CN116761236A

CN116761236A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN116761236A
Application number: CN202210397041.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 薛祎凡; 薛丽霞; 徐海博
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-03-03
Filing date: 2022-04-15
Publication date: 2023-09-15

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus for reducing power consumption of a terminal device. The network equipment determines first DCI, sends the first DCI to the terminal equipment, and then the terminal equipment determines that PDCCH is not monitored in a first duration according to the first DCI; the first DCI is used for scheduling a padding data packet, and indicates that the terminal device does not monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH in a first duration. In this way, when no service arrives at the terminal device, the network device may instruct the terminal device to not monitor the PDCCH for the first duration by scheduling DCI of the padding data packet, thereby reducing power consumption of the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and device

The present application claims priority from chinese patent office, application number 202210204563.7, chinese patent application entitled "method for indicating skip of PDCCH and search space switching" filed on month 03 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communications method and apparatus.

Background

Before the network device and the terminal device perform data transmission, the network device may send data scheduling information, such as PDCCH, to the terminal device, and in order to avoid losing the scheduling information, the terminal device needs to monitor PDCCH frequently according to the configuration of the network device. And the behavior that the terminal device frequently monitors the PDCCH may result in higher power consumption of the terminal device. At present, research on power consumption saving of terminal equipment is becoming more and more popular, and a detailed optimization scheme for reducing the power consumption of the terminal equipment becomes an industry research direction.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for reducing the power consumption of terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a method of communication, the method may comprise: after receiving first downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) from a network device, a terminal device determines that PDCCH is not monitored in the first duration according to the first DCI; the first DCI is used for scheduling a padding data packet, and indicates that the terminal device does not monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH in a first duration.

By the method, when the terminal equipment does not arrive, the network equipment can instruct the terminal equipment not to monitor the PDCCH in the first duration by scheduling the DCI filled with the data packet, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is reduced.

In one possible design, the first DCI is used to schedule a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH). In this way, the first DCI may instruct the terminal device to not monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH for the first duration by scheduling a downlink filler packet.

In one possible design, the first DCI is a cell radio network temporary identity (cell-radio network temporary identity, C-RNTI) -scrambled DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2; or the first DCI is a DCI format 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a modulation coding mode cell specific radio network temporary identifier (modulation and coding scheme-cell-radio network temporary identifier, MCS-C-RNTI); alternatively, the first DCI is DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2 configured to schedule scrambling of a radio network temporary identifier (configured scheduling-radio network temporary identity, CS-RNTI). Thus, the first DCI can be flexibly realized through the downlink DCI.

In one possible design, the terminal device receives a PDSCH from the network device, where the PDSCH includes a medium access control sub-protocol data unit (media access control sub protocol data unit, MAC sub-PDU), and the corresponding logical channel label (logical channel identify, LCID). To achieve the network device scheduling of downstream fill packets.

In one possible design, the first DCI is used to schedule a physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH). In this way, the first DCI may instruct the terminal device to not monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH for the first duration by scheduling an uplink filler packet.

In one possible design, the first DCI is a DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2 scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identity C-RNTI; or the first DCI is a DCI format 0_1 or a DCI format 0_2 scrambled by a modulation coding mode cell specific radio network temporary identifier MCS-C-RNTI; or, the first DCI is DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2 for configuring and scheduling CS-RNTI scrambling. Thus, the first DCI can be flexibly realized through the uplink DCI.

In one possible design, the terminal device sends a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to the network device, where the PUSCH includes a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63. So as to realize the network device scheduling uplink filling data package.

In one possible design, the terminal device sends a PUSCH to the network device, where the PUSCH contains the padding packets; further, the terminal equipment does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactive timer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer. Thus, the extension of active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the terminal device does not send a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to the network device when the terminal device is configured with an uplink skip function. Thus, the terminal equipment does not need to send any data packet to the network equipment, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, when the terminal device does not send PUSCH to the network device, the terminal device further does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer. Thus, the extension of active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the terminal device receives a PDSCH from the network device, wherein the PDSCH includes the padding packet; furthermore, the terminal equipment does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer. Thus, the extension of active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the value of the new data indication (new data indicator, NDI) field in the first DCI is the same as the value of the NDI field in a second DCI, which is the same previous DCI as the value of the hybrid automatic repeat request (hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ) process number (HARQ process number, HPN) field of the first DCI. Thus, when the first DCI retransmits the DCI, the terminal equipment does not start, restart or stop the DRX-inactive time, and the extension of the active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the second DCI is received from the network device before the terminal device receives the first DCI from the network device, and correct acknowledgement ACK information is sent to the network device. So that the subsequent terminal device can recognize the padding packet and thus not start, restart or stop the DRX-inactivity timer.

In one possible design, the value of the NDI field in the first DCI is different from the value of the NDI field in a third DCI, where the third DCI is the same previous DCI as the value of the HARQ process number HPN field of the first DCI. Thus, when the first DCI is newly transmitted DCI, the terminal equipment can not start, restart or stop the DRX-inactive time, and the extension of the active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which may include: the network equipment determines first DCI and sends the first DCI to the terminal equipment, wherein the first DCI is used for scheduling a filling data packet, and the first DCI indicates the terminal equipment not to monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH in a first duration.

In one possible design, before the network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device, the network device determines that the terminal device has no service arrival for a preset duration; or the network equipment determines that the buffer data corresponding to the terminal equipment does not exist. In this way, the network device may determine that the terminal device has no service arrived, and send the first DCI to the terminal device.

In one possible design, the preset duration is a period of time before the network device transmits the first DCI, or the preset duration is a period of time after the network device transmits the first DCI, or the preset duration is a time when the network device transmits the first DCI.

In one possible design, the first DCI is for a PDSCH. In this way, the first DCI may instruct the terminal device to not monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH for the first duration by scheduling a downlink filler packet.

In one possible design, the first DCI is a DCI format 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identity C-RNTI; or the first DCI is a DCI format 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a modulation coding mode cell specific radio network temporary identifier MCS-C-RNTI; or, the first DCI is DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2 for configuring and scheduling CS-RNTI scrambling. Thus, the first DCI can be flexibly realized through the downlink DCI.

In one possible design, the network device sends a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to the terminal device, where the PDSCH includes a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63. To achieve the network device scheduling of downstream fill packets.

In one possible design, the first DCI may be used to schedule PUSCH. In this way, the first DCI may instruct the terminal device to not monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH for the first duration by scheduling an uplink filler packet.

In one possible design, the network device receives a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH from the terminal device, where the PUSCH includes a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63. So as to realize the network device scheduling uplink filling data package.

In one possible design, the network device does not receive PUSCH from the terminal device when the terminal device is configured with an uplink skip function. Thus, the terminal equipment does not need to send any data packet to the network equipment, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the network device receives a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, from the terminal device, wherein the PUSCH contains the padding data packets; furthermore, the network terminal equipment does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the network device does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer when the DRX-incapacity timer is running. Thus, the extension of active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the network device does not receive a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH transmitted by the terminal device at the location indicated by the first DCI; further, the network device does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer, DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the network device does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer when the DRX-incapacity timer is running. Thus, the extension of active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the network device may send a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to the terminal device, where the PDSCH includes the padding packet; further, the network device does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer, DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the network device does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer when the DRX-incapacity timer is running. Thus, the extension of active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, and the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, the new data in the first DCI indicates that the value of the NDI field is the same as the value of the NDI field in a second DCI, which is the previous DCI having the same value as the value of the hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process number HPN field of the first DCI. Thus, when the first DCI retransmits the DCI, the network equipment can not start, restart or stop the DRX-inactive time, and the extension of the active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In one possible design, before the network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device, the method further includes: and the network equipment receives the correct response ACK information from the terminal equipment after sending the second DCI to the terminal equipment. The terminal device can recognize the filling data packet, and the DRX-incapacity timer is not started, restarted or stopped.

In one possible design, the new data in the first DCI indicates that the value of the NDI field is different from the value of the NDI field in a third DCI, where the third DCI is the same previous DCI as the value of the hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process number HPN field of the first DCI. Thus, when the first DCI is newly transmitted DCI, the terminal equipment can not start, restart or stop the DRX-inactive time, and the extension of the active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which may include: after receiving a downlink filling data packet from a network device, a terminal device determines a first operation of the terminal device according to the downlink filling data packet. Thus, the terminal device can trigger the first operation of the terminal device after receiving the downlink filling data packet, so as to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

In one possible design, the terminal device may receive the downlink filler packet from the network device, where the method may be: the terminal equipment receives a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH from the network equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63. Thus, the terminal device can receive the accurate downlink filling data packet.

In one possible design, the first operation is that the terminal device does not monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH for a second period of time. Therefore, after the terminal equipment receives the downlink filling data packet, the PDCCH can be not monitored for a period of time, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be saved.

In one possible design, the terminal device receives downlink control information DCI from the network device, where the DCI is used to schedule the downlink filler packet, and the DCI indicates that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for the second duration after receiving the downlink filler packet. In this way, the network device can trigger the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH by scheduling the downlink filler packet.

In one possible design, the DCI is DCI format 1_0.

In one possible design, the first operation is that the terminal device does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer, DRX-inactivity timer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the first operation is that the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer. In this way, after the terminal device receives the downlink filling data packet, the terminal device can avoid prolonging the activation time of the terminal device by not starting the DRX-inactive timer or restarting or stopping the running DRX-inactive timer, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which may include: and the network equipment sends a downlink filling data packet to the terminal equipment, and determines that the terminal equipment does not monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH within a second duration. Therefore, the downlink filling data packet can be sent to the terminal equipment to trigger the terminal equipment to not monitor the PDCCH for a period of time, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be saved.

In one possible design, the network device sends the downlink filler packet to the terminal device, and the method may be: the network equipment sends a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub-PDU), and a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU takes a value of 63. Thus, the network device can send accurate downlink filling data packets.

In one possible design, the network device sends downlink control information DCI to the terminal device, where the DCI is used to schedule the downlink filler packet, and the DCI indicates that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for the second duration after receiving the downlink filler packet. In this way, the network device can trigger the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH by scheduling the downlink filler packet.

In one possible design, the DCI is DCI format 1_0.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which may include: the network device sends a downlink filling data packet to the terminal device, and the network device does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactive timer; alternatively, the network device does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer when the DRX-incapacity timer is running. In this way, the activation time of the terminal equipment can be prevented from being prolonged by sending the downlink filling data packet to the terminal equipment and triggering the non-starting of the DRX-incapacity timer or the non-restarting or stopping of the running DRX-incapacity timer, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

In a sixth aspect, the present application also provides a communication apparatus, which may be a terminal device, having a function of implementing the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or in each possible design example of the first aspect, or in each possible design example of the above-mentioned third aspect or the third aspect. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, where these units may perform the corresponding functions in the foregoing first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect, or in the foregoing third aspect or each possible design example of the third aspect, and detailed descriptions in method examples are omitted herein.

In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally further includes a memory, where the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit information or data, and to perform communication interaction with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured to support the communication device to perform the corresponding function in the foregoing first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect, or each possible design example of the foregoing third aspect or the third aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor that holds the program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication apparatus, which may be a network device, the communication apparatus having a function of implementing the method in the fifth aspect or in each possible design example of the fifth aspect, in the second aspect or each possible design example of the second aspect. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, where these units may perform the corresponding functions in the fifth aspect or each possible design example of the fifth aspect in the second aspect or each possible design example of the second aspect, which are not described in detail herein, specifically referring to the detailed description in the method examples.

In one possible design, the structure of the communication apparatus includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally further includes a memory, where the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit information or data, and is configured to perform communication interaction with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding function in the fourth aspect or in each possible design example of the fifth aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor that holds the program instructions and data necessary for the communication device.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system that may include the above-mentioned terminal device, network device, and the like.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described in the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application and any one of the possible designs thereof, or in the second aspect of the embodiments of the present application and any one of the possible designs thereof. By way of example, computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limited to: the computer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readable media, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect or the second aspect to be performed.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a chip comprising a processor coupled to a memory for reading and executing program instructions stored in the memory to cause the chip to implement the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the third aspect or any one of the possible designs of the fourth aspect, or any one of the possible designs of the fifth aspect.

The aspects of the third aspect to the eighth aspect and the technical effects that may be achieved by the aspects are referred to above for the various possible aspects of the first aspect or the first aspect, or the various possible aspects of the second aspect or the second aspect, or the third aspect or various possible solutions in the third aspect or the fourth aspect or various possible solutions in the fifth aspect may achieve technical effect descriptions, which are not repeated here.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of skipped PDCCH monitoring provided in the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a network device using scheduling DCI to indicate PDCCH scheduling according to the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a network device indicating PDCCH skip by scheduling a first DCI of a padding packet according to the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of one MAC PDU including one or more MAC sub PDUs according to the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a CDRX cycle provided by the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a network device indicating that a terminal device configured with CDRX does not monitor PDCCH in a time period;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of another communication method provided by the present application;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of another communication method provided by the present application;

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

fig. 12 is a block diagram of a communication device according to the present application.

Detailed Description

The present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used for reducing the power consumption of terminal equipment. The method and the device of the present application are based on the same technical concept, and because the principles of solving the problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition is not repeated.

In the description of the present application, the words "first," "second," and the like are used solely for the purpose of distinguishing between descriptions and not necessarily for the purpose of indicating or implying a relative importance or order.

In the description of the present application, "at least one species" means one species or a plurality of species, and a plurality of species means two species or more than two species.

In order to describe the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, the following describes in detail the communication method and the device provided by the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application, where the architecture of the communication system includes a network device and a terminal device, where:

the network device is a device with a wireless transceiving function or a chip which can be arranged on the network device, and the network device comprises but is not limited to: base stations (generation Node B, gNB), radio network controllers (radio network controller, RNC), node bs (Node bs, NB), base station controllers (base station controller, BSC), base transceiver stations (base transceiver station, BTS), home base stations (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node bs, HNB), base Band Units (BBU), access Points (APs) in wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wi-Fi) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, transmission points (transmission and reception point, TRP, transmission point, TP), etc., as well as network nodes constituting the gNB or transmission points, such as baseband units (BBU), or Distributed Units (DUs), etc.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and DUs. The gNB may also include a Radio Unit (RU). The CU implements part of the functions of the gNB, the DU implements part of the functions of the gNB, for example, the CU implements the functions of a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC), a packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer, and the DU implements the functions of a radio link control (radio link control, RLC), a medium access control (media access control, MAC), and a Physical (PHY) layer. Since the information of the RRC layer may be eventually changed into the information of the PHY layer or converted from the information of the PHY layer, under this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling or PHCP layer signaling, may also be considered as being transmitted by the DU or by the du+ru. It is understood that the network device may be a CU node, or a DU node, or a device comprising a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in the access network RAN, or may be divided into network devices in the core network CN, which is not limited thereto.

The terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart wearable device (smart glasses, smart watches, smart headphones, etc.), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), or the like, or may be a chip or a chip module (or a chip system) that can be set in the above device. The embodiment of the application does not limit the application scene. In the application, the terminal equipment with wireless receiving and transmitting function and the chip capable of being arranged on the terminal equipment are collectively called as the terminal equipment.

It should be noted that the communication system shown in fig. 1 may be, but not limited to, a fourth generation (4th Generation,4G) system, a fifth generation (5th Generation,5G) system, such as a new generation radio access technology (new radio access technology, NR), and optionally, the method of the embodiment of the present application may also be applicable to various future communication systems, such as a sixth generation (6th Generation,6G) system or other communication networks.

In NR, the procedure of data transmission can be as follows:

when the network device schedules the terminal device to receive downlink data or when the network device schedules the terminal device to send uplink data, downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) is first sent, where the DCI includes a data scheduling information, and the data scheduling information indicates transmission parameters of a physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH) (where downlink data is typically included) or a physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH) (where uplink data is typically included), where the transmission parameters include a time-frequency domain resource location of the PDSCH/PUSCH. Specifically, the DCI is carried in a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH). For downlink data, the network device indicates a K0 value through a time domain resource allocation (time domain resource allocation, TDRA) field in the DCI, and is used for determining a slot interval between the PDCCH and the PDSCH; for uplink data, the network device indicates a K2 value through a TDRA field in DCI, and is used to determine a slot interval between PDCCH and PUSCH.

The network equipment sends PDSCH at the time-frequency domain resource position indicated in DCI, and the terminal equipment receives at the corresponding position; or the terminal equipment sends the PUSCH at the time-frequency domain resource position indicated in the DCI, and the network equipment receives the PUSCH at the corresponding position.

When receiving the DCI of the terminal device, the terminal device needs to send a Blind Detection (BD) to the PDCCH of the terminal device in the downlink control area, that is, the terminal device monitors (monitor) a plurality of PDCCH candidate positions (PDCCH candidates), and finds out whether the PDCCH candidate positions are addressed to the terminal device.

Based on the above description, the terminal device frequently monitors the PDCCH, but if no service occurs in the terminal device in a period of time, that is, no downlink data or uplink data needs to be transmitted, the network device will not send the PDCCH to schedule the PDSCH or PUSCH, and at this time, the terminal device cannot receive the PDCCH sent to itself even if monitoring the PDCCH. If the terminal device continues to monitor the PDCCH at these times, power consumption of the terminal device may be caused.

In order to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device, a possible solution is to introduce the concept of skipping PDCCH (PDCCH skipping), specifically, the network device may send an indication to the terminal device, indicating that the terminal device may skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time. The terminal device skipping the PDCCH monitoring for a period of time may be equivalently described as the terminal device not monitoring the PDCCH for a period of time, which may be referred to as a skip duration (skipping duration). For example, in the schematic diagram of skipped PDCCH monitoring shown in fig. 2, the terminal device needs to monitor PDCCH every time slot, and when the terminal device is indicated by the network device for a period of time without monitoring PDCCH, the terminal device may not monitor PDCCH for the indicated period of time.

However, the network device can only trigger PDCCH triggering of the terminal device by scheduling (DCI). I.e. the DCI that may indicate PDCCH skip, must be the DCI that schedules data transmission. For example, the scheduling DCI includes a PDCCH monitoring adaptation indication (PDCCH monitoring adaptation indication) field, which is 1-2 bits (bit) and may indicate PDCCH scheduling. It should be noted that, this field may indicate PDCCH skip, or may indicate search space group switching (search space set group switching, SSSG switching), and in the present application, PDCCH skip is only used as an example.

Wherein the network device can configure 1-3 skip durations (skipping duration) for the terminal device and indicate how long skipping duration is used each time by 1-2 bits. For example, when the network device is configured with 1 number skipping duration (with a length of T1), the scheduling DCI may include 1bit, and a value of '0' indicates that PDCCH scheduling is not performed (i.e., PDCCH is normally monitored), and a value of '1' indicates that PDCCH is not monitored for a time period of T1. For another example, when the network device is configured with 2 pieces skipping duration (with lengths of T1 and T2), the scheduling DCI may include 2 bits, and a value of '00' indicates that PDCCH skip is not executed (i.e., PDCCH is normally monitored); a value of '01' indicates that the PDCCH is not monitored for a length of time T1; a value of '10' indicates that the PDCCH is not monitored for a length of time T2. For another example, when the network device is configured with 3 pieces skipping duration (with lengths of T1, T2, and T3), the scheduling DCI may include 2 bits, and a value of '00' indicates that PDCCH skip is not executed (i.e., PDCCH is normally monitored); a value of '01' indicates that the PDCCH is not monitored for a length of time T1; a value of '10' indicates that the PDCCH is not monitored for a length of time T2; a value of '11' indicates that the PDCCH is not monitored for a period of time T3. It should be noted that, the relationship between the value of the bit and the corresponding meaning is merely an example, and there may be other indication manners, for example, when the network device is configured with 1 piece skipping duration (with a length of T1), the scheduling DCI may include 1bit, the value of '1' indicates that PDCCH scheduling is not performed (i.e. PDCCH is normally monitored), and the value of '0' indicates that PDCCH is not monitored during the time period of T1. The application is not limited in this regard.

When the network device indicates PDCCH scheduling using the scheduling DCI, the PDCCH scheduling is typically indicated in the last scheduling DCI of each terminal device traffic scheduling. For example, as shown in fig. 3, when the terminal device continues to have service transmission, DCI carried in PDCCH of scheduling data (i.e. scheduling PDSCH) always indicates "no skip (no skip) PDCCH" (i.e. continuously monitoring PDCCH), so as to complete data transmission quickly. In the PDCCH of the last transmission of a service, the network device may indicate that the PDCCH is not monitored for a period of time (i.e., a skip duration (skipping duration)), where the network device may determine whether it is the last transmission by checking whether there is more data to be transmitted by the terminal device in the buffer. However, as shown in the black part of fig. 3, after the time period is skipped, if the service of the terminal device has not yet arrived, the network device generally cannot schedule the data transmission of the terminal device, and therefore cannot send scheduling DCI, and further cannot instruct PDCCH scheduling, at this time, the terminal device can only continuously monitor PDCCH, thereby resulting in waste of power consumption of the terminal device.

Based on the above, the application provides a communication method, which can also instruct the terminal equipment not to monitor the PDCCH for a period of time when no service arrives at the terminal equipment, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal equipment.

In the following embodiments, the communication method provided by the present application will be described in detail by taking a terminal device and a network device as examples, and it should be understood that the operations performed by the terminal device may also be implemented by a processor in the terminal device, or a chip system, or a functional module, etc., and the operations performed by the network device may also be implemented by a processor in the network device, or a chip system, or a functional module, etc., which is not limited to this embodiment.

Based on the above description, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is applicable to the communication system shown in fig. 1. Referring to fig. 4, the specific flow of the method may include:

step 401: the network device determines a first DCI for scheduling a padding packet (padding packet), the first DCI indicating that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for a first duration.

Step 402: the network device transmits the first DCI to the terminal device.

Step 403: and the terminal equipment determines that the PDCCH is not monitored in the first duration according to the first DCI.

According to the communication method, when the terminal equipment is instructed not to monitor the PDCCH in the first duration by scheduling the first DCI of the filling data packet, the terminal equipment can monitor the skipped PDCCH when no service arrives, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is reduced. For example, as shown in fig. 5, when the terminal device continues to have service transmission, DCI carried in PDCCH of scheduling data (i.e. scheduling PDSCH) always indicates "no skip (no skip) PDCCH" (i.e. continuously monitoring PDCCH), so as to complete data transmission quickly. In the PDCCH of the last transmission of a service, the network device may indicate that the PDCCH is not monitored for a period of time, i.e., a skip duration (skipping duration). Furthermore, after the time length is skipped, if the service of the terminal device has not yet arrived, the network device may instruct PDCCH skip by scheduling the first DCI of the padding packet, thereby reducing power consumption of the terminal device.

It should be noted that, two durations of the terminal device shown in fig. 5 for not monitoring the PDCCH may be the same or different, which is not limited by the present application. When the two time periods are different, in a possible manner, the network device is indicated to configure at least two skip time periods for the terminal device, and the time periods of the two times of indication of the network device without monitoring the PDCCH are different. Alternatively, the two durations may be predefined, and the application is not limited.

In an optional embodiment, before the network device determines that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH in the first duration through the first DCI, the network device may determine that the terminal device has no service arrived in a preset duration, or the network device determines that there is no buffered data corresponding to the terminal device.

The preset duration may be a period of time before the network device sends the first DCI, or the preset duration may be a period of time after the network device sends the first DCI, or the preset duration may also be a time when the network device sends the first DCI. When the preset duration is a period of time after the terminal device sends the first DCI, the preset duration may be less than the first duration, may be equal to the first duration, or may be greater than the first duration, which is not limited in the present application.

No traffic arrival at the terminal device may refer to no traffic data transmission, no data arrival, no downlink data arrival, no need to send RRC messages or media access control units (media access control control element, MAC CE) to the terminal device, etc.

For example, when the preset duration is a period of time before the network device sends the first DCI, the network device may determine whether there is data from the terminal device on the core network side during the period of time, and when it is determined that there is no data from the terminal device on the core network side, the network device determines that the terminal device has no service arrived within the preset duration.

For another example, when the preset duration is a period of time after the network device transmits the first DCI, or is a time when the network device transmits the first DCI, the network device may predict through a prediction algorithm to determine that the terminal device has no service arrived within the preset duration. The prediction algorithm is not limited by the present application.

When the network device determines that there is no buffer data corresponding to the terminal device, it may determine that a buffer (buffer) corresponding to the terminal device is empty.

Illustratively, the first DCI may include the following two cases:

case a1, the first DCI may be used to schedule PDSCH.

Case a2, the first DCI may be used to schedule PUSCH.

In the case a1 above, the first DCI may be a DCI format (format) 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a cell-radio network temporary identity (cell-radio network temporary identity, C-RNTI); or, the first DCI may be a DCI format 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a modulation and coding scheme cell-specific radio network temporary identifier (modulation and coding scheme-cell-radio network temporary identifier, MCS-C-RNTI); alternatively, the first DCI may be DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2 that configures scrambling of a scheduling radio network temporary identity (configured scheduling-radio network temporary identity, CS-RNTI).

In the above case a1, the network device transmits the PDSCH to the terminal device (correspondingly, the terminal device receives the PDSCH from the network device), where the PDSCH includes the medium access control sub-protocol data unit (media access control sub protocol data unit, MAC sub-PDU), and the logical channel identifier (logical channel identify, LCID) corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

Typically one PDSCH contains one medium access control protocol data unit (media access control protocol data unit, MAC PDU). As shown in fig. 6, one MAC PDU may include one or more MAC sub PDUs, where a sub header (sub header) of each MAC sub PDU includes an LCID, where the LCID is used to indicate the role of the corresponding MAC sub PDU. For example, different values of LCID may indicate different roles of the MAC sub-PDUs. As shown in table 1 below, the meanings corresponding to the different values of LCID respectively, it can be seen from table 1 that when LCID has a value of 63, the corresponding MAC sub-PDU is a padding packet, and the padding packet indicates that no meaningful data is included.

Therefore, in the case a1, when the LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU included in the PDSCH transmitted to the terminal device by the network device is 63, that is, the network device transmits a padding packet to the terminal device.

TABLE 1

Since the terminal device receives the PDSCH or transmits the PDSCH according to the DCI after receiving the DCI, and in a normal case, the power consumption of the terminal device for transmitting the PUSCH is greater than the power consumption for receiving the PDSCH, from the point of energy saving of the terminal device, when the terminal device is instructed to not monitor the PDCCH in the first period by using the first DCI for scheduling the PDSCH (scheduling) in the above case a1, the power consumption of the terminal device can be generally lower than the power consumption when the first DCI in the case a2 is used.

In case a2 above, the first DCI may be a C-RNTI scrambled DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2; alternatively, the first DCI may be a DCI format 0_1 or a DCI format 0_2 scrambled by the MCS-C-RNTI; alternatively, the first DCI may be a CS-RNTI scrambled DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2.

In the above case a2, when the terminal device is not configured with the uplink skip function, the terminal device sends a PUSCH to the network device (correspondingly, the network device receives the PUSCH from the terminal device), where the PUSCH includes a MAC sub PDU, and the LCID corresponding to the MAC sub PDU has a value of 63.

As with PDSCH, generally one PUSCH includes one MAC PDU, and as shown in fig. 6, one MAC PDU may include one or more MAC sub-PDUs, where a sub-header (sub-header) of each MAC sub-PDU includes an LCID, where the LCID is used to indicate the role of the corresponding MAC sub-PDU. As can be seen from table 1, when the LCID value is 63, it may indicate that the corresponding MAC sub-PDU is a padding packet, and the padding packet indicates that no meaningful data is contained.

Therefore, in the above case a2, when the LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU included in the PUSCH transmitted by the terminal device to the network device has a value of 63, that is, it indicates that the terminal device transmits a padding packet to the network device.

In an alternative embodiment, when the terminal device is not configured with the uplink skip function, the terminal device may send the PUSCH including uplink data to the network device when the terminal device has a temporary arrival of the service. In this case, the terminal device does not transmit a padding packet to the network device. In the case that the terminal device does not send a scheduling request (scheduling request, SR) or a buffer status report (buffer status report, BSR) to the network device, when the network device schedules the terminal device to send PUSCH through the first DCI, it cannot be known whether the terminal device has uplink data to be sent. After receiving the first DCI, the terminal device may include uplink data in the PUSCH according to its actual situation when there is uplink data, and include padding packets in the PUSCH when there is no uplink data. If the terminal device receives the first DCI, the terminal device just has uplink data already arrived, and even if the terminal device has not yet sent a corresponding SR or BSR to request scheduling of the network device, the terminal device may send the uplink data to the network device through PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI.

In the case a2 described above, when the terminal device is configured with the uplink skip function, the terminal device may not transmit the PUSCH to the network device.

When the terminal device is configured with the uplink skip function, the terminal device may not transmit the PUSCH when the terminal device receives DCI scheduling the PUSCH and no uplink data needs to be transmitted. That is, in the case a2 described above, when the terminal device is configured with the uplink skip function, after the network device transmits the first DCI, the terminal device does not need to transmit the PUSCH or receive the PDSCH, and therefore, in the case that the terminal device is configured with the uplink skip function from the viewpoint of energy saving of the terminal device, when the terminal device is instructed not to monitor the PDCCH for the first period of time by using the first DCI for scheduling the PUSCH (scheduling) in the case a2 described above, the power consumption of the terminal device can be made lower than that when the first DCI in the case a1 is used.

Optionally, when the terminal device is configured with an uplink skip function, if the terminal device temporarily has a service to arrive, that is, when uplink data needs to be sent, the terminal device may send the uplink data to the network device through a PUSCH scheduled by the network device. In this case, the terminal device does not need to request uplink resources from the network device through the scheduling request (scheduling request, SR), so that service delay can be reduced.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device may be configured with connected state discontinuous reception (connected discontinuous reception, CDRX). The C-DRX cycle may be a long DRX cycle or a short DRX cycle, where the long DRX cycle is a default configuration and the short DRX cycle is an optional configuration, and if the short DRX cycle is configured, the terminal device may turn on a short cycle timer (ShortCycleTimer) when using the short DRX cycle, and transition to the long DRX cycle when the ShortCycleTimer times out.

For example, as shown in fig. 7, the CDRX cycle includes a "Duration (On Duration)" portion and a "DRX opportunity (Opportunity for DRX)" portion. The terminal device monitors the PDCCH for a duration (OnDuration) within each CDRX period. If no new transmission data schedule is received in the OnDuration (i.e., no PDCCH indicating the initial transmission (new transmission) is received), the method proceeds to Opportunity for DRX after the OnDuration ends, and the monitoring of the PDCCH is stopped until the OnDuration of the next cycle starts to monitor the PDCCH again. If a new transmission data schedule is received in the OnDuration (i.e. a PDCCH indicating an initial transmission is received), the terminal device starts an inactivity timer (or inactivity timer) (inactivity timer or DRX-inactivity timer), and the terminal device still monitors the PDCCH during the operation of the inactivity timer. If the new transmission data schedule is received in the running process of the InactivityTimer, the InactivityTimer is restarted. Whether in OnDuration or InactivityTimer operation, is called active time (active time) in which the terminal device monitors the PDCCH. Restarting of the inactive timer can be understood as extending the active time of the terminal device. And when the InactivityTimer is overtime, the terminal equipment stops monitoring the PDCCH.

The method for judging whether the new transmission data scheduling is the method for judging whether a new data indication (new data indicator, NDI) (NDI is 1-bit, and takes a value of '0' or '1') field in the DCI is overturned or not. If NDI in DCI received by the terminal device is flipped (for example, NDI is flipped from 0 to 1 or NDI is flipped from 1 to 0) compared to NDI of DCI received previously, the HARQ process is considered to be used to transmit new data if the NDI in DCI received by the terminal device is flipped (hybrid automatic repeat request process, HARQ process) (i.e., the number of HARQ processes (HARQ process number, HPN) field is the same); if the NDI in the DCI received by the terminal device is the same as the NDI of the DCI received last time, the HARQ process is considered to be used for data retransmission.

In some embodiments, when the network device indicates that the terminal device configured with CDRX does not monitor PDCCH for a period of time, the network device may increase the sleep time of the terminal device on the basis of the CDRX mechanism by indicating that the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH for some periods of time within the active time through scheduling (DCI) as shown in fig. 8. In this case, there may still be a failure of the network device to instruct the terminal device to skip the PDCCH when no traffic arrives at the terminal device.

With the method in the case a1, the restart of the inactive timer may be caused by scheduling the first DCI of the PDSCH (including the padding packet), resulting in extending the active time of the terminal device. However, extending the active time may result in an increase in the duration of time for which the terminal device needs to monitor the PDCCH, and increase power consumption of the terminal device.

Based on this, in the above case a1, when the terminal device is configured with CDRX, the terminal device does not start DRX-inactitizer after receiving PDSCH containing padding packet from the network device; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer after receiving the PDSCH containing the filling data packet from the network equipment.

Similarly, when the terminal device is configured with CDRX, after the network device transmits PDSCH including the padding data packet to the terminal device, the network device does not start DRX-inactivitytimer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the network equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer after sending the PDSCH comprising the filling data packet to the terminal equipment.

By adopting the method in the above case a2, the restart of the InactigityTimer may be caused by scheduling the first DCI of the PUSCH (including the padding data packet), resulting in extending the active time of the terminal device, which may cause the increase of the duration of the terminal device that needs to monitor the PDCCH, and increase the power consumption of the terminal device.

Therefore, in the above case a2, when the terminal device is configured with CDRX and is not configured with the uplink skip function, the terminal device does not start the DRX-inactive timer after the terminal device transmits the PUSCH including the padding packet to the network device; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer after sending the PUSCH containing the filling data packet to the network equipment.

Similarly, when the terminal equipment is configured with CDRX, the network equipment does not start DRX-inactivitytimer after receiving the PUSCH comprising the filling data packet sent by the terminal equipment; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the network equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer after receiving the PUSCH comprising the filling data packet sent by the terminal equipment. After decoding of the PUSCH is completed, the network device may determine whether a padding packet is included in the PUSCH, that is, whether to start or restart or stop the DRX-inactivity timer.

Or in the above case a2, when the terminal device is configured with CDRX and is configured with an uplink skip function, the terminal device does not transmit PUSCH, that is, after the terminal device determines (because no data needs to be transmitted) that PUSCH is not transmitted, the terminal device does not start DRX-inactityimer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, that is, after the terminal device determines (because no data needs to be transmitted) that the PUSCH is not transmitted, the DRX-incapacity timer is not restarted or stopped.

Similarly, when the terminal device is configured with CDRX, the network device does not receive the PUSCH transmitted by the terminal device at the location indicated by the first DCI (i.e., the time-frequency location indicated by the terminal device to transmit the PUSCH when the first DCI schedules the PUSCH), and the network device does not start the DRX-inactityimer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the network equipment does not receive the PUSCH sent by the terminal equipment at the position indicated by the first DCI, and does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer.

By the method, the extension of the active time of the terminal equipment can be avoided, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is saved.

In an alternative embodiment, in the methods of the above cases a1 and a2, the value of the NDI field in the first DCI may be different from the value of the NDI field in the third DCI, which is the same previous DCI as the value of the HARQ HPN field of the first DCI. In this case, the first DCI may be understood as a newly transmitted DCI.

When the terminal is configured with CDRX and the first DCI is newly transmitted DCI, since the terminal device is instructed to skip not to monitor PDCCH by a padding packet (contained in PDSCH or PUSCH) scheduled by the first DCI, the terminal device and the network device do not need to start DRX-inactivity timer, and further, the active time extension of the terminal device is avoided by the terminal device and the network device not starting, restarting or stopping DRX-inactivity timer, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

In an alternative embodiment, in the method of the above case a1, the value of the NDI field in the first DCI may be the same as the value of the NDI field in the second DCI, which is the previous DCI having the same value as the HARQ HPN field of the first DCI. This case may be understood as the first DCI being a retransmitted DCI.

When retransmitting the first DCI, the terminal device receives the second DCI from the network device before the terminal device receives the first DCI from the network device, and then transmits correct acknowledgement (acknowledgement character, ACK) information to the network device.

Normally, after a terminal device receives a PDSCH in error, a NACK is fed back to let the network device schedule retransmission of the same data. When the terminal device receives the retransmission data, the received retransmission data and the data which has been received before and exists in the buffer (buffer) are combined and decoded. When the first DCI retransmits the DCI, the terminal device typically empties the historical data packets stored in the buffer after the data of the same HARQ process has been transmitted correctly (the terminal device feeds back the ACK information), although the network device sent the retransmitted DCI. The data scheduled by the retransmission DCI is thus typically not decoded in combination with the previously received data, but rather decoded separately. After independently decoding the data packet scheduled by the first DCI, the terminal device may identify the currently scheduled data packet as a padding packet.

In addition, when the terminal is configured with CDRX and the first DCI is the retransmitted DCI, the terminal device and the network device do not start, restart or stop the DRX-inactive time of the terminal device, so that the active time of the terminal device can be prevented from being prolonged, and the power consumption of the terminal device is saved.

By adopting the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, when no service arrives at the terminal equipment, the DCI of the filling data packet can be scheduled to indicate that the terminal equipment does not monitor the PDCCH in the first duration, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment is reduced.

The embodiment of the application also provides another communication method which is suitable for the communication system shown in fig. 1. Referring to fig. 9, the specific flow of the method may include:

step 901: the network device sends the downlink filling data packet to the terminal device, and the terminal device correspondingly receives the downlink filling data packet from the network device.

In an alternative embodiment, the network device may send the downlink filler packet to the terminal device by: the network equipment sends a PDSCH to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises an MAC sub-PDU, and the LCID value corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU is 63.

Specifically, regarding the description of the padding data packet indicated by the LCID value 63 corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU in the PDSCH, reference may be made to the description of the PDSCH in fig. 6 and table 1 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and will not be described in detail here.

Step 902: the network device determines that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for a second duration.

Step 903: and the terminal equipment determines that the PDCCH is not monitored in the second duration according to the downlink filling data packet.

It should be noted that the order of the steps 902 and 903 is not limited by the present application.

For example, the network device may send DCI to the terminal device, where the DCI is used to schedule the downlink filler packet, and the DCI indicates that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for a second duration after receiving the downlink filler packet. In this way, the terminal device may determine that the PDCCH is not monitored for the second duration after receiving the downlink packet.

Optionally, the second duration may be configured by the network device for the terminal device, or may be predefined, or may be indicated by the network device simultaneously when sending the downlink filler packet to the terminal device, for example, the PDSCH sent by the network device to the terminal device includes both the downlink filler packet and the second duration.

Illustratively, the DCI may be DCI format 1_0, DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2.

By the method, after the terminal equipment receives the downlink filling data packet, the PDCCH can be not monitored for a period of time, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be saved.

The embodiment of the application also provides another communication method which is suitable for the communication system shown in fig. 1. Referring to fig. 10, the specific flow of the method may include:

step 1001: and the network equipment sends the downlink filling data packet to the terminal equipment.

Specifically, the description of the network device sending the downlink filler packet to the terminal device may be referred to the description of step 901, which is not described herein.

Step 1002: the network device does not activate DRX-inactive timer; alternatively, the network device does not restart or stop the DRX-inactivity timer when it is running.

Step 1003: the terminal equipment determines that the terminal equipment does not start the DRX-inactive timer according to the downlink filling data packet; or when the DRX-inactyTimer runs, determining that the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-inactyTimer.

It should be noted that the order of the steps 1002 and 1003 is not limited by the present application.

By the method, after the terminal equipment receives the downlink filling data packet, the terminal equipment can avoid prolonging the activation time of the terminal equipment by not starting the DRX-inactive type timer or restarting or stopping the running DRX-inactive type timer, so that the power consumption of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

Based on the above embodiments, the present application also provides a communication device, and referring to fig. 11, a communication device 1100 may include a transceiver 1101 and a processing unit 1102. The transceiver 1101 is configured to receive information (message or data) or transmit information (message or data) from the communication device 1100, and the processing unit 1102 is configured to control and manage an operation of the communication device 1100. The processing unit 1102 may also control the steps performed by the transceiver unit 1101.

The communication apparatus 1100 may be specifically a network device, a processor in the network device, or a chip system, or a functional module in the above embodiment; alternatively, the communication apparatus 1100 may specifically be a terminal device, a processor of the terminal device, a chip system, or a functional module in the foregoing embodiment.

In one embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiment described in fig. 4, the method specifically may include: the transceiver 1101 is configured to receive a first DCI from a network device, where the first DCI is used to schedule a padding data packet, and the first DCI indicates that the terminal device does not monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH for a first duration; the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine, according to the first DCI, that the PDCCH is not monitored for the first duration.

In an alternative embodiment, the first DCI is used to schedule a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

For example, the first DCI is a DCI format 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI; or the first DCI is a DCI format 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a modulation coding mode cell specific radio network temporary identifier MCS-C-RNTI; or, the first DCI is DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2 for configuring and scheduling CS-RNTI scrambling.

Optionally, the transceiver 1101 is further configured to receive a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH from the network device, where the PDSCH includes a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

In another alternative embodiment, the first DCI is used to schedule a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH.

For example, the first DCI is a DCI format 0_1 or a DCI format 0_2 scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI; or the first DCI is a DCI format 0_1 or a DCI format 0_2 scrambled by a modulation coding mode cell specific radio network temporary identifier MCS-C-RNTI; or, the first DCI is DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2 for configuring and scheduling CS-RNTI scrambling.

Optionally, the transceiver 1101 is further configured to send a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to the network device, where the PUSCH includes a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

In a possible manner, the transceiving unit 1101 is further configured to send a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to the network device, where the PUSCH contains the padding data packet; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the DRX-inactyTimer is not restarted or stopped when it is running.

In an example, when the terminal device is configured with an uplink skip function, the transceiving unit 1101 is further configured to not transmit a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to the network device.

In another possible manner, when the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to not send a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to the network device, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the DRX-inactyTimer is not restarted or stopped when it is running.

In an example, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to receive a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH from the network device, where the PDSCH includes the padding data packet; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the DRX-inactyTimer is not restarted or stopped when it is running.

Optionally, the value of the NDI field indicated by the new data in the first DCI is the same as the value of the NDI field in the second DCI, and the second DCI is the previous DCI with the same value as the value of the HPN field of the HARQ process of the first DCI.

The transceiver 1101 is further configured to receive the second DCI from the network device before receiving the first DCI from the network device, and send correct acknowledgement ACK information to the network device.

Optionally, the new data in the first DCI indicates that the value of the NDI field is different from the value of the NDI field in a third DCI, where the third DCI is the previous DCI with the same value as the value of the HPN field of the HARQ process of the first DCI.

In another embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiment described in fig. 4, the method specifically may include: the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine first downlink control information DCI, where the first DCI is used to schedule a padding data packet, and the first DCI indicates that a terminal device does not monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH in a first duration; the transceiver 1101 is configured to send the first DCI to the terminal device.

Optionally, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to: before the transceiver 1101 sends the first DCI to the terminal device, it is determined that the terminal device has no service arrived within a preset duration; or determining that the buffer data corresponding to the terminal equipment does not exist.

Optionally, the network device sends a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to the terminal device, where the PDSCH includes a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

In an alternative embodiment, the first DCI is used to schedule a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH.

In a possible design, the transceiver 1101 is further configured to receive a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH from the terminal device, where the PUSCH includes a MAC sub-protocol data unit, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

In another possible design, the transceiving unit 1101 is further configured to not receive PUSCH from the terminal device when the terminal device is configured with an uplink skip function.

The transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to receive a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH from the terminal device, where the PUSCH contains the padding data packet; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the DRX-inactyTimer is not restarted or stopped when it is running.

As another example, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to, at the location indicated by the first DCI, not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer if the transceiving unit 1101 does not receive a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH transmitted by the terminal device; alternatively, the DRX-inactyTimer is not restarted or stopped when it is running.

In yet another example, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to send a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to the terminal device, where the PDSCH includes the padding data packet; the processing unit 1102 is further configured to not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the DRX-inactyTimer is not restarted or stopped when it is running.

The transceiving unit 1101 is further configured to send the second DCI to the terminal device before sending the first DCI to the terminal device, and receive correct acknowledgement ACK information from the terminal device.

In another embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiment described in fig. 9 or fig. 10, the method specifically may include: the transceiver 1101 is configured to receive a downlink filler packet from a network device; the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine a first operation of the terminal device according to the downlink padding packet.

Illustratively, the transceiver 1101, when receiving the downstream pad data packet from the network device, may be configured to: and receiving a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH from the network equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU takes a value of 63.

In an alternative embodiment, the first operation is not to monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH for a second duration.

Optionally, the transceiver 1101 is further configured to receive downlink control information DCI from the network device, where the DCI is used to schedule the downlink filler packet, and the DCI indicates that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for the second duration after receiving the downlink filler packet.

Illustratively, the DCI is DCI format 1_0.

In another alternative embodiment, the first operation is not to start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the first operation is not to restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer when the DRX-incapacity timer is running.

In another embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiment described in fig. 9, the method specifically may include: the transceiver 1101 is configured to send a downlink filler packet to a terminal device; the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine that the terminal device does not monitor the physical downlink control channel PDCCH for a second duration.

Optionally, when sending the downlink pad data packet to the terminal device, the transceiver 1101 may be configured to: and transmitting a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub-PDU), and a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU takes a value of 63.

The transceiver 1101 is further configured to send downlink control information DCI to the terminal device, where the DCI is used to schedule the downlink filler packet, and the DCI indicates that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for the second duration after receiving the downlink filler packet.

In one example, the DCI is DCI format 1_0.

In another embodiment, when the communication apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiment described in fig. 10, the method specifically may include: the transceiver 1101 is configured to send a downlink filler packet to a terminal device; the processing unit 1102 is configured to not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactivity timer; alternatively, the DRX-inactyTimer is not restarted or stopped when it is running.

Optionally, when sending the downlink padding data packet to the terminal device, the transceiver 1101 is configured to: and transmitting a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub-PDU), and a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU takes a value of 63.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the units is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual practice. The functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

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

Based on the above embodiments, the present application further provides a communication device, and referring to fig. 12, a communication device 1200 may include a transceiver 1201 and a processor 1202. Optionally, the communication device 1200 may further include a memory 1203. The memory 1203 may be provided inside the communication device 1200, or may be provided outside the communication device 1200. Wherein the processor 1202 may control the transceiver 1201 to receive and transmit information, messages or data, etc.

In particular, the processor 1202 may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP) or a combination of CPU and NP. The processor 1202 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (complex programmable logic device, CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA), general-purpose array logic (generic array logic, GAL), or any combination thereof.

Wherein said transceiver 1201, said processor 1202 and said memory 1203 are interconnected. Optionally, the transceiver 1201, the processor 1202 and the memory 1203 are connected to each other by a bus 1204; the bus 1204 may be a peripheral component interconnect standard (Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA) bus, or the like. The buses may be classified as address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 12, but not only one bus or one type of bus.

In an alternative embodiment, the memory 1203 is configured to store a program or the like. In particular, the program may include program code including computer-operating instructions. The memory 1203 may include RAM, and may also include non-volatile memory (such as one or more magnetic disk memories). The processor 1202 executes the application program stored in the memory 1203 to realize the functions described above, thereby realizing the functions of the communication apparatus 1200.

Illustratively, the communication apparatus 1200 may be a network device in the above-described embodiment; but also the terminal device in the above embodiment.

In one embodiment, the transceiver 1201 may implement the transceiving operation performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, 9 or 10 when the communication apparatus 1200 implements the function of the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, 9 or 10; the processor 1202 may implement operations other than the transceiving operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments illustrated in fig. 4, 9 or 10. Specific details concerning this may be found in the embodiments described above with reference to fig. 4, 9 or 10, and will not be described in detail here.

In one embodiment, the transceiver 1201 may implement the transceiving operations performed by the network device in the embodiments shown in fig. 4, 9 or 10 when the communication apparatus 1200 implements the functions of the network device in the embodiments shown in fig. 4, 9 or 10; the processor 1202 may implement operations other than the transceiving operations performed by the network device in the embodiments illustrated in fig. 4, 9, or 10. Specific details concerning this may be found in the embodiments described above with reference to fig. 4, 9 or 10, and will not be described in detail here.

Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, which may include the terminal device and the network device and the like related to the above embodiments.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which when executed by a computer, can implement the communication method provided by the above method embodiment.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program product, which is used for storing a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can realize the communication method provided by the embodiment of the method.

The embodiment of the application also provides a chip, which comprises a processor, wherein the processor is coupled with the memory and is used for calling the program in the memory so that the chip can realize the communication method provided by the embodiment of the method.

The embodiment of the application also provides a chip which is coupled with the memory and is used for realizing the communication method provided by the embodiment of the method.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present application without departing from the scope of the application. Thus, it is intended that the present application also include such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives first Downlink Control Information (DCI) from network equipment, wherein the first DCI is used for scheduling a filling data packet, and the first DCI indicates that the terminal equipment does not monitor a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in a first duration;

and the terminal equipment determines that the PDCCH is not monitored in the first duration according to the first DCI.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first DCI is for scheduling a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first DCI is a cell radio network temporary identity, C-RNTI, scrambled DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2; or alternatively

The first DCI is a DCI format 1_1 or a DCI format 1_2 scrambled by a modulation coding mode cell specific radio network temporary identifier MCS-C-RNTI; or alternatively

The first DCI is DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2 for configuring and scheduling the scrambling of the radio network temporary identifier CS-RNTI.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the method further comprises:

the terminal equipment receives a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH from the network equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first DCI is for scheduling a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first DCI is a cell radio network temporary identity, C-RNTI, scrambled DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2; or alternatively

The first DCI is a DCI format 0_1 or a DCI format 0_2 scrambled by a modulation coding mode cell specific radio network temporary identifier MCS-C-RNTI; or alternatively

The first DCI is DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2 for configuring and scheduling the scrambling of the radio network temporary identifier CS-RNTI.

7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the method further comprises:

the terminal equipment sends a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) to the network equipment, wherein the PUSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub-PDU), and a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

8. The method of any one of claims 5-7, wherein the method further comprises:

the terminal equipment sends a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) to the network equipment, wherein the PUSCH comprises the filling data packet;

the terminal equipment does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactive timer; or when the DRX-incapacity timer runs, the terminal equipment does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer.

9. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein when the terminal device is configured with an uplink skip function, the method further comprises:

and the terminal equipment does not send a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) to the network equipment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

11. The method of any one of claims 2-4, wherein the method further comprises:

the terminal equipment receives a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) from the network equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises the filling data packet;

12. The method of any of claims 2-4, 11, wherein a new data indication NDI field in the first DCI is the same value as a NDI field in a second DCI, the second DCI being a previous DCI that is the same value as a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number, HPN, field of the first DCI.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein prior to the terminal device receiving the first DCI from a network device, the method further comprises:

And the terminal equipment receives the second DCI from the network equipment and sends correct Acknowledgement (ACK) information to the network equipment.

14. The method of any of claims 2-11, wherein the new data in the first DCI indicates that a value of an NDI field is different from a value of an NDI field in a third DCI, the third DCI being a previous DCI that is the same as a value of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number, HPN, field of the first DCI.

15. A method of communication, comprising:

the network equipment determines first Downlink Control Information (DCI) which is used for scheduling a filling data packet, wherein the first DCI indicates that the terminal equipment does not monitor a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in a first duration;

the network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein prior to the network device transmitting the first DCI to the terminal device, the method further comprises:

the network equipment determines that the terminal equipment does not have service arrival within a preset duration; or alternatively

And the network equipment determines that the cached data corresponding to the terminal equipment does not exist.

17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first DCI is a cell radio network temporary identity, C-RNTI, scrambled DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2; or alternatively

19. The method of claim 17 or 18, wherein the method further comprises:

the network equipment sends a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU, and a logical channel identifier LCID corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

20. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first DCI is a cell radio network temporary identity, C-RNTI, scrambled DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2; or alternatively

22. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein the method further comprises:

the network equipment receives a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) from the terminal equipment, wherein the PUSCH comprises a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub-PDU), and a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) corresponding to the MAC sub-PDU has a value of 63.

23. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein when the terminal device is configured with an uplink skip function, the method further comprises:

the network device does not receive PUSCH from the terminal device.

24. The method of any one of claims 20-22, wherein the method further comprises:

the network equipment receives a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) from the terminal equipment, wherein the PUSCH comprises the filling data packet;

the network terminal equipment does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactive timer; alternatively, the network device does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer when the DRX-incapacity timer is running.

25. The method of any one of claims 20-21, 23, wherein the method further comprises:

The network equipment does not receive a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) sent by the terminal equipment at the position indicated by the first DCI;

the network equipment does not start a discontinuous reception inactivity timer DRX-inactive timer; alternatively, the network device does not restart or stop the DRX-incapacity timer when the DRX-incapacity timer is running.

26. The method of any one of claims 17-19, wherein the method further comprises:

the network equipment sends a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDSCH comprises the filling data packet;

27. The method of any of claims 17-19, 26, wherein the new data in the first DCI indicates that the NDI field has the same value as the NDI field in a second DCI, the second DCI being a previous DCI having the same value as the hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number, HPN, field of the first DCI.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein prior to the network device transmitting the first DCI to the terminal device, the method further comprises:

And the network equipment sends the second DCI to the terminal equipment and receives the correct acknowledgement ACK information from the terminal equipment.

29. The method of any of claims 17-26, wherein the new data in the first DCI indicates that a value of an NDI field is different from a value of an NDI field in a third DCI, the third DCI being a previous DCI that is the same as a value of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number, HPN, field of the first DCI.

30. A communication device comprising a memory, a processor, and a transceiver, wherein:

the memory is used for storing computer instructions;

the transceiver is used for receiving and transmitting information;

the processor is coupled to the memory for invoking computer instructions in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 1-14 via the transceiver.

31. A communication device comprising a memory, a processor, and a transceiver, wherein:

the memory is used for storing computer instructions;

the transceiver is used for receiving and transmitting information;

the processor, coupled to the memory, for invoking computer instructions in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 15-29 by the transceiver.

32. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions which when invoked by the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-14 or to perform the method of any one of claims 15-29.

33. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 14, or the method of any one of claims 15 to 29, to be performed.

34. A chip, characterized in that the chip is coupled to a memory for reading and executing program instructions stored in the memory for implementing the method according to any of claims 1-14 or for implementing the method according to any of claims 15-29.