the fourth cell, or the fourth configuration information further indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the fourth time unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the fourth configuration information includes fifth configuration information and sixth configuration information, where the fifth configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the third cell and the first transmission link is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the third cell in the second time unit; the sixth configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the fourth cell and the second transmission link is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the fourth cell in the second time unit, or the sixth configuration information indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the second time unit.

In one possible implementation, the first configuration information and/or the fourth configuration information are both included in the carrier switching pattern. The carrier switching pattern indicates periodic uplink carrier switching. The carrier switching pattern may include a plurality of configuration information, each corresponding to a time unit, each of the configuration information indicating how the terminal device is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the time unit corresponding to the configuration information. How the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on a certain time unit means that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on several antenna ports in which cell or not allowed to transmit signals on the first transmission link, and that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on several antenna ports in which cell or not allowed to transmit signals on the second transmission link. It is understood that the carrier switching pattern corresponds to two or more time units, i.e., the period of the carrier switching pattern corresponds to two or more time units. The terminal device can know how to allow it to transmit the uplink signal at each time unit according to the carrier switching pattern. The terminal device may apply the carrier switching pattern periodically over the time unit to achieve uplink signal transmission. For example, the carrier switching pattern includes configuration information 1 to configuration information 5, each corresponding to a time unit, and the time units are time units 1 to 10 in sequence according to the time sequence; the terminal device determines how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal in time unit 1 according to configuration information 1, how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal in time unit 2 according to configuration information 2, how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal in time unit 3 according to configuration information 3, how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal in time unit 4 according to configuration information 4, how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal in time unit 5 according to configuration information 5, how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal in time unit 6 according to configuration information 1, how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal in time unit 7 according to configuration information 2, and so on. The first configuration information and the fourth configuration information may be regarded as two different configuration information in this example, for example, the first configuration information is configuration information 1 and the fourth configuration information is configuration information 2.

One possible example of a carrier switching pattern is as follows: { cell index 11, maximum antenna number 11, cell index 12, maximum antenna port 12}, { cell index 21, maximum antenna number 21, cell index 22, maximum antenna port 22}, { cell index 31, maximum antenna number 31, cell index 32, maximum antenna port 32}, { cell index 41, maximum antenna number 41, cell index 42, maximum antenna port 42}, { cell index 51, maximum antenna number 51, cell index 52, maximum antenna port 52 }; in this example, each group of cell index and maximum number of antennas is one configuration information. For example, the first configuration information is { cell index 11, maximum number of antennas 11, cell index 12, maximum antenna port 12}, and the fourth configuration information is { cell index 21, maximum number of antennas 21, cell index 22, maximum antenna port 22}.

The carrier switching pattern may include a carrier switching pattern 1 and a carrier switching pattern 2. One possible example of carrier switching pattern 1 is as follows: { cell index 11, maximum antenna number 11}, { cell index 12, maximum antenna number 12}, { cell index 13, maximum antenna number 13}, { cell index 14, maximum antenna number 14}, { cell index 15, maximum antenna number 15 }; wherein, each group of cell index and maximum antenna number is one configuration information. One possible example of carrier switching pattern 2 is as follows: { cell index 21, maximum antenna number 21}, { cell index 22, maximum antenna number 22}, { cell index 23, maximum antenna number 23}, { cell index 24, maximum antenna number 24}, { cell index 25, maximum antenna number 25 }; wherein, each group of cell index and maximum antenna number is one configuration information. In one possible implementation, the first configuration information includes second configuration information and third configuration information, and the fourth configuration information includes fifth configuration information and sixth configuration information. For example, the second configuration information is { cell index 11, maximum number of antennas 11}, the third configuration information is { cell index 21, maximum number of antennas 21}, the fifth configuration information is { cell index 12, maximum number of antennas 12}, and the sixth configuration information is { cell index 22, maximum number of antennas 22}. For another example, the second configuration information is { cell index 13, maximum number of antennas 13}, the third configuration information is { cell index 23, maximum number of antennas 23}, the fifth configuration information is { cell index 14, maximum number of antennas 14}, and the sixth configuration information is { cell index 24, maximum number of antennas 24}.

Fig. 2 only shows an example of how a terminal device determines how it is allowed to transmit an uplink signal on a first time unit and a second time unit. It will be appreciated that the terminal device may periodically determine how to transmit the upstream signal at each time unit in a similar manner.

It is understood that the method flow in fig. 2 is merely an example of carrier switching provided in the embodiments of the present application. The terminal device may transmit uplink signals on a certain cell or cells at one or more antenna ports at each granularity (e.g., first time unit and second time unit) at which it performs carrier switching. A terminal device may have two or more transmit chains (TX chains), and fig. 2 may be regarded as an example in which the terminal device performs carrier switching on two transmit chains. Examples of two carrier switching are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of carrier switching according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3 shows a case where the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit an uplink signal on a slot length of 0, a slot length of 1, a slot length of 2, … …, a slot length of N, wherein each slot length is a time unit, for example, each slot length is 1ms. As shown in fig. 3, the first transmission link allows uplink signals to be transmitted on the secondary cell 1 (Scell 1) with at most 1 antenna port at the slot length 0; no uplink signal is transmitted at the time slot length 1; allowing uplink signals to be transmitted on a secondary cell 1 (Scell 1) with at most 2 antenna ports at a slot length of 2; allowing uplink signals to be transmitted on the primary cell 0 (Pcell 0) with at most 2 antenna ports and allowing uplink signals to be transmitted on the secondary cell 1 (Scell 1) with at most 2 antenna ports at the slot length 3; allowing uplink signals to be transmitted on primary cell 0 with up to 1 antenna port at slot length 4. In fig. 3, slot length 0, slot length 1, slot lengths 2, … …, and slot length N are arranged in chronological order, and each slot length corresponds to one or more subcarrier intervals, for example, each slot length is 1ms. The subcarrier spacing of the primary cell 1 is 15Khz and the subcarrier spacing of the secondary cell 1 is 15Khz.

