CN117675144A

CN117675144A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN117675144A
Application number: CN202211058004.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 汪宇
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-30
Filing date: 2022-08-30
Publication date: 2024-03-08
Also published as: WO2024045543A1

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can improve the success rate of receiving a system message block and can be applied to a communication system. The method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment acquires first information. Wherein the first information includes a measurement timing configuration SMTC based on a synchronization signal and a broadcast channel block corresponding to each of the plurality of transmission and reception points TRP, and a time offset of each SMTC. The plurality of TRPs corresponds to at least one logical cell, and the time offset of the SMTC corresponds to the terminal device. The terminal equipment receives SSB corresponding to each TRP in the plurality of TRPs according to the first information, and receives a system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP. One TRP corresponds to the SSB used to determine the signal quality of the TRP. The target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

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

Background

In the new air interface (NR) protocol, the update procedure of the system message block is performed within a specific period of time, which can be represented by a broadcast control channel (broadcast control channel, BCCH) modification period. The boundary of the BCCH modification period is related to the frame number of the system frame and the number of the system frames, and the terminal device may interval an integer number of system frames, start the BCCH modification period, and update the system message block.

However, in a non-terrestrial network (non-terrestrial network, NTN) ultra-cell (hypercell) architecture, due to the motion of the transmission receiving points (transmission reception point, TRP), such as satellites, the system message block update fails, and how to receive the system message block in the NTN is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can improve the success rate of receiving a system message block, thereby improving the communication reliability.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present application adopts the following technical scheme:

in a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment acquires first information. Wherein the first information includes a synchronization signal and broadcast channel block based measurement timing configuration SMTC corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs, and a time offset of each SMTC. The plurality of TRPs corresponds to at least one logical cell, the time offset of the SMTC corresponds to the terminal equipment, and the time offset of the SMTC is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the offset time of the synchronous signal and the broadcast channel block SSB. And the terminal equipment receives the SSB corresponding to each TRP in the plurality of TRPs according to the first information. Wherein, the SSB corresponding to one TRP is used for determining the signal quality of the TRP. And the terminal equipment receives the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP. Wherein the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs.

Based on the communication method provided in the first aspect, the terminal device may obtain the first information, and receive SSB corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs according to the SMTC and the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs in the first information, so as to receive the system message block of the target TRP. Wherein the plurality of TRPs corresponds to at least one logical cell, and the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value in the plurality of TRPs. Thus, the SSB can be received at different times aiming at different TRPs, so that the time for receiving the SSB is matched with the TRP, the success rate of receiving a system message block can be improved, and the communication reliability is improved.

In one possible design, the time offset of SMTC corresponding to the target TRP may be related to at least one of: the time offset between the system frame of the target TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, and the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP. In this way, the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to the target TRP can be determined by combining the time offset of the system frame between different TRPs and the time delay between the terminal device and different TRPs, so that the influence of the time delay and the time offset of the system frame on the receiving SSB can be reduced, and the communication reliability is improved.

Alternatively, the time offset of SMTC corresponding to the target TRP may satisfy the following relationship: offset=d2-d1+f2-F1. Wherein the offset is the time offset of SMTC corresponding to the target TRP, d2 is the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP, d1 is the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, F2 is the start time of the system frame of the target TRP, and F1 is the start time of the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides.

In one possible design, the terminal device receives the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP, and may include: if the distance between the TRP where the terminal equipment currently resides and the terminal equipment is greater than or equal to a first distance threshold value, and/or the distance between the target TRP and the terminal equipment is less than or equal to a second distance threshold value, the terminal equipment receives a system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to the target TRP.

In one possible design, the physical broadcast channel PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP carries the first indication information. Alternatively, the method provided by the first aspect may further include: the terminal device receives the first indication information. The first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. The first indication information is used for indicating whether a first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for accessing the target TRP by the terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the second indication information. Alternatively, the method provided by the first aspect may further include: the terminal device receives the second indication information. Wherein the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the second system message block is updated. Therefore, whether the second system message block is updated or not is indicated by the PBCH or the second control resource set, the second system message block can be updated independently, the update state of the second system message block can be prevented from influencing the update states of other system message blocks, for example, the second system message block can be updated independently under the condition that the second system message block is updated, so that the cost of the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the operation efficiency is improved.

In one possible design, the second system message block may include one or more of the following information for the target TRP: ephemeris information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, reference point position information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, or time when the target TRP provides service to the terminal device.

In one possible design, the method provided in the first aspect may further include: the terminal device receives the second information. The second information is carried in a radio resource control reconfiguration message and/or non-access layer signaling. Therefore, the second information can be updated independently through the radio resource control reconfiguration message and/or the non-access layer signaling bearer information, so that the update state of the second information can be prevented from influencing the update states of other system message blocks, for example, the second information can be updated independently under the condition that the second information is updated, and therefore the cost of the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the operation efficiency is improved.

Optionally, the second information may include one or more of the following: information for TRP reselection, earthquake tsunami warning system, commercial mobile early warning service early warning message, or global positioning system time information.

In a possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal device. Alternatively, the method provided by the first aspect may further include: the terminal device receives the fourth indication information. The fourth indication information is used for indicating the third control resource set. And the terminal equipment determines a paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment according to the first mapping relation and the third control resource set. The first mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space. In this way, the terminal device determines the paging search space according to the PBCH or the third control resource set, so that the first system message block can be prevented from being demodulated to determine the paging search space, and the processing complexity of the terminal device can be reduced, thereby further improving the communication efficiency.

In one possible design, the method provided in the first aspect may further include: and acquiring the moving distance of the terminal equipment. And if the moving distance is greater than the third distance threshold, executing a registration area updating process.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps: the first TRP acquires the first information and transmits the first information to the terminal equipment. The first information includes a synchronization signal and a measurement timing configuration SMTC and a time offset of SMTC corresponding to each of a plurality of TRPs, the plurality of TRPs correspond to at least one logical cell, the time offset of SMTC corresponds to a terminal device, and the time offset of SMTC is used for indicating the terminal device to acquire the offset time of the synchronization signal and the broadcast channel block SSB. The first TRP is one of a plurality of TRPs in which the terminal device currently resides.

In one possible design, the time offset of SMTC for one TRP may be related to one or more of the following: the time offset between the system frame of the TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, and the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP.

Alternatively, the time offset of SMTC corresponding to one TRP may satisfy the following relationship: offset=d2-d1+f2-F1. Wherein, offset is the time offset of SMTC corresponding to one TRP, d2 is the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP, d1 is the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, F2 is the start time of the system frame of the target TRP, and F1 is the start time of the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the second aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the first aspect, which are not described herein.

In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps: the target TRP transmits an SSB corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs. The target TRP transmits a system message block of the target TRP to the terminal device.

In one possible design, the physical broadcast channel PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the first indication information. Alternatively, the method provided by the third aspect may further include: the target TRP transmits the first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. The first indication information is used for indicating whether a first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for accessing the target TRP by the terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the second indication information. Alternatively, the method provided by the third aspect may further include: the target TRP transmits the second indication information to the terminal device. Wherein the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the second system message block is updated.

Optionally, the second system message block may include one or more of the following information of the target TRP: ephemeris information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, reference point position information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, or time when the target TRP provides service for the terminal device.

In one possible design, the method provided by the third aspect may further include: the target TRP transmits the second information to the terminal device. The second information is carried in a radio resource control reconfiguration message and/or non-access layer signaling.

Optionally, the second information may include one or more of the following: information for TRP access, information for TRP reselection, earthquake tsunami warning system, commercial mobile early warning service early warning message, or global positioning system time information.