It should be appreciated that a terminal device transmitting uplink signals on any two adjacent slot lengths with a different number of antenna ports and/or on different cells may be considered as performing carrier switching.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another carrier switching provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 4 shows a case where the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit an uplink signal on a slot length of 0, a slot length of 1, a slot length of 2, and a slot length of … …, a slot length of N; wherein each time slot is one time unit in length. As shown in fig. 4, the second transmission link allows uplink signals to be transmitted on the secondary cell2 (Scell 2) with at most 1 antenna port in the second half of the slot length 0; allowing uplink signals to be transmitted on the secondary cell2 with at most 2 antenna ports in the latter half of the slot length 1; allowing uplink signals to be transmitted on a secondary cell3 (Scell 3) with at most 1 antenna port at a slot length of 2; the uplink signal is not allowed to be transmitted at the slot length 3 and the slot length 4. In fig. 4, slot length 0, slot length 1, slot lengths 2, … …, and slot length N are arranged in chronological order, and each slot length corresponds to one or more subcarrier intervals, for example, each slot length is 1ms. It should be appreciated that a terminal device transmitting uplink signals on any two adjacent slot lengths with a different number of antenna ports and/or on different cells may be considered as performing carrier switching. The sub-carrier spacing of the secondary cell2 is 30Khz and the sub-carrier spacing of the secondary cell3 is 30Khz. In some embodiments, the network side may configure different subcarrier spacings for different carriers for communication. It will be appreciated that different subcarrier spacing may be employed when the terminal device transmits uplink signals over different transmission links. For example, the subcarrier spacing of the primary cell 0 is 15Khz and the subcarrier spacing of the secondary cell2 is 30Khz.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in fig. 5 is one possible implementation of the method described in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

501. the terminal equipment determines that the first sending link is allowed to send the uplink signal on the first cell by M ports at the first time unit according to the first configuration information, and the second sending link is allowed to send the uplink signal on the second cell by N ports or the second sending link is not allowed to send the uplink signal.

In some embodiments, after performing step 501, the terminal device may send the uplink signal in a first time unit according to its actual requirements in a manner that it is allowed to send the uplink signal at, for example, 1 antenna port in the first cell and 1 antenna port in the second cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, where the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use when sending an uplink signal on the first cell; the first configuration information further includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting the uplink signal in the second cell, or the first configuration information further includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit. As can be seen from the above example of the carrier switching pattern, one example of the first configuration information is { cell index 11, maximum number of antennas 11, cell index 12, maximum number of antennas 12}, where cell index 11 is an index of a first cell, cell index 12 is an index of a second cell, maximum number of antennas 11 is first number information, and maximum number of antennas 12 is second number information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes second configuration information and third configuration information, where the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, and the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that a first transmission link of the terminal device allows to use by transmitting an uplink signal on the first cell; the third configuration information includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link of the terminal device allows to use for transmitting the uplink signal in the second cell, or the third configuration information includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the first time unit. As can be seen from the above examples of carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2, one example of the second configuration information is { cell index 11, maximum number of antennas 11}, and one example of the third configuration information is { cell index 21, maximum number of antennas 21}; the cell index 11 is an index of a first cell, the cell index 12 is an index of a second cell, the maximum number of antennas 11 is first number information, and the maximum number of antennas 12 is second number information. For example, the second configuration information includes: cell index= 1,max antenna ports =2; wherein, cell index=1 indicates the first cell, that is, an index of 1,max antenna ports =2 of the first cell indicates that the maximum number of antenna ports that the first transmission link is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the first cell is 2. Also for example, the first configuration information includes: cell index=1, anticenna ports=2; wherein, cell index=1 indicates the first cell, that is, the index of the first cell is 1, and anticnna ports=2 indicates the number of actual antenna ports that the first transmission link is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell is 2.

It should be understood that the maximum transmission capability of the terminal device cannot be exceeded when the base station schedules or configures uplink signal transmission. For example, the first configuration information indicates that the terminal device may transmit uplink signals at a maximum of 2 antenna ports in the first cell and indicates that the terminal device may transmit uplink signals at a maximum of 1 antenna port in the third cell at the first time unit; the maximum number of antenna ports that the terminal device can use in parallel is 2 (i.e., only 2 capacity at maximum). In this example, since the maximum capacity of the terminal device is only 2, the base station cannot exceed the maximum transmission capacity of the terminal device (i.e. the maximum number of antenna ports that can be used in parallel is 2) when scheduling or configuring uplink transmission, i.e. the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals with 2 antenna ports on the first cell and 1 antenna port on the third cell at the same time. If 2 cells are scheduled or configured concurrently, only uplink signals can be sent on the first cell with 1 antenna port and on the third cell with 1 antenna port. If only the first cell or the third cell is scheduled or configured to transmit the uplink signal, the uplink signal may be transmitted on the first cell or the third cell by using the 2 antenna port.

502. And the terminal equipment determines that the first transmitting link is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the third cell by using the P antenna ports or the first transmitting link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the fourth cell by using the Q antenna ports or the second transmitting link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the second time unit according to the fourth configuration information.

And P and Q are integers greater than 0, and the sum of P and Q is less than or equal to the maximum number of antenna ports which can be used in parallel by the terminal equipment.

In some embodiments, after performing step 502, the terminal device may send the uplink signal in the second time unit in a manner that it is allowed according to its actual needs, e.g. send the uplink signal with 1 antenna port in the third cell and 1 antenna port in the fourth cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the fourth configuration information includes an index of the third cell and third number information, where the third number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to use when transmitting the uplink signal on the third cell; the fourth configuration information further includes an index of the fourth cell and fourth number information, where the fourth number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting the uplink signal in the fourth cell, or the fourth configuration information further includes a first identifier (e.g., NA), where the first identifier indicates that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the second time unit. As can be seen from the above example of the carrier switching pattern, one example of the fourth configuration information is { cell index 21, maximum antenna number 21, cell index 22, maximum antenna port 22}, where cell index 21 is the index of the first cell, cell index 22 is the index of the second cell, maximum antenna number 21 is the first number information, and maximum antenna number 22 is the second number information.

In a possible implementation manner, the fourth configuration information includes fifth configuration information and sixth configuration information, where the fifth configuration information includes an index of the third cell and third number information, and the third number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the first transmission link of the terminal device allows to use when transmitting the uplink signal on the third cell; the sixth configuration information includes an index of the fourth cell and fourth number information, where the fourth number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to use to transmit the uplink signal in the fourth cell, or the sixth configuration information includes a first identifier (e.g., NA) indicating that the second transmission link is not allowed to transmit the uplink signal in the second time unit. As can be seen from the above examples of carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2, one example of the fifth configuration information is { cell index 12, maximum number of antennas 12}, and one example of the sixth configuration information is { cell index 22, maximum number of antennas 22}; the cell index 12 is an index of a third cell, the cell index 22 is an index of a fourth cell, the maximum number of antennas 12 is third number information, and the maximum number of antennas 22 is fourth number information. For example, the fifth configuration information includes: cell index= 0,max antenna ports =2; wherein, cell index=0 indicates the third cell, that is, the index of the third cell is 0,max antenna ports =2, which indicates that the maximum number of antenna ports allowed to be used by the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal on the third cell is 2. Also for example, the fifth configuration information includes: cell index=0, anticenna ports=1; wherein, cell index=0 indicates the third cell, that is, the index of the third cell is 0, and anticna ports=2 indicates the number of practical antenna ports that the terminal device allows to use to send uplink signals on the third cell is 2.

In this embodiment, the terminal device may determine, according to configuration information (e.g., the first configuration information), which cell it is allowed to transmit uplink signals in each time unit and using several ports. In this way, the terminal device can send uplink signals in different cells in different time units instead of always using the same cell to send uplink signals, so that uplink frequency spectrums of different cells can be better utilized to improve uplink communication quality. Because the configuration information is configured by the network device (for example, the base station) for the terminal device, the terminal device performs uplink signal transmission according to the configuration information, so that the network device and the terminal device can keep uplink carrier switching consistency. In addition, the terminal device performs carrier switching with one or more carriers as granularity (for example, the duration corresponding to the first time unit), which can give consideration to scheduling flexibility.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in fig. 6 is one possible implementation of the method described in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 6, the method includes:

601. the terminal device receives first configuration information from the network device.

One possible implementation of step 601 is as follows: the terminal device receives RRC signaling from the network device, the RRC signaling including first configuration information and other configuration information (e.g., fourth configuration information), the RRC signaling being used to configure the carrier switching pattern.

602. The terminal device configures a carrier switching pattern 1 and a carrier switching pattern 2 according to the first configuration information.

One possible implementation of step 602 is as follows: the terminal device configures a carrier switching pattern 1 and a carrier switching pattern 2 according to RRC signaling from the network device, the carrier switching pattern 1 indicating how the first transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on each time unit, and the carrier switching pattern 2 indicating how the second transmission link of the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on each time unit. The terminal device can learn (know) on which carrier or carriers uplink signaling can be performed at any time unit through the first transmission link according to carrier switching pattern 1. The terminal device can learn (know) on which carrier or carriers the uplink signal transmission can be performed over the second transmission link at any time unit according to carrier switching pattern 2. The carrier switching pattern 1 may occur periodically in the time domain. The carrier switching pattern 1 may be a set of configuration information including, for example, second configuration information and fifth configuration information. The carrier switching pattern 2 may be a set of configuration information including, for example, third configuration information and sixth configuration information.

The network device (e.g., base station) may configure the carrier switching pattern based on a predetermined slot structure to enable the terminal device to know on which carrier(s) the uplink transmission should be performed according to the carrier switching pattern. When the terminal device has a plurality of transmission links, a plurality of carrier switching patterns may be configured in order to be able to explicitly instruct on which carrier or carriers the plurality of TX chain performs uplink signal transmission. Each carrier switching pattern may be a set of { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports } information, where the number of { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports } in a set is L (where L is an integer greater than 1), and each { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports } information may correspond to a slot length of the reference cell. The carrier switching pattern is periodically repeated in the time domain. The set of { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports } information may be a set of configuration information; if the number of { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports } in a group is L, the group of { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports } information includes L configuration information, for example, the first configuration information corresponds to two { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports }, and the second configuration information corresponds to one { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports }.

It will be appreciated that carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2 are two different carrier switching patterns. The terminal device may perform carrier switching on the first transmission link according to carrier switching pattern 1 and may perform carrier switching on the second transmission link according to carrier switching pattern 2. That is, each transmission link of the terminal device corresponds to one carrier switching pattern. Each carrier switching pattern may be a set of { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports or actual number of antenna ports } information.

603. The terminal device transmits an uplink signal through the first transmission link according to the carrier switching pattern 1.

The terminal device may send the uplink signal through the first transmission link according to the carrier switching pattern 1: the terminal device periodically transmits an uplink signal according to the configuration information in the carrier switching pattern 1. Since the terminal device can know (know) on which carrier or carriers the uplink signal transmission can be performed through the first transmission link at any time unit according to the carrier switching pattern 1, the terminal device can transmit the uplink signal according to its own uplink signal transmission requirement and the carrier switching pattern 1.

604. The terminal device transmits the uplink signal through the second transmission link according to the carrier switching pattern 2.

The terminal device may send the uplink signal through the second transmission link according to the carrier switching pattern 2: the terminal device periodically transmits the uplink signal according to the configuration information in the carrier switching pattern 2. Since the terminal device can know (know) on which carrier or carriers the uplink signal transmission can be performed through the second transmission link at any time unit according to the carrier switching pattern 2, the terminal device can transmit the uplink signal according to its own uplink signal transmission requirement and the carrier switching pattern 2.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment sends an uplink signal through a first sending link according to the carrier switching pattern 1; the terminal equipment transmits uplink signals through a second transmission link according to the carrier switching pattern 2; the uplink frequency spectrum of different cells can be better utilized through carrier switching so as to improve the uplink communication quality.

The main principle of the communication method provided by the application is to introduce a mechanism for switching the semi-static configuration uplink carrier. The network device may configure the terminal device with one or more carrier switching patterns through higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). Each carrier switching pattern may have a plurality of configuration patterns (config patterns), and a unique cell identifier (cell ID) may be configured in each config pattern (i.e., a configuration information) and the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports allowed to be transmitted in the cell. The terminal device may know on which carrier or carriers the uplink transmission should be performed according to the carrier switching pattern, but the terminal device does not have to perform the uplink transmission according to the carrier switching pattern. For example, one carrier switch pattern configured by the terminal device indicates that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on cell 0 with a maximum of one antenna port in time slot 4; if the terminal device does not need to transmit an uplink signal in time slot 4, it is not necessary to transmit an uplink signal in time slot 4 with a maximum of one antenna port in cell 0.

Some possible examples of carrier switching patterns are presented below.

Table 1 shows an example of a carrier switching pattern provided in the embodiment of the present application and a signal transmission/reception situation on a cell corresponding to the example.

TABLE 1

Table 1 shows two carrier switching patterns, i.e., semi-static configuration 0 (semi-static configuration 0) and semi-static configuration 1 (semi-static configuration 1). Semi-static configuration 0 may be considered carrier switching pattern 1 and semi-static configuration 1 may be considered carrier switching pattern 2. Table 1 may also be considered to show one carrier switching pattern, i.e. carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2 belong to one carrier switching pattern. Carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2 in table 1 may refer to the slot length of the cell as granularity, for example, granularity as Pcell slot. The slot length of the reference cell may refer to a slot length corresponding to an uplink subcarrier spacing of the reference cell. In table 1, slot 0, slot 1, slot 2, slot 3, slot4 are 5 time slots that are consecutive in time, each time slot corresponds to one or more subcarrier intervals employed by the reference cell, pcell 0 represents primary cell 0, scell 1 represents secondary cell 1, scell 2 represents secondary cell 2, scell 3 represents secondary cell 3. The uplink subcarrier spacing of the primary cell 0 and the secondary cell 1 is 15Khz, and the uplink subcarrier spacing of the secondary cell 2 and the secondary cell 3 is 30Khz.

In table 1, each carrier switching pattern includes 5 { cell index, maximum antenna port number } information (i.e., configuration information) corresponding to the slot length of the reference cell, each of which corresponds to the carrier switching information of the slot of one reference cell and the maximum transmitting antenna port number information on the carrier. For example:

slot0, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1, maximum antenna port number=1 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 2 is { cell index=2, maximum number of antenna ports=1 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal with a maximum 1 antenna port on the secondary cell 1 and send an uplink signal with a maximum 1 antenna port on the secondary cell 2 according to the configuration information of slot 0.

slot1, configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { NA }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=2, maximum number of antenna ports=2 }. The terminal equipment can send uplink signals on the secondary cell 2 by using the maximum 2 antenna port according to the configuration information of the slot2, and can not send uplink signals on other carriers.

slot2, configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1, maximum antenna port number=2 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=3, maximum number of antenna ports=1 }. The terminal device may send the uplink signal with the maximum 2 antenna ports on the secondary cell 1 and send the uplink signal with the maximum 1 antenna ports on the secondary cell 3 according to the configuration information of slot 3. In some embodiments, since the terminal device has only 2 transmission capability at maximum, when the base station is required to schedule or configure uplink transmission, the maximum transmission capability of the terminal device cannot be exceeded, that is, uplink signals are not allowed to be transmitted with 2 antenna ports on the

secondary cell

1 and 1 antenna on the secondary cell 3. If 2 cells are scheduled or configured concurrently, only the 1 antenna port on the secondary cell 1 and the 1 antenna port on the secondary cell 3 can transmit uplink signals. If only 1 cell is scheduled or configured to transmit an uplink signal, the terminal device may transmit the uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 or the secondary cell 3 through a 2 antenna port.

slot3, configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=0, maximum antenna port number=2 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=1, maximum number of antenna ports=2 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 0 with a maximum of 2 antenna ports and send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 with a maximum of 2 antenna ports according to the configuration information of slot 3. In some embodiments, since the terminal device has only 2 transmission capability at maximum, when the base station is required to schedule or configure uplink transmission, the maximum transmission capability of the terminal device cannot be exceeded, that is, uplink signals are not allowed to be transmitted with 2 antenna ports on the

secondary cell

0 and 2 antennas on the secondary cell 1. If 2 cells are scheduled or configured concurrently, only the 1 antenna port on the secondary cell 0 and the 1 antenna port on the secondary cell 1 can transmit uplink signals. If only 1 cell is scheduled or configured to transmit an uplink signal, the terminal device may transmit the uplink signal on the secondary cell 0 or the secondary cell 1 through a 2 antenna port.

slot4, configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=0, maximum antenna port number=1 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=0, maximum number of antenna ports=1 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 0 with the maximum antenna port 1 according to the configuration information of slot 4. When the terminal device does not need to transmit an uplink signal at slot4 (any slot) according to the actual uplink transmission requirement, the terminal device may not transmit the uplink signal at slot 4.

Table 1 also shows the signaling of Pcell0, scell 1, scell 2, scell 3 on slot0, slot1, slot2, slot3, slot4, respectively. For example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal at slot0, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal at slot0, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal at the first half slot length of slot0, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal at the second half slot length of slot0, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal at slot 0. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal in slot1, scell 1 transmits a downlink signal in slot1, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot1, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the second half slot length of slot1, and Scell 3 transmits an uplink signal in slot 1. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal at slot2, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal at slot2, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal at the first half slot length of slot2, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal at the second half slot length of slot2, and Scell 3 transmits an uplink signal at slot 2. For another example, pcell0 transmits an uplink signal in slot3, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal in slot3, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot3, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot3, scell 3 transmits an uplink signal in the first half slot length of slot3, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal in the second half slot length of slot 3. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal in slot4, scell 1 transmits a downlink signal in slot4, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot4, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot4, and Scell 3 transmits an uplink signal in slot 4. In slot2, the terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 with a maximum of 2 antenna ports and send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 3 with a maximum of 1 antenna ports according to configuration information of slot 3. In table 1, the uplink signal corresponding to the second half slot length of the slot2 of the Scell 2 is sent by other terminal devices on the Scell 2.

Table 2 shows another example of the carrier switching pattern provided in the embodiment of the present application and the signal transceiving cases on the cells corresponding to the example.

TABLE 2

Table 2 shows two carrier switching patterns, i.e., semi-static configuration 0 (semi-static configuration 0) and semi-static configuration 1 (semi-static configuration 1). Semi-static configuration 0 may be considered carrier switching pattern 1 and semi-static configuration 1 may be considered carrier switching pattern 2. Table 2 may also be considered to show one carrier switching pattern, i.e. carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2 belong to one carrier switching pattern. Carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2 in table 2 may refer to the slot length of cell 1 as granularity, e.g., as granularity pcell slot. In table 2, slot 0, slot 1, slot 2, slot 3, slot4 are 5 time slots that are consecutive in time, each time slot corresponds to one or more subcarrier intervals employed by the reference cell, pcell 0 represents primary cell 0, scell 1 represents secondary cell 1, scell 2 represents secondary cell 2, scell 3 represents secondary cell 3. The uplink subcarrier spacing of the primary cell 0 and the secondary cell 1 is 15Khz, and the uplink subcarrier spacing of the secondary cell 2 and the secondary cell 3 is 30Khz.

In table 2, each carrier switching pattern includes 5 { cell index, actual antenna port number } information (i.e., configuration information) corresponding to the slot length of the reference cell, each of which corresponds to the carrier switching information of the slot of one reference cell and the actual number of antenna ports on the carrier. For example:

slot0, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1, actual antenna port number=1 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 2 is { cell index=2, actual number of antenna ports=1 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 with the 1 antenna port according to the configuration information of slot0, and send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 2 with the 1 antenna port.

slot1, configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { NA }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=2, actual number of antenna ports=2 }. The terminal equipment can send uplink signals on the auxiliary cell 2 by using the 2 antenna ports according to the configuration information of the slot2, and can not send uplink signals on other carriers.

slot2, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1, actual antenna port number=2 }; the configuration information in semi-static configuration 1 is { NA }. The terminal equipment can send uplink signals on the auxiliary cell 1 through the 2 antenna ports according to the configuration information of the slot3, and can not send uplink signals on other carriers.

slot3, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=0, actual antenna port number=2 }; the configuration information in semi-static configuration 1 is { NA }. The terminal equipment can send uplink signals on the auxiliary cell 0 through the 2 antenna ports according to the configuration information of slot3, and can not send uplink signals on other carriers.

slot4, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=0, actual antenna port number=1 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=0, actual antenna port number=1 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell0 with the antenna port 1 according to the configuration information of slot 4. When the terminal device does not need to transmit the uplink signal at slot4 according to the actual uplink transmission requirement, the terminal device may not transmit the uplink signal at slot 4.

Table 2 also shows the signaling of Pcell0, scell 1, scell 2, scell 3 on slot0, slot1, slot2, slot3, slot4, respectively. For example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal at slot0, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal at slot0, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal at the first half slot length of slot0, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal at the second half slot length of slot0, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal at slot 0. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal in slot1, scell 1 transmits a downlink signal in slot1, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot1, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot1, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal in slot 1. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal at slot2, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal at slot2, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal at the first half slot length of slot2, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal at the second half slot length of slot2, and Scell 3 transmits an uplink signal at slot 2. For another example, pcell0 transmits an uplink signal in slot3, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal in slot3, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot3, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot3, scell 3 transmits an uplink signal in the first half slot length of slot3, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal in the second half slot length of slot 3. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal in slot4, scell 1 transmits a downlink signal in slot4, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot4, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot4, and Scell 3 transmits an uplink signal in slot 4. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 with the 2 antenna ports according to the configuration information of slot 2. In table 2, uplink signals corresponding to Scell 2 and Scell 3 in slot2 are sent by other terminal devices in Scell 2 and Scell 3.

Table 3 shows another example of the carrier switching pattern provided in the embodiment of the present application and the signal transceiving cases on the cells corresponding to the example.

Table 3 shows two carrier switching patterns, i.e., semi-static configuration 0 (semi-static configuration 0) and semi-static configuration 1 (semi-static configuration 1). Semi-static configuration 0 may be considered carrier switching pattern 1 and semi-static configuration 1 may be considered carrier switching pattern 2. Table 3 may also be considered to show one carrier switching pattern, i.e. carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2 belong to one carrier switching pattern. Carrier switching pattern 1 and carrier switching pattern 2 in table 3 may be at granularity of a slot length corresponding to the maximum subcarrier spacing. In table 3, slot 0, slot 1, slot 2, slot 3, slot4 are 5 time slots consecutive in time, each slot corresponding to one maximum subcarrier spacing. Each carrier switching pattern may include a plurality of { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports/actual number of antenna ports } information (i.e., configuration information) corresponding to a slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval, where each information corresponds to carrier switching information of a slot corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval and information of a maximum number of transmitting antenna ports (or actual number of antenna ports) on a carrier. Table 1 provides an example in which the carrier switching pattern contains { cell index, maximum number of antenna ports } information. Table 2 provides an example in which the carrier switching pattern contains { cell index, actual number of antenna ports } information.

TABLE 3 Table 3

For convenience of description, only { cell index } information included in the carrier switching pattern is shown in table 3. For example:

the first half slot length of slot0, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1 }; the configuration information in semi-static configuration 2 is { NA }. The terminal device may send uplink signals on the secondary cell 1 and may not send uplink signals on other carriers.

The latter half slot length of slot0, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 2 is { cell index=2 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 and an uplink signal on the secondary cell 2 according to the configuration information.

The first half slot length of slot1, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { NA }; the configuration information in semi-static configuration 1 is { NA }. According to the configuration information, the terminal device cannot transmit an uplink signal on any carrier.

The latter half of slot1 has a slot length, and the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { NA }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 2 is { cell index=2 }. The terminal device may send uplink signals on the secondary cell 2 according to the configuration information, and may not send uplink signals on other carriers.

The first half slot length of slot2, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=3 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 and an uplink signal on the secondary cell 3 according to the configuration information.

The second half slot length of slot2, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=1 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 2 is { cell index=3 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 and an uplink signal on the secondary cell 3 according to the configuration information.

The first half slot length of slot3, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=0 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=1 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the primary cell 0 and an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 according to the configuration information.

The second half slot length of slot3, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=0 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 2 is { cell index=1 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the primary cell 0 and an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 according to the configuration information.

The first half slot length of slot4, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { NA }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 1 is { cell index=3 }. According to the configuration information, the terminal device may transmit an uplink signal on the secondary cell 3, and may not transmit an uplink signal on other carriers.

The second half slot length of slot4, the configuration information in semi-static configuration 0 is { cell index=2 }; the configuration information in the semi-static configuration 2 is { cell index=3 }. The terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 2 and an uplink signal on the secondary cell 3 according to the configuration information.

Table 3 also shows the signaling of Pcell0, scell 1, scell 2, scell 3 on slot0, slot1, slot2, slot3, slot4, respectively. For example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal at slot0, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal at slot0, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal at the first half slot length of slot0, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal at the second half slot length of slot0, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal at slot 0. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal in slot1, scell 1 transmits a downlink signal in slot1, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot1, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot1, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal in slot 1. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal at slot2, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal at slot2, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal at the first half slot length of slot2, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal at the second half slot length of slot2, and Scell 3 transmits an uplink signal at slot 2. For another example, pcell0 transmits an uplink signal in slot3, scell 1 transmits an uplink signal in slot3, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot3, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot3, scell 3 transmits an uplink signal in the first half slot length of slot3, and Scell 3 transmits a downlink signal in the second half slot length of slot 3. For another example, pcell0 transmits a downlink signal in slot4, scell 1 transmits a downlink signal in slot4, scell 2 transmits a downlink signal in the first half slot length of slot4, scell 2 transmits an uplink signal in the second half slot length of slot4, and Scell 3 transmits an uplink signal in slot 4. In the second half of the slot length of slot2, the terminal device may send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 1 and send an uplink signal on the secondary cell 3 according to the configuration information. In table 3, the uplink signal corresponding to the second half slot length of the slot2 of the Scell 2 is sent by other terminal devices in the Scell 2.

Table 3 differs from table 1 (or table 2) in that the granularity at which the terminal device performs carrier switching is different. In practical application, the granularity of carrier switching executed by the terminal equipment can be flexibly configured according to practical requirements. For example, one slot (1 ms) corresponds to each configuration information in table 1 (or table 2), and half slot (0.5 ms) corresponds to each configuration information in table 3. It should be appreciated that the terminal device may determine on which carrier or carriers to transmit the uplink signal in any time slot based on the carrier switching pattern. The carrier switching pattern may be periodic so that the network device does not have to constantly instruct the terminal device on which carrier or carriers to send the uplink signal.

The foregoing embodiments mainly describe the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application from the terminal device side. The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below from the network device side.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the method includes:

701. the network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

One possible implementation of step 701 is as follows: the network device sends RRC signaling to the terminal device, the RRC signaling containing the first configuration information and other configuration information (e.g., fourth configuration information), the RRC signaling being used to configure the carrier switching pattern.

702. The network device receives an uplink signal from the terminal device.

The network device may receive the uplink signal transmitted by the terminal device through the first transmission link according to the carrier switching pattern 1 and the uplink signal transmitted through the second transmission link according to the carrier switching pattern 2.

In the embodiment of the application, the network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device configures the carrier switching pattern according to the first configuration information.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the communication apparatus may be used to perform the operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment. For example, the communication apparatus may be used to perform the methods performed by the terminal devices shown in fig. 2, 5, 6. As shown in fig. 8, the communication apparatus includes:

a determining unit 801, configured to determine, according to the first configuration information, that the terminal device is allowed to transmit an uplink signal on the first cell at the first time unit, and that the terminal device is allowed to transmit an uplink signal on the second cell or is not allowed to transmit an uplink signal.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit 801 is specifically configured to determine, according to the first configuration information, that the terminal device is allowed to transmit, at the first time unit, an uplink signal on the first cell with M antenna ports, where M is an integer greater than 0.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit 801 is specifically configured to determine, according to the first configuration information, that the first time unit allows the first transmission link of the terminal device to transmit uplink signals on the first cell with M antenna ports, and allows the second transmission link of the terminal device to transmit uplink signals on the second cell with N antenna ports or does not allow the second transmission link to transmit uplink signals, where M and N are integers greater than 0.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes: a receiving unit 802, configured to receive the first configuration information from the network device.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes: the communication device further includes:

an execution unit 803, configured to execute or not execute uplink switching when the number of uplink carriers and/or antenna ports used for transmitting the uplink signal in the first time unit and the uplink signal in the second time unit are different; the second time unit is the next time unit adjacent to the first time unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 802 is further configured to receive a slot length configuration instruction from a network device; the time slot length configuration instruction is used for the terminal equipment to configure the time slot length for executing cell or carrier switching.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the communication apparatus may be used to perform the operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiment. For example, the communication apparatus may be used to perform the method performed by the network device shown in fig. 7. As shown in fig. 9, the communication apparatus includes:

a transmitting unit 901, configured to transmit first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used for the terminal device to determine that an uplink signal is allowed to be transmitted on a first cell in a first time unit, and that an uplink signal is allowed to be transmitted on a second cell or not allowed to be transmitted.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes: a receiving unit 902, configured to receive an uplink signal from a terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 901 is further configured to send a slot length configuration instruction to a terminal device; the time slot length configuration instruction is used for the terminal equipment to configure the time slot length for executing cell or carrier switching.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication means in fig. 10 may be the above-described terminal device. The communication means in fig. 10 may be the above-described network device.

As shown in fig. 10. The communication device 100 includes at least one processor 1020 and a transceiver 1010.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 1020 and transceiver 1010 may be used to perform the functions or operations performed by the terminal device described above, and the like. In other embodiments of the present application, the processor 1020 and transceiver 1010 may be used to perform the functions or operations performed by the network devices described above, and the like.

The transceiver 1010 is used to communicate with other devices/apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 1020 utilizes the transceiver 1010 to transmit and receive data and/or signaling and is used to implement the methods of the method embodiments described above. The processor 1020 may be used to perform operations other than transceiving operations.

Optionally, the communication device 100 may further comprise at least one memory 1030 for storing program instructions and/or data. Memory 1030 is coupled to processor 1020. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms for information interaction between the devices, units, or modules. Processor 1020 may operate in conjunction with memory 1030. Processor 1020 may execute program instructions stored in memory 1030. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

The specific connection medium between the transceiver 1010, the processor 1020, and the memory 1030 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 1030, the processor 1020 and the transceiver 1010 are connected by a bus 1040 in fig. 10, where the bus is indicated by a thick line in fig. 10, and the connection manner between other components is merely illustrative and not limited thereto. The bus may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 10, but not only one bus or one type of bus.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 110 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the communication device shown in fig. 11 includes a logic circuit 1101 and an interface 1102. The determining unit 801 and the executing unit 803 in fig. 8 may be implemented by the logic circuit 1101, the receiving unit 802 in fig. 8, and the transmitting unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 in fig. 9 may be implemented by the interface 1102. The logic circuit 1101 may be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit, or a system on chip (SoC) chip, and the interface 1102 may be a communication interface, an input/output interface, or the like. In the embodiment of the application, the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to specific connection manners of logic circuits and interfaces.

In some embodiments of the present application, the logic circuits and interfaces may be used to perform the functions or operations performed by the terminal device described above, and the like.

In other embodiments of the present application, the logic and interfaces may be used to perform the functions or operations performed by the network devices described above, and the like.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium having computer code stored therein, which when run on a computer causes the computer to perform the method of the above-described embodiments.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer code or a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the communication method in the above-described embodiments to be performed.

The application also provides a communication system which comprises the terminal equipment and the network equipment.

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the changes and substitutions are intended to be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the terminal equipment determines that the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the first cell in the first time unit and the uplink signal is allowed to be sent on the second cell or not allowed to be sent according to the first configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining, by the terminal device, that the uplink signal is allowed to be transmitted on the first cell at the first time unit based on the first configuration information comprises:

And the terminal equipment determines that the uplink signals are allowed to be sent on the first cell by M antenna ports in the first time unit according to the first configuration information, wherein M is an integer greater than 0.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit;

the first configuration information further indicates that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell in the first time unit and the terminal device is allowed to transmit the maximum number of antenna ports or the actual number of antenna ports used by the uplink signals on the second cell, or the first configuration information further indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first configuration information comprises second configuration information and third configuration information, the second configuration information indicating a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit;

The third configuration information indicates that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell in the first time unit and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the second cell, or indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the allowing for transmission of the uplink signal on the second cell comprises:

and allowing the terminal equipment to send uplink signals on the second cell by using N antenna ports, wherein N is an integer greater than 0, and the sum of M and N is smaller than or equal to the maximum number of the antenna ports which can be used in parallel by the terminal equipment.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell, and first number information, and the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use when transmitting an uplink signal on the first cell;

the first configuration information further includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the second cell, or the first configuration information further includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell and first number information, and the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell;

the third configuration information includes an index of the second cell and second number information, where the second number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the second cell, or the third configuration information includes a first identifier, where the first identifier indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to transmit uplink signals in the first time unit.

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

the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the network device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

the terminal equipment executes or does not execute uplink switching when the number of uplink carriers and/or antenna ports adopted by the uplink signal sent by the first time unit and the uplink signal sent by the second time unit is different; the second time unit is a next time unit adjacent to the first time unit.

10. The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first configuration information is included in a carrier switching pattern indicating a periodic uplink carrier switching.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a subcarrier interval adopted by the reference cell of the terminal device, or the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval adopted by the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal.

12. A method of communication, comprising:

the network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device, where the first configuration information is used for the terminal device to determine that the terminal device allows uplink signals to be sent on the first cell and allows uplink signals to be sent on the second cell or does not allow uplink signals to be sent.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first configuration information is specifically used for the terminal device to determine that uplink signals are allowed to be transmitted on the first cell with M antenna ports at the first time unit, where M is an integer greater than 0.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein,

the first configuration information indicates the maximum antenna port number or the actual antenna port number which is allowed to be used by the terminal equipment to transmit uplink signals on the first cell in the first time unit and the terminal equipment to transmit uplink signals on the first cell;

15. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the first configuration information comprises second configuration information and third configuration information, the second configuration information indicating a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit;

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein,

the first configuration information comprises an index of the first cell and first number information, and the first number information comprises the maximum antenna port number or the actual antenna port number which is allowed to be used by the uplink signal sent by the terminal equipment on the first cell;

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell, and first number information, and the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use when transmitting uplink signals on the first cell;

18. The method according to any of claims 12 to 17, wherein the first configuration information is included in a carrier switching pattern indicating a periodic uplink carrier switching.

19. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a subcarrier interval adopted by the reference cell of the terminal device, or the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval adopted by the terminal device to transmit the uplink signal.

20. A communication device, comprising:

and the determining unit is used for determining that the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the first cell at the first time unit and the terminal equipment is allowed to transmit the uplink signal on the second cell or not allowed to transmit the uplink signal according to the first configuration information.

21. The communication device of claim 20, wherein the communication device is configured to,

the determining unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the first configuration information, that the terminal device is allowed to transmit, at the first time unit, an uplink signal on the first cell with M antenna ports, where M is an integer greater than 0.

22. The communication apparatus according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the first configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit;

23. The communication apparatus according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the first configuration information comprises second configuration information and third configuration information, the second configuration information indicating a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit;

24. The communication apparatus of claim 21, wherein the allowing for transmission of the uplink signal on the second cell comprises:

25. The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell, and first number information, and the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use to transmit an uplink signal on the first cell;

26. The communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell, and first number information, and the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the first cell;

27. The communication device according to any one of claims 20 to 26, characterized in that the communication device further comprises:

and the receiving unit is used for receiving the first configuration information from the network equipment.

28. The communication device according to any one of claims 20 to 26, characterized in that the communication device further comprises:

the execution unit is used for executing or not executing uplink switching when the number of uplink carriers and/or antenna ports adopted by the uplink signal sent by the first time unit and the uplink signal sent by the second time unit is different; the second time unit is a next time unit adjacent to the first time unit.

29. The communication apparatus according to any of claims 20 to 27, wherein the first configuration information is included in a carrier switching pattern indicating a periodic uplink carrier switching.

30. The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 20 to 27, wherein the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a subcarrier interval adopted by a reference cell of the terminal device, or the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval adopted by the terminal device to transmit an uplink signal.

31. A communication device, comprising:

and the sending unit is used for sending first configuration information to the terminal equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for determining that the terminal equipment allows sending the uplink signal on the first cell and allows sending the uplink signal on the second cell or does not allow sending the uplink signal at the first time unit.

32. The communication apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the first configuration information is specifically used for the terminal device to determine that uplink signals are allowed to be transmitted on the first cell with M antenna ports at the first time unit, where M is an integer greater than 0.

33. The communication apparatus according to claim 31 or 32, wherein the first configuration information indicates a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit;

34. The communication apparatus according to claim 31 or 32, wherein the first configuration information comprises second configuration information and third configuration information, the second configuration information indicating a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell and the terminal device is allowed to transmit uplink signals on the first cell at the first time unit;

35. The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 31 to 33, wherein the first configuration information includes an index of the first cell, first number information including a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use to transmit an uplink signal on the first cell;

36. The communication apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the second configuration information includes an index of the first cell, and first number information, and the first number information includes a maximum number of antenna ports or an actual number of antenna ports that the terminal device is allowed to use for transmitting uplink signals on the first cell;

37. The communication apparatus according to any of claims 31-36, wherein the first configuration information is included in a carrier switching pattern, the carrier switching pattern indicating periodic uplink carrier switching.

38. The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 31 to 37, wherein the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a subcarrier interval adopted by a reference cell of the terminal device, or the duration of the first time unit is a time slot length corresponding to a maximum subcarrier interval adopted by the terminal device to transmit an uplink signal.

39. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium has stored therein a computer program comprising program instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 19.