In a possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal device. Alternatively, the method provided by the third aspect may further include: and sending fourth indication information to the terminal equipment. The fourth indication information is used for indicating the third control resource set. And determining a paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment according to the first mapping relation and the third control resource set. The first mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the third aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the first aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps: the terminal device receives the sixth indication information. The sixth indication information is used for indicating the fourth control resource set. And the terminal equipment determines a paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment according to the second mapping relation and the fourth control resource set. The second mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

Based on the communication method provided in the fourth aspect, the terminal device can determine the paging search space under the condition of avoiding demodulating the first system message block, thereby reducing the workload of the terminal device and improving the communication efficiency. In addition, if multiple networks are combined and SSBs are transmitted at different frequency points, the terminal device can receive paging of multiple satellites, so that the communication efficiency is further improved.

Optionally, the communication method of the fourth aspect may further include: the terminal equipment receives the control information of the paging message in the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment.

In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps: the third satellite acquires sixth indication information. The third satellite transmits sixth indication information. The sixth indication information is used for indicating the fourth control resource set. The fourth control resource set is used for determining the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the fifth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the fourth aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps: the terminal device receives a physical broadcast channel PBCH from a satellite. The PBCH carries seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate a time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal device. And the terminal equipment receives the control information of the paging message according to the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment.

Based on the communication method provided in the sixth aspect, the terminal device determines the paging search space under the condition of avoiding demodulating the first system message block, so that the workload of the terminal device is reduced, and the communication efficiency is improved. In addition, if multiple networks are combined and SSBs are transmitted at different frequency points, the terminal device can receive paging of multiple satellites, so that the communication efficiency is further improved.

In a seventh aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps: the fifth satellite acquires seventh indication information. The seventh indication information is used for indicating time-frequency resources of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment. The fifth satellite transmits a physical broadcast channel PBCH. Wherein the PBCH carries seventh indication information.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the seventh aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the sixth aspect, and will not be described herein.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: the device comprises a processing module and a receiving and transmitting module. The processing module is used for acquiring first information. Wherein the first information includes a synchronization signal and broadcast channel block based measurement timing configuration SMTC corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs, and a time offset of each SMTC. The plurality of TRPs corresponds to at least one logical cell, and a time offset of SMTC corresponds to the communication device, the time offset of SMTC being used to instruct the communication device to acquire the magnitude of the offset time of the synchronization signal and the broadcast channel block SSB. And the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving the SSB corresponding to each TRP in the plurality of TRPs according to the first information. Wherein, the SSB corresponding to one TRP is used for determining the signal quality of the TRP. And the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP. Wherein the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs.

In one possible design, the time offset of SMTC corresponding to the target TRP may be related to at least one of: the time offset between the system frame of the target TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, the time delay between the communication device and the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, and the time delay between the communication device and the target TRP are correlated.

Optionally, each TRP of the plurality of TRPs corresponds to a satellite, and the time offset of the target TRP corresponding to SMTC may satisfy the following relationship: offset=d2-d1+f2-F1. Wherein, offset is the time offset of the target TRP corresponding to the SMTC, d2 is the time delay between the communication device and the target TRP, d1 is the time delay between the communication device and the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, F2 is the start time of the system frame of the target TRP, and F1 is the start time of the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides.

In one possible design, the transceiver module may be specifically configured to: and receiving the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to the target TRP when the distance between the TRP where the communication device currently resides and the communication device is greater than or equal to a first distance threshold and/or the distance between the target TRP and the communication device is less than or equal to a second distance threshold.

In one possible design, the physical broadcast channel PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP carries the first indication information. Or, the transceiver module may be further configured to receive the first indication information. The first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. The first indication information is used for indicating whether a first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for accessing a target TRP by a communication device.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the second indication information. Or, the transceiver module may be further configured to receive the second indication information. Wherein the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the second system message block is updated.

In one possible design, the second system message block may include one or more of the following information for the target TRP: ephemeris information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, reference point position information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, or time when the target TRP provides service to the communication device.

In one possible embodiment, the transceiver module may also be configured to receive the second information. The second information is carried in a radio resource control reconfiguration message and/or non-access layer signaling.

In a possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate a time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the communication device. Or, the transceiver module may be further configured to receive the fourth indication information. The fourth indication information is used for indicating the third control resource set. The processing module may be further configured to determine a paging search space corresponding to the communication device according to the first mapping relationship and the third control resource set. The first mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

In one possible embodiment, the processing module may also be configured to obtain a movement distance of the communication device. And if the moving distance is greater than the third distance threshold, executing a registration area updating process.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. Wherein the transceiver module is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device according to the eighth aspect.

Optionally, the communication device according to the eighth aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by the processing module, enable the communication device to perform the communication method of the first aspect.

The communication device according to the eighth aspect may be a terminal device, a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that may be disposed in the terminal device, or a device including the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the eighth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the first aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a ninth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication device includes: the device comprises a processing module and a receiving and transmitting module. The processing module is used for acquiring the first information. And the receiving and transmitting module is used for transmitting the first information to the terminal equipment. The first information includes a synchronization signal and broadcast channel block based measurement timing configuration SMTC and a SMTC time offset of each of a plurality of TRPs, the plurality of TRPs correspond to at least logic TRPs, the SMTC time offset corresponds to the terminal device, and the SMTC time offset is used for indicating the terminal device to acquire the offset time of the synchronization signal and the broadcast channel block SSB. The communication device is a communication device corresponding to the TRP where the terminal equipment currently resides in the plurality of TRPs.

In one possible design, the time offset of SMTC for one TRP may be related to one or more of the following: the time offset between the system frame of the TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, the time delay between the terminal device and the communication device, and the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. Wherein the transceiver module is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device according to the ninth aspect.

Optionally, the communication device according to the ninth aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by the processing module, enable the communication device to perform the communication method of the second aspect.

The communication device according to the ninth aspect may be a satellite, a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that may be disposed in the satellite, or a device including the satellite, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the ninth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the second aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: the device comprises a processing module and a receiving and transmitting module. The processing module is used for sending the SSB through the receiving and sending module and sending the system message block to the terminal equipment. The communication device is a communication device corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs.

In one possible design, the physical broadcast channel PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the first indication information. Or, the transceiver module may be further configured to send the first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. The first indication information is used for indicating whether a first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for accessing the target TRP by the terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the second indication information. Or, the transceiver module may be further configured to send the second indication information to the terminal device. Wherein the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the second system message block is updated.

Optionally, the second system message block may include one or more of the following information of the communication device to which the target TRP corresponds: ephemeris information of the communication device corresponding to the target TRP, reference point position information of the communication device corresponding to the target TRP, or time when the target TRP provides service to the terminal device.

In one possible embodiment, the transceiver module may be further configured to send the second information to the terminal device. The second information is carried in a radio resource control reconfiguration message and/or non-access layer signaling.

In a possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal device. Or, the transceiver module may be further configured to send fourth indication information to the terminal device. The fourth indication information is used for indicating the third control resource set. And determining a paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment according to the first mapping relation and the third control resource set. The first mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. Wherein, the transceiver module is used for realizing the sending function and the receiving function of the communication device according to the tenth aspect.

Optionally, the communication device according to the tenth aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by the processing module, enable the communication device to perform the communication method of the third aspect.

The communication device according to the tenth aspect may be a TRP, or may be a chip (system) or other part or component that may be disposed in the TRP, or may be a device including the TRP, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the tenth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the third aspect, and will not be described here again.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication device includes: the device comprises a processing module and a receiving and transmitting module. The transceiver module is configured to receive the sixth indication information. The sixth indication information is used for indicating the fourth control resource set. And the processing module is used for determining the paging search space corresponding to the communication device according to the second mapping relation and the fourth control resource set. The second mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

Optionally, the transceiver module may be further configured to receive control information of the paging message in a paging search space corresponding to the communication device.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. Wherein the transceiver module is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device according to the eleventh aspect.

Optionally, the communication device according to the eleventh aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by the processing module, enable the communication device to perform the communication method described in the fourth aspect.

The communication device according to the eleventh aspect may be a terminal device, or may be a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be provided in the terminal device, or may be a device including the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the eleventh aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the fourth aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: and the processing module is used for acquiring the sixth indication information. And the transceiver module is used for transmitting the sixth indication information. The sixth indication information is used for indicating the fourth control resource set. The fourth control resource set is used for determining the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. Wherein the transceiver module is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device according to the twelfth aspect.

Optionally, the communication device according to the twelfth aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by the processing module, enable the communication device to perform the communication method of the fifth aspect.

The communication device according to the twelfth aspect may be a TRP, may be a chip (system) or other part or component that may be disposed in the TRP, or may be a device including the TRP, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the twelfth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the fifth aspect, and will not be described herein.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: the device comprises a processing module and a receiving and transmitting module. Wherein, the processing module is used for receiving the physical broadcast channel PBCH from the TRP through the receiving-transmitting module. The PBCH carries seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate a time-frequency resource of a paging search space corresponding to the communication device. The processing module is further configured to receive control information of the paging message through a time-frequency resource according to a paging search space corresponding to the communication device.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. Wherein the transceiver module is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device according to the thirteenth aspect.

Optionally, the communication device according to the thirteenth aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by the processing module, enable the communication device to perform the communication method of the sixth aspect.

The communication device according to the thirteenth aspect may be a terminal device, or may be a chip (system) or other parts or components that may be disposed in the terminal device, or may be a device including the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the sixth aspect, and will not be described here again.

In a fourteenth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: the device comprises a processing module and a receiving and transmitting module. The processing module is used for acquiring seventh indication information. The seventh indication information is used for indicating time-frequency resources of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment. And the receiving and transmitting module is used for transmitting the physical broadcast channel PBCH. Wherein the PBCH carries seventh indication information.

Alternatively, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. Wherein the transceiver module is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device according to the fourteenth aspect.

Optionally, the communication device according to the fourteenth aspect may further include a storage module, where the storage module stores a program or instructions. The program or instructions, when executed by the processing module, enable the communication device to perform the communication method described in the seventh aspect.

The communication device according to the fourteenth aspect may be a TRP, may be a chip (system) or other part or component that may be disposed in the TRP, or may be a device including the TRP, which is not limited in this application.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the fourteenth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the seventh aspect, and will not be described here.

In a fifteenth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device is configured to perform the communication method described in any implementation manner of the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

In the present application, the communication apparatus described in the fifteenth aspect may be a terminal device or TRP, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the terminal device or TRP, or an apparatus including the terminal device or TRP.

It should be understood that the communication apparatus according to the fifteenth aspect includes a corresponding module, unit, or means (means) for implementing the communication method according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, where the module, unit, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules or units for performing the functions involved in the communication methods described above.

Further, the technical effect of the communication apparatus of the fifteenth aspect may be referred to as any one of the first to seventh aspects

The technical effects of the communication method are not described herein.

In a sixteenth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a processor for performing the communication method according to any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

In one possible implementation, the communication device according to the sixteenth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be for use in a communication device according to the eighth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

In one possible configuration, the communication device according to the sixteenth aspect may further comprise a memory. The memory may be integral with the processor or may be separate. The memory may be used for storing computer programs and/or data related to the communication method according to any one of the first to seventh aspects.

In the present application, the communication apparatus according to the sixteenth aspect may be a terminal device or TRP, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the terminal device or TRP, or an apparatus including the terminal device or TRP.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the sixteenth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to any one of the implementation manners of the first to seventh aspects, and are not described herein.

A seventeenth aspect provides a communication device. The communication device includes: a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, to cause the communication device to perform the communication method according to any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

In one possible configuration, the communication device according to the seventeenth aspect may further comprise a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be for use in a communication device according to the seventeenth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

In the present application, the communication apparatus described in the seventeenth aspect may be a terminal device or a TRP, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be disposed in the terminal device or TRP, or an apparatus including the terminal device or TRP.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the seventeenth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to any implementation manner of the first to seventh aspects, and are not described herein.

In an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store a computer program which, when executed by the processor, causes the communication device to perform the communication method according to any one of the implementation manners of the first to seventh aspects.

In one possible configuration, the communication device according to the eighteenth aspect may further comprise a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be for use in a communication device according to the eighteenth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

In the present application, the communication apparatus according to the tenth aspect may be a terminal device or TRP, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the terminal device or TRP, or an apparatus including the terminal device or TRP.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the eighteenth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to any one of the implementation manners of the first to seventh aspects, and are not described herein.

In a nineteenth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a processor; the processor is configured to execute the communication method according to any implementation manner of the first to seventh aspects according to a computer program after being coupled to the memory and reading the computer program in the memory.

In one possible configuration, the communication device according to the nineteenth aspect may further comprise a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be for use in a communication device according to the eighth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

In the present application, the communication apparatus according to the nineteenth aspect may be a terminal device or a TRP, or a chip (system) or other part or component that may be provided in the terminal device or TRP, or an apparatus including the terminal device or TRP.

Further, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the nineteenth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to any one of the implementation manners of the first to seventh aspects, and are not described herein.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus according to the fifteenth to nineteenth aspects described above may refer to the technical effects of the communication method according to the first to seventh aspects described above, and are not described here again.

In a twentieth aspect, a processor is provided. Wherein the processor is configured to perform the communication method according to any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect to the seventh aspect.

In a twenty-first aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes one or more terminal devices, and one or more TRPs. Such as the first TRP described above or the second TRP described above.

In a twenty-second aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium comprising: computer programs or instructions; the computer program or instructions, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to any one of the possible implementation manners of the first to seventh aspects.

In a twenty-third aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to any one of the possible implementation manners of the first to seventh aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of cell handover or cell reselection in a communication system of a terrestrial network;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of correspondence between cells and transmission and reception points in different network architectures;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of cell handover or cell reselection in a communication system other than a terrestrial network;

fig. 4 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the coverage area of a super cell and the coverage area of a super satellite;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the times when SSB of different TRPs are received by a terminal device;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the time and frequency domain relationship between a second set of control resources, SSB and system message blocks;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of time-frequency positions of the first indication information and the second indication information in the first to fourth modes;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a relationship among a first set of control resources, a first system message block, and a second system message block in a fifth mode;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of time-frequency positions of the first indication information and the second indication information in the fifth mode;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which a super cell reselection or registration area is updated;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a time-frequency position relationship among a third control resource set, a paging search space, and paging occasions;

fig. 14 is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of a second structure of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, technical terms related to the embodiments of the present application will be described below.

1. Gaze mode (earth-fixed mode): in the satellite network, satellites adjust beam directions through beam forming so as to serve the same service area. In gaze mode, when a satellite elevation angle is greater than an elevation angle threshold, all users of the service area need to switch to the next satellite. The elevation threshold may be 30 degrees, or 40 degrees. In specific implementations, the elevation threshold may be determined according to a specific scenario, which is not described herein.

Illustratively, how different satellites provide services in gaze mode is illustrated below. Assuming that the service area of the satellite 1 is the area a, in the gaze mode, when the elevation angle of the satellite a is greater than the elevation angle threshold, the satellite 2 adjusts the beam direction by beam forming, so that the service area of the satellite 2 is the area a.

2. Measurement timing configuration (synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block measurement timing configuration, SMTC) based on synchronization signal and broadcast channel block: i.e. SSB measurement time window configuration, the UE only needs to make SSB measurements within the SMTC window, and not outside the window.

Non-terrestrial network (non-terrestrial network, NTN): may include a satellite network. The satellite network has the remarkable advantages of global coverage, long-distance transmission, convenient deployment, no limitation of geographical conditions and the like, and is widely applied to a plurality of fields such as offshore communication, positioning navigation, anti-disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, earth observation and the like. The satellite network can be combined with the ground network (such as the cellular communication network shown in fig. 1), so that the coverage area is wider, and an integrated communication network which covers sea, land, air, space and ground is formed, so that the service is provided for users in different areas.

Among these, the next generation satellite networks include Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, medium earth orbit (medium orbit earth satellite, MEO) satellites, high earth orbit (high earth orbit satellite, HEO) satellites, stationary orbit (geostationary earth orbit, GEO) satellites, non-stationary orbit (neo, NGEO) satellites, and the like. Next generation satellite network: the whole body shows the tendency of super-compactness and isomerism. On the one hand, the scale of the next generation satellite network is developed from 66 iridium constellation to 720 of one network (onewieb) constellation, and extends to 12000+ star-link ultra-dense low orbit satellite constellation. On the other hand, the next generation satellite network presents heterogeneous characteristics, the functions of the satellite network tend to be complicated and diversified from the traditional single-layer communication network to the multi-layer communication network, and the functions of navigation/positioning enhancement, earth observation, multidimensional information on-orbit processing and the like are gradually compatible and supported.

In a communication system of a terrestrial network, mobility management, such as cell reselection, or cell handover, is mainly triggered by the movement of the terminal device itself. As will be exemplified below in connection with fig. 1. In the terrestrial network shown in fig. 1, there are included a network device 101a and a network device 101b, wherein the network device 101a provides a service through a cell (cell) 1 and the network device 101b provides a service through a cell 2. If the terminal device moves from cell 1 to cell 2 (as indicated by the direction of movement in fig. 1), or if the terminal device moves from cell 2 to cell 1 (not shown in fig. 1), a cell handover or cell reselection may occur. If the terminal device is in cell 1 or cell 2 and is not moving, cell reselection or cell handover may not be performed. The cell reselection or cell handover may include the terminal device initiating a cell reselection or cell handover procedure to the source cell, acquiring a physical cell identifier (physical cell identifier, PCI) or a global cell identifier (cell global identifier, CGI) of the target cell from the source cell, and accessing the target cell according to the PCI or CGI of the target cell, thereby receiving a service provided by the target cell.

In some embodiments, a super cell (hypercell) network architecture may be used in a communication system of a terrestrial network to reduce the frequency of cell handover of a terminal device during a mobile procedure. A new PCI or GCI is acquired during a cell handover or reselection. In the super-cell network architecture, a network device may also be referred to as a TRP, cells (physical cells) corresponding to a plurality of transmission and reception points operating in the same frequency band may be combined into a logical cell, the TRP in the logical cell uses the same PCI or CGI, and the TRP in the logical cell may be connected to a network device for managing the transmission and reception points in the super-cell. Therefore, when the terminal equipment moves in the logic cell, the PCI or GCI is not changed, so that cell reselection or cell switching can be avoided, signaling overhead caused by the cell reselection or cell switching is reduced, user experience is improved, and call drop rate caused by cell reselection or cell switching failure is reduced. The following illustrates the super-cell network architecture with TRP1 to TRP 6.

As shown in fig. 2 (a), in a communication system not employing the super-cell network architecture, PCIs of cells on TRP1 to TRP6 are PCI1 to PCI6 in sequence, that is, each transmission/reception point corresponds to one cell. Cell reselection or cell handover occurs when a terminal device moves between coverage areas of any two of TRPs 1 to 6. For example, cell reselection or cell handover may occur if the terminal device moves from a corresponding cell of TRP1 to a corresponding cell of TRP2, or if the terminal device moves from a corresponding cell of TRP2 to a corresponding cell of TRP 3. As shown in fig. 2 (b), in a communication system employing a super-cell network architecture, physical cells corresponding to TRP1 to TRP3 shown in fig. 2 (a) may be combined into one super-cell (super-cell 1), and physical cells corresponding to TRP4 to TRP5 may be combined into another super-cell (super-cell 2). In this case, TRP1 to TRP3 all use the same physical cell identity, such as PCI7; TRP4 to TRP6 all use the same physical cell identity, such as PCI8. Thus, when the terminal device moves between the corresponding cell of TRP1 and the corresponding cell of TRP2, or between the corresponding cell of TRP2 and the corresponding cell of TRP3, or between the corresponding cell of TRP4 and the corresponding cell of TRP5, or between the corresponding cell of TRP5 and the corresponding cell of TRP6, the terminal device cannot sense the existence of a plurality of TRPs because the PCI before and after the movement does not change, so that the terminal device can access a new cell (or referred to as accessing TRP) without performing layer 3 (layer 3, L3) handover.

In the architecture of the ultra-cell network, the flow of the terminal equipment accessing the transmission receiving point is as follows: the terminal device transmits a random access preamble (random access channel preamble, RACH preamble). The TRP receiving the random access channel preamble transmits the signal quality of the received random access preamble to the network device, and the network device may select one of the TRPs having a signal quality greater than a first signal quality threshold (e.g., -6 dB) for serving the terminal device, thereby enabling the terminal device to access the transmission point. In this way, access according to the synchronization signal transmitted by the TRP and the signal quality of the broadcast channel block (synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block, SSB) can be avoided. Wherein the signal quality of the random access preamble may be determined from a reference signal received power (reference signal receiving power, RSRP). For example, the TRP with the highest RSRP of the random access preamble may be selected to serve the terminal device.

In addition, common information in the architecture of the ultra-cell network, such as information carried by channels such as a physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH), a physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH), a physical random access channel (physical random access channel, PRACH), a sounding reference signal (sounding reference signal, SRS), or SSB, etc., may be uniformly scheduled in the entire logical cell. For terminal equipment specific (specific) signaling, such as radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) signaling, medium access control (medium access control, MAC) -Control Element (CE), downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI), may be independently scheduled and allocated by the TRP serving the terminal equipment.

In addition, for the handover of the TRP in the ultra cell, whether to handover the TRP may be determined by the network device controlling the TRP in the ultra cell according to the quality of SRS of the terminal device under each TRP. Taking SRS quality as determined by SRS RSRP for example, if the SRS RSRP of a TRP exceeds the SRS RSRP first signal quality difference threshold (e.g., -110 dBm) of the TRP currently serving the terminal device, the network device may switch the new TRP to serve the terminal device, thereby avoiding the terminal device from perceiving the switching of the TRP.

It can be appreciated that the ultra-cell network architecture can be used in high-speed scenarios such as high-speed rail, subway, tunnel, etc.

In NTN communication systems, mobility management is mainly triggered by TPR, such as high-speed movement of satellites. In NTN, each TPR corresponds to a cell, and even if the terminal device does not move, the movement of the TPR may cause a change in the cell serving the terminal device, that is, the movement of the TPR may cause the terminal device to switch cells or reselect cells, that is, to switch TRPs or reselect TRPs. The following is described with reference to fig. 3. As shown in fig. 3, taking an example that the TPR includes a satellite 301a and a satellite 301b in the NTN communication system, the satellite 301a corresponds to the cell 3, the satellite 301b corresponds to the cell 4, and the terminal device 302 is located in the cell 3 and does not move. If the satellite 301a moves away from the satellite 301b, and the movement direction of the satellite 301b is the same as that of the satellite 1, the coverage area of the cell 3 will move out of the area where the terminal device 302 is located, and the coverage area of the cell 4 will cover the area where the terminal device 302 is located, that is, the terminal device 302 will enter the cell 4 from the cell 3. In this case, the terminal device needs to perform cell handover or cell reselection, that is, perform TRP reselection or handover, and re-complete synchronization with the cell to acquire broadcast information of the new cell. In a scenario where a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite is served, the moving speed of the satellite is about 7.5 km/s, the frequency of switching or reselecting the TRP is extremely high, and the frequency of switching or reselecting the TRP can be calculated in minutes or even seconds.

Therefore, in NTN networks, such as satellite networks, TRP moving at a high speed, and in the case of using a super cell network architecture, a scheme of switching or reselecting TRP through SRS is not applicable.

Furthermore, in a communication system of a non-terrestrial network, the update status of the system message blocks affects each other.

Taking the 5G NTN communication system as an example, the system message block (system information block, SIB) mainly includes the following classes:

SIB1: information for cell access.

SIB2 to SIB5: information for cell reselection.

SIB6 to SIB8: comprises an earthquake and tsunami warning system (earthquake tsunami warning system, ETWS) warning message and a commercial mobile warning system (commercial mobil ealert system, CMAS) warning message.

SIB9: including global positioning system (global positioning system, GPS) time information.

SIBx, comprising one or more of the following information: ephemeris information, reference point location information, cell validity time.

Because SIB2-SIB9 and SIBx are all scheduled by SIB1, any system message block in SIB2-SIB9 and SIBx is updated, which results in SIB1 being updated. Illustratively, whether SIB1 is updated may be determined as follows:

In an RRC idle state or an inactive state, the terminal device may detect a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) at a time point when the terminal device is configured to receive paging (paging), thereby obtaining an indication whether SIB1 is changed.

In the new air interface (NR) protocol, the update procedure of the system message block is performed within a specific period of time, which may be represented by a broadcast control channel (broadcast control channel, BCCH) modification period. The boundary of the BCCH modification period is related to the frame number of the system frame and the number of the system frames. For example, the system frame in which the BCCH modification period is located satisfies the following relationship: SFN mod m=0. Wherein SFN is the frame number of the system frame. That is, the terminal device may start the BCCH modification period at m system frames intervals, i.e., the terminal device may detect the system message block once at m system frames intervals. Wherein m is a positive integer.

In addition, in the RRC idle state, whether each of the system message blocks except SIB6 to SIB8 is updated or not may be determined by a value tag (value tag) corresponding to each of the system message blocks in SIB 1. If there is a value tag corresponding to the system message block, for example, a value tag corresponding to SIB2 changes, with respect to SIB1 detected in the last BCCH modification period, it may be determined that the system message block changes. In this case, the terminal device re-reads and updates the system message block. If there is no change in the value tag corresponding to the system message block, it can be determined that the system message block has not changed, relative to SIB1 detected in the last BCCH modification period. In this case, the terminal device may not re-read the system message block. Further, if the last time the system message block was correctly read from the terminal device exceeds the first time length threshold, e.g. 3 hours, the terminal device may re-read the system message block. In this case, the terminal device reads all the system message blocks regardless of whether the value tags corresponding to the respective system message blocks are changed.

However, under the NTN ultra-cell network architecture, due to the movement of the TRP, the distance between the terminal device and the TRP may change, so that the time delay of the system message block reaching the terminal device is different, which may cause the update failure of the system message block, and how to receive the system message block in the non-terrestrial network is a problem to be solved in the NTN network.

To solve this problem, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where a terminal device may acquire first information, such as first information corresponding to a currently camping cell, to acquire measurement timing configurations (SSB measurement timing configuration, SMTC) and time offsets of SMTC corresponding to a plurality of TRPs based on broadcast information blocks. Wherein the plurality of TRPs corresponds to at least one logical cell. Then, the terminal device may receive an SSB corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs according to the first information, thereby receiving a system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP. In this way, the terminal device may receive the SSB of each TRP according to the SMTC and the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to each TRP, and further receive the system message block of the target TRP. Thus, the success rate of receiving the system message block can be improved, and the communication reliability is improved.

Furthermore, in the related art, the paging search space is indicated by SIB 1. Therefore, before the terminal device receives the paging message, it is necessary to decode SIB1 to obtain the paging search space, and then receive the paging message according to the paging search space, and the process of receiving the paging message is complex, thereby resulting in low communication efficiency.

In order to solve this technical problem. The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, in which a terminal device can determine a paging search space through a PBCH from a network device so as to determine control information of a paging message according to the paging search space. Alternatively, the terminal device may determine the paging search space through a control resource set indicated by the network device to determine control information of the paging message according to the paging search space. Therefore, the terminal equipment can determine the paging search space under the condition of avoiding demodulating the first system message block, thereby reducing the workload of the terminal equipment and improving the communication efficiency.

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

The technical scheme of the application can be applied to satellite communication systems, high altitude platform (high altitude platform station, HAPS) communication, unmanned aerial vehicle and other non-ground network (non-terrestrial network, NTN) systems, such as communication, navigation integration (integrated communication and navigation, ican) systems, global navigation satellite systems (global navigation satellite system, GNSS) and ultra-dense low orbit satellite communication systems. The satellite communication system may be integrated with a conventional mobile communication system. For example: the mobile communication system may be a fourth generation (4th generation,4G) communication system (e.g., long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) communication system (e.g., new radio, NR) system), and future mobile communication systems such as a sixth generation (6th generation,6G) mobile communication system, etc.

The present application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features about a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It is to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include all of the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection with the figures. Furthermore, combinations of these schemes may also be used.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary," "for example," and the like are used to indicate an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the term use of an example is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that embodiments of the present application described herein may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a and b and c. Wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple.

In the embodiments of the present application, sometimes subscripts such as W ₁ May be misidentified as a non-subscripted form such as W1, the meaning it is intended to express being consistent when de-emphasizing the distinction.

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of the new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system suitable for the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail first with reference to the communication system shown in fig. 4 as an example. Fig. 4 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system to which the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application is applicable.

The communication system in the embodiment of the application can comprise a transparent transmission satellite architecture and a non-transparent transmission satellite architecture. Transparent transmission is also called bend-forwarding transmission, i.e. the signal is only subjected to frequency conversion, signal amplification, etc. on the satellite, which is transparent to the signal as if it were not present. The non-transparent transmission may be referred to as a regenerative (on-board access/processing) transmission, i.e. the satellite has some or all of the base station functionality. The satellite mentioned in the embodiment of the application may be a satellite base station, or may include an orbit receiver or a repeater for relaying information, or be a network side device mounted on the satellite; the satellite may be a LEO satellite, MEO satellite, HEO satellite, GEO satellite, NGEO satellite, etc. The present application is not limited in any way.

As shown in fig. 4, the communication system includes at least one terminal device (terminal device 401a to terminal device 401 e), one or more TRPs (TRP 402a to TRP402 c), and at least one network device 403.

Wherein any one of TRP402a to TRP402 d may establish a communication connection with network device 403, and each of terminal devices (terminal device 401a to terminal device 401 e) may establish a communication connection with each TRP. A communication connection may be established between different TRPs.

Wherein each TRP may provide communication services, navigation services, or positioning services for a terminal device through a plurality of beams. One TRP may cover a service area with multiple beams, and different beams may be served by one or more of time, frequency, or space division.

At least one TRP in the communication system shown in fig. 4 serves one ultra cell. That is, the ultra-cell may provide a region of service through at least one TRP in the communication system. In the case where TRP is moving, the TRP serving the coverage area of the super cell at different times may be the same or different. When one TRP moves out of the coverage area of the super cell, the TRP moved into the coverage area of the super cell can serve the terminal equipment in the super cell.

The frame numbers of the system frames of different ones of the super-cells may or may not be consecutive (i.e., frame synchronization is not required). The TRP serving the ultra cell may include a medium access control (media access control, MAC) entity and a physical (physical) entity thereon.

Wherein the network device may be used to maintain context and capability information of the terminal device. Wherein the context of the terminal device includes one or more of: cell scrambling codes, key information, resource configuration information of cells serving the terminal device. The capability information of the terminal device may include one or more of the following: power class, whether multiple connections are supported, polarization (e.g., circular polarization or linear polarization) capability, or bandwidth is supported. One network device may correspond to one or more supercells. The network device may be configured to manage scheduling of resources within each of the supercells to which the network device corresponds. For example, for common channels such as physical broadcast channels (physical broadcast channel, PBCH) or physical random access channels (physical random access channel, PRACH) or common information such as synchronization information (synchronization signal, SS) or paging (paging) within the same super-cell, scheduling may be performed between satellites that serve the super-cell. It will be appreciated that the network device described above may also be connected to a core network device. The terminal equipment can store the identification information of the supercell where the terminal equipment is currently located, and can also carry out uplink and downlink synchronization with a satellite serving the terminal equipment, and store the broadcast message of the supercell where the terminal equipment is located. Wherein the broadcast message may include one or more of the following: primary system messages, secondary system messages, random access related resource configuration information, co-frequency or inter-frequency cell reselection messages, or ephemeris information.

The relationship between a super cell and TRP, network device is further described below with respect to a super cell for example for one network device 403. As shown in fig. 5, assuming that the operating frequency bands of TRP402a and TRP402b are the same in the communication system shown in fig. 4, the super cell includes regions 1 to 4. If the cell coverage area 1 and the cell coverage area 2 corresponding to TRP402a and the cell coverage area 3 and the cell coverage area 4 corresponding to TRP402b are in the time period from T0 to T1, the network device 403 may provide service for the ultra-cell through TRP402a and TRP403b in the time period from T0 to T1.

The TRP may be a satellite, an aircraft, an unmanned aerial system (unmanned aerial system, UAS), an unmanned aerial vehicle, or the like, or a chip or a device having a wireless communication function provided on the satellite, the aircraft, the UAS, or the unmanned aerial vehicle.

The network device is a device located at the network side of the communication system and having a wireless transceiver function or a chip system which can be arranged on the device. The network devices include, but are not limited to: an Access Point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wiFi) system, such as a home gateway, a router, a server, a switch, a bridge, etc., an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a Node B (Node B, NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a wireless relay Node, a wireless backhaul Node, a transmission point (transmission point, TP), a transmission receiving point (transmission and reception point, TRP), etc., may also be a 5G, such as a gNB in a new air interface (new radio, NR) system, or a transmission point (transmission point, TP), or one or a group of base stations (including multiple antenna panels) in a TRP,5G system, or may also be a network Node (BBU) constituting a gNB or a transmission receiving point, such as a baseband unit (BBU), a distributed base station unit (rspad), a distributed unit (rsside unit), etc. Alternatively, the network device may also be a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (machine to machine, M2M) communication system, an internet of things (internet of things, ioT), an internet of things communication system, or a device in other communication systems that assumes network side functionality.

The terminal equipment is a terminal which is accessed into the communication system and has a wireless receiving and transmitting function or a chip system which can be arranged on the terminal. The terminal may be a handheld device, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. 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 embodiments of the present application may be a mobile phone, a satellite phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a wireless modem, a machine type communication device, a wireless terminal in a remote medical (remote media), a wireless terminal in a smart grid (smart grid), a wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a wearable device, a tablet (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 an industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in a self-driver (self-driving), a wireless terminal in a smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in a transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in a smart city (smart city), a smart home (smart home), a RSU with a terminal function, and the like. The terminal device of the present application may also be an in-vehicle module, an in-vehicle component, an in-vehicle chip, or an in-vehicle unit that is built in a vehicle as one or more components or units, and the vehicle may implement the communication method provided in the present application through the in-vehicle module, the in-vehicle component, the in-vehicle chip, or the in-vehicle unit.

The core network device may be a device in a Core Network (CN) of an existing mobile communication architecture, such as a third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) access architecture of a 5G network, or a device in a core network in a future mobile communication architecture. The core network is used as a bearing network to provide an interface to the data network, and provides communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, bearing of data service and the like for the terminal equipment. Wherein the CN may further comprise: access and mobility management network elements (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management network elements (session management function, SMF), authentication server network elements (authentication server function, AUSF), policy control nodes (policy control function, PCF), user plane function network elements (user plane function, UPF), and so on. The AMF network element is used for managing the access and mobility of the terminal equipment and is mainly responsible for the functions of authentication of the terminal equipment, mobility management of the terminal equipment, paging of the terminal equipment and the like.

It should be noted that, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applied between the terminal device and the satellite shown in fig. 4, and specific implementation may refer to the following method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

It should be noted that the solution in the embodiments of the present application may also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names may also be replaced by names of corresponding functions in other communication systems.

For ease of understanding, in the following method embodiments, satellites are used to form a femto cell. It will be appreciated that in some other embodiments, the satellite may also be an aircraft, or other mobile device, as this is not specifically limited in embodiments of the present application.

It should be appreciated that fig. 4 is a simplified schematic diagram that is merely illustrative for ease of understanding, and that other satellites, and/or other terminal devices, and/or other network devices may be included in the communication system, not shown in fig. 4.

The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be specifically described with reference to fig. 6 to 15.

In one embodiment, a terminal device may receive SSBs for a plurality of cells based on SMTCs for the plurality of cells and a time offset for each SMTC, thereby receiving a system message block. Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method may be applied to communication between the terminal device and the satellite shown in fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 6, the communication method includes the steps of:

s601, the first TRP acquires the first information.

The first TRP is a TRP where the terminal equipment currently resides in the plurality of TRPs. The TRP where the terminal device currently resides, i.e. the TRP where the terminal device resides at the moment of acquiring the first information.

Illustratively, the first information may be measurement configuration information, such as radio resource measurement (radio resource measurement, RRM) information.

Wherein the first information includes an SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SSB measurement timing configuration, SMTC) corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs and a time offset for each SMTC. The plurality of TRPs correspond to at least one logic cell, the time offset of the SMTC corresponds to the terminal equipment, and the time offset of the SMTC is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the offset time of the SSB measurement window.

The plurality of cells corresponds to at least one logical cell, that is, the plurality of cells corresponds to at least one super cell. Wherein each of the plurality of TRPs operates in gaze mode.

The SMTCs correspond to the TRPs, the configuration is carried out by taking the TRPs as granularity, and the SMTCs corresponding to different terminal equipment in the same TRP are the same. The time offset of SMTC corresponds to the terminal device, that is, the time offset of SMTC is configured with respect to the terminal device with granularity of the terminal device. Alternatively, different TRPs may have different SMTC time offsets for one terminal device. The same TRP may also have different SMTC time offsets relative to different terminal devices. For example, if there are terminal device 1, terminal device 2 and TRP1 in the communication system, there is a time offset of one SMTC between TRP1 and terminal device 1 and another SMTC between TRP1 and terminal device 2.

Illustratively, among the plurality of TRPs, the TRP other than the TRP in which the terminal device currently resides is an adjacent TRP, and the time offset of SMTC of one adjacent TRP may be related to at least one of: a time offset (may also be referred to as a time difference) between a system frame of an adjacent TRP and a system frame of a TRP where the terminal device currently resides (hereinafter, referred to as a first TRP), a time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP, a time delay between the terminal device and the adjacent TRP, a distance between the terminal device and the first TRP, a propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves, a location of the terminal device, or a location of the first TRP.

Illustratively, the time offset of SMTCs of adjacent TRPs may be related to at least one of: a time offset between the system frames of the neighboring TRP and the first TRP (which may also be referred to as a time difference between the system frames of the neighboring TRP and the first TRP), a time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP, and a time delay between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP.

The time offset of SMTC is further described below in connection with cases 1-4.

Case 1, the time offset of SMTC of adjacent TRP is related to one of: time delay between the terminal device and the TRP.

Case 1-1, if there is a time offset between the system frame of the neighboring TRP and the system frame of the first TRP, optionally, the time offset of SMTC of the neighboring TRP may be related to: a time offset between a system frame of an adjacent TRP and a system frame of a first TRP, a time delay between a terminal device and the first TRP, and a time delay between the terminal device and the adjacent TRP. In this case, the time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following formula (1):

offset＝d2-d1+F2-F1； (1)

wherein offset is the time offset of SMTC, d2 is the time delay between the terminal device and the adjacent TRP, d1 is the time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP, F2 is the start time of the system frame of the adjacent TRP, and F1 is the start time of the system frame of the first TRP.

Cases 1-2, if the time offset between the system frame of the neighboring TRP and the system frame of the first TRP is 0, i.e., the system frame of the neighboring TRP is aligned with the system frame of the first TRP, the specific implementation principle of the time offset of SMTC may refer to case one, which is different in that the time offset of SMTC of the neighboring TRP may be related to two terms: the time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP, and the time delay between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP. In this case, the time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following formula (2):

offset＝d2-d1； (2)

Case 2, if the distance between one terminal device and one TRP and the time delay between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP are related to the following: the distance between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP, and the propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves. The delay between the terminal device and the first TRP is related to the following: the distance between the terminal device and the first TRP, and the propagation velocity of the electromagnetic wave. For example, the time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP may satisfy the relationship shown in the following formula (3):

d1＝L1/c； (3)

where L1 is the distance between the terminal device and the first TRP and c is the propagation velocity of the electromagnetic wave.

The delay between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP may satisfy the relationship shown in the following formula (4):

d2＝L2/c； (4)

wherein L2 is the distance between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP.

At this time, the time offset of the SMTC is as shown in case 2-1 or case 2-2 as follows.

Case 2-1, if there is a time offset between the system frame of the neighboring TRP and the system frame of the first TRP, optionally, the time offset of SMTC of the neighboring TRP may be related to: a time offset between a system frame of an adjacent TRP and a system frame of a first TRP, a distance between a terminal device and the adjacent TRP, a distance between the terminal device and the first TRP, or a propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves. The time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following equation (5):

offset＝L2/c-L1/c+F2-F1； (5)

Case 2-2, if the time offset between the system frame of the neighboring TRP and the system frame of the first TRP is 0, i.e., the system frame of the neighboring TRP is aligned with the system frame of the first TRP, optionally, the time offset of SMTC of the neighboring TRP may be related to: a distance between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP, a distance between the terminal device and the first TRP, or a propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves. The time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following equation (6):

offset＝L2/c-L1/c； (6)

case 3, time delay between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP, is related to the location of the terminal device, the location of the neighboring TRP and the propagation velocity of electromagnetic wave. The delay between the terminal device and the first TRP is related to the following: the location of the terminal device, the location of the first TRP, and the propagation velocity of the electromagnetic wave. Taking the coordinates of the location of the terminal device as (x 0, y0, z 0) and the location of the first TRP as (x 1, y1, z 1) as an example, the time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP satisfies the relationship shown in the following formula (7):

taking the coordinates of the location of the terminal device as (x 0, y0, z 0) and the locations of the neighboring TRPs as (x 2, y2, z 2) as an example, the time delay between the terminal device and the neighboring TRPs satisfies the relationship shown in the following formula (8):

At this time, the time offset of the SMTC is as shown in case 3-1 or case 3-2 as follows.

Case 3-1, if there is a time offset between the system frame of the neighboring TRP and the system frame of the first TRP, optionally, the time offset of SMTC of the neighboring TRP may be related to: a time offset between a system frame of an adjacent TRP and a system frame of a first TRP, a location of a terminal device, a location of an adjacent TRP, a location of the first TRP, or a propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves. The time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following equation (9):

case 3-2, if the time offset between the system frame of the neighboring TRP and the system frame of the first TRP is 0, i.e., the system frame of the neighboring TRP is aligned with the system frame of the first TRP, optionally, the time offset of SMTC of the neighboring TRP may be related to: the location of the terminal device, the location of the neighboring TRP, the location of the first TRP, or the propagation velocity of the electromagnetic wave. The time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following equation (10):

case 4, the time offset of smtc may be implemented in combination with at least two of location, distance, or time delay.

For example, the time offset of SMTC may be related to one or more of: the time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP, the location of the terminal device, the locations of neighboring TRPs, and the propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves, in which case the time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following formula (11):

As another example, the time offset of SMTC may be related to one or more of: the distance between the terminal device and the first TRP, the location of the neighboring TRP, and the propagation velocity of the electromagnetic wave. In this case, the time offset of SMTC may satisfy the relationship shown in the following formula (12):

it is understood that the time offset of SMTC of adjacent TRPs may also be related to any one of the following: the time offset between the system frame of the neighboring TRP and the system frame of the first TRP, the time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP, and the time delay between the terminal device and the neighboring TRP are not described here in detail.

For a first TRP, the time offset of SMTC for the first TRP may be related to any one of: a time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP, a distance between the terminal device and the first TRP, a propagation velocity of electromagnetic waves, a location of the terminal device, or a location of the first TRP.

Illustratively, the time offset of SMTC may be: time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP. The time delay between the terminal device and the first TRP may be determined according to the above formula (4) or formula (8), which will not be described herein.

The location of the TRP may be the location of the satellite to which the TRP corresponds.

In this way, the time offset of the SMTC can be determined by combining the time offset of the system frame between different TRPs and the time delay between the terminal device and different TRPs, so that the influence of the time delay and the time offset of the system frame on the receiving SSB can be reduced, and the communication reliability is improved.

It is understood that the target TRP is one of the adjacent TRPs.

Further, each TRP of the plurality of TRPs may correspond to one satellite. Or, a plurality of TRPs may correspond to one satellite.

The first TRP may receive the first information from the network device. Wherein the first information may be carried in RRC signaling or SIB.

S602, the first TRP transmits first information to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device acquires the first information.

Illustratively, the first TRP is a TRP where the terminal device currently resides.

Wherein, the first information may be carried in RRC signaling or SIB.

S603, each TRP of the plurality of TRPs transmits SSBs. And the terminal equipment receives the SSB corresponding to each TRP in the plurality of TRPs according to the first information.

Wherein, the SSB corresponding to one TRP is used for determining the signal quality of the TRP. Furthermore, SSB may also be used to indicate a control resource set, such as control resource set 0.

SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (primary synchronization signals, PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (secondary synchronization signals, SSS), and PBCH. Wherein the PBCH includes a master system information block (master information block, MIB), the MIB may indicate a control resource set 0, wherein the control resource set 0 may carry physical control channel related information for scheduling SIB 1.

Illustratively, the terminal device receiving SSB corresponding to each TRP of the plurality of TRPs according to the first information may include step 6-1, where the terminal device receives SSB of adjacent TRPs according to SMTC and a time offset of SMTC corresponding to each adjacent TRP; and step 6-2, the terminal equipment receives the SSB of the first TRP according to the corresponding SMTC of the first TRP and the time offset of the SMTC.

The following illustrates the above: the terminal device receives SSBs of adjacent TRPs according to SMTCs corresponding to each adjacent TRP and time offsets of SMTCs.

For example, as shown in fig. 7, the synchronization signal burst period (synchronization signal burst period, SS burst period) of the first TRP is 5 milliseconds (ms), taking as an example the SS burst period with the start time being the time T1, the period of the SS burst period is from T1 to t1+5ms, and the terminal device detects SSB in the period between t1+2ms and t1+5ms in the SS burst period, that is, the SMTC is the period between t1+2ms and t1+5ms in the SS burst period. If the time offset1 of SMTC of SSB of the target TRP is 1ms, the terminal device actually receives SSB in a period between t1+3ms and t1+6 ms. If the time offset2 of SMTC of SSB of the target TRP is 3ms, the terminal device actually receives SSB in a period of between t1+5ms and t1+8 ms. It is understood that the same target TRP may or may not be the same as the SMTC time offset relative to different terminal devices. The synchronization signal burst period may also be referred to as a synchronization period.

S604, the target TRP transmits a system message block of the target TRP to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to the target TRP.

Wherein the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs.

Wherein the target TRP can be determined from the SSB. Illustratively, the target TRP may be determined according to steps 6-3 and 6-4 as follows:

step 6-3, the terminal equipment determines the signal quality of each TRP according to the SSB of each TRP.

And 6-4, the terminal equipment determines one of the TRPs with the signal quality greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold as a target TRP.

Alternatively, the target TRP may be the TRP having the largest signal quality among the TRPs having a signal quality greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold.

In one possible design, the terminal device receives the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP, and may include: if the distance between the current TRP of the terminal equipment and the terminal equipment is greater than or equal to a first distance threshold (such as 20km, etc.), and/or the distance between the target TRP and the terminal equipment is less than or equal to a second distance threshold (such as 15km, etc.), the terminal equipment receives the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to the target TRP.

That is, the terminal device reselects or switches from the currently resident TRP to the target TRP if the distance between the currently resident TRP and the terminal device is greater than or equal to the first distance threshold and/or the distance between the target TRP and the terminal device is less than or equal to the second distance threshold.

Optionally, the terminal device receives the system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to the target TRP, and may include: the terminal device determines whether the first system message is updated or not and whether the second system message is updated or not according to the SSB, and receives the first system message block and/or the second system message block of the target TRP.

Wherein the first system message block may be a system message block (system information block, SIB) 1.

The second system message block may include one or more of the following information of the target TRP: ephemeris information of the target TRP, reference point location information of the target TRP, or time at which the target TRP provides a service to the terminal device. For example, the second system message block may be SIBx.

Further description is provided below in connection with examples one and two.

If the first system message block is updated and the second system message block is not updated, the terminal device may receive the first system message block if the first system message block is updated; in the case that the second system message block is updated, the terminal device may receive the second system message block; in case that both the first system message block and the second system message block are updated, the terminal device may receive the first system message block and the second system message block.

In the case that whether the first system message block is updated and whether the second system message block is updated do not affect each other, the following description of the first to fourth modes may be referred to for the indication of whether the first system message block is updated and whether the second system message block is updated, which will not be repeated herein.

If the second system message block indicates whether the second system message block is updated, that is, if the second system message block affects the updating of the first system message block, the terminal device receives the first system message block in the case of updating the first system message block; in case of the second system message block update, the first system message block is also updated, and the terminal device receives the first system message block and the second system message block.

In the case that whether the second system message block is updated affects the updating of the first system message block, the manner of indicating whether the first system message block is updated and whether the second system message block is updated may refer to the following description of the fifth manner, which is not repeated herein.

Based on the communication method provided in fig. 6, the terminal device may obtain the first information, and receive SSB corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs according to the SMTC and the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs in the first information, so as to receive the system message block of the target TRP. Wherein the plurality of TRPs corresponds to at least one logical cell, and the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value in the plurality of TRPs. Thus, the SSB can be received at different times aiming at different TRPs, so that the time for receiving the SSB is matched with the TRP, the success rate of receiving a system message block can be improved, and the communication reliability is improved.

The specific implementation of whether the first system message block is updated and whether the second system message block is updated is further described below.

In the case that whether the first system message block is updated and whether the second system message block is updated do not affect each other, the implementation principle of whether the first system message block is updated is shown in the following manner one or the following manner two.

In the first mode, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP carries the first indication information.

The first indication information is used for indicating whether the first system message block is updated or not.

The first indication information may be implemented by a bit (bit) in the PBCH or a bit in the PBCH payload (payload), for example. Taking the implementation of the first indication information by 1 bit in the PBCH as an example, if the bit corresponding to the first indication information is "0", it may indicate that the first system message block is not updated, and if the bit corresponding to the first indication information is "1", it may indicate that the first system message block is updated.

In a second way, whether the first system message block is updated is indicated by a control resource set (CORESET).

In this case, the method provided in fig. 6 may further include:

the target TRP transmits first indication information to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

The first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP, and CORESET is used for indicating time-frequency resource information related to searching DCI. The first indication information is used for indicating whether a first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for accessing the target TRP by the terminal equipment.

Illustratively, the first control resource set may be CORESET0, in which case, downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) of the terminal device is carried in CORESET0, where the DCI carries the first indication information.

Illustratively, the terminal device may blindly detect the DCI by a radio network temporary identity (radio network temporary identifier, RNTI) to obtain the first indication information. If defining new RNTI-x, indicating updating of SIB information, when UE blindly detects RNTI-x on the appointed time-frequency resource, updating the SIB information; otherwise, the SIB information does not need to be updated.

Wherein the relationship between the time domain and the frequency domain between the first control resource set, SSB and the first system message block is as shown in (a) of fig. 8.

In the case that whether the first system message block is updated and whether the second system message block is updated do not affect each other, the implementation principle of whether the second system message block is updated is as shown in the following manner three or manner four.

In the third mode, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the second indication information.

The implementation principle of the third embodiment may refer to the implementation principle of the first embodiment, and will not be described herein.

In a fourth mode, the method provided in fig. 6 may further include: the target TRP transmits the second indication information. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information.

Wherein the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP.

Illustratively, the second set of control resources may be CORESET0.

Alternatively, the second set of control resources may be coreetx.

Wherein the relationship between the time domain and the frequency domain between the second control resource set, SSB and the second system message block is as shown in (b) of fig. 8.

The second indication information is used to indicate whether the second system message block is updated.

The implementation principle of the fourth mode may refer to the implementation principle of the second mode, and will not be described herein.

The following illustrates the implementation principle of whether the system message block is updated in a specific manner.

In the case that whether the first system message block is updated in the first mode and whether the second system message block is updated in the third mode, two bit indications are required for the first system message block and the second system message block, and if the first bit indicates whether the first system message block is updated and the second bit indicates whether the second system message block is updated, then '00' indicates that neither the first system message block nor the second system message block is updated; "01" indicates that the first system message block is updated and the second system message block is not updated; "10" indicates that no update has occurred to the first system message block and that an update has occurred to the second system message block; "11" indicates that the first system message block is updated and the second system message block is updated.

In order to facilitate understanding of the first to fourth modes, the time-frequency relationship between the first indication information, the second indication information and the system message block in the first to fourth modes is further described below in conjunction with the time-frequency position. As shown in fig. 9, the horizontal axis is assumed to be time domain resources, and the vertical axis is assumed to be frequency domain resources. As shown in (a) of fig. 9, the time domain resource of the first indication information may be located within the time domain resource of the SSB, and the frequency domain resource of the first indication information may be located within the frequency domain resource of the SSB. Alternatively, the time domain resources of the first indication information may be located within the time domain resources of the first control resource set, and the frequency domain resources of the first indication information may be located within the frequency domain resources of the first control resource set. As shown in (b) of fig. 9, the time domain resources of the second indication information may be located within the time domain resources of the SSB, and the frequency domain resources of the second indication information may be located within the frequency domain resources of the SSB. Alternatively, the time domain resources of the second indication information may be located within the time domain resources of the second set of control resources, and the frequency domain resources of the second indication information may be located within the frequency domain resources of the second set of control resources.

Therefore, whether the second system message block is updated or not is indicated by the PBCH or the second control resource set, the second system message block can be updated independently, the update state of the second system message block can be prevented from influencing the update states of other system message blocks, for example, the second system message block can be updated independently under the condition that the second system message block is updated, so that the cost of the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the operation efficiency is improved.

In the case that whether the second system message block is updated is indicated in the first system message block, the implementation principle of whether the second system message block is updated is as follows in the fifth mode.

The fifth mode, whether the first system message block is updated, may be implemented in the first mode or the second mode. In this case, the first system message block may carry second indicating information, where the second indicating information is used to indicate whether the second system message block is updated.

When the first system message block is implemented in mode two, the relationship among the first set of control resources, the first system message block, and the second system message block is shown in fig. 10.

In order to facilitate understanding of the fifth mode, the time-frequency relationship between the first indication information, the second indication information and the system message block in the fifth mode is further described below in conjunction with the time-frequency position. As shown in fig. 11, the horizontal axis is assumed to be time domain resources, and the vertical axis is assumed to be frequency domain resources. The time domain resource of the first indication information may be located within the time domain resource of the SSB, and the frequency domain resource of the first indication information may be located within the frequency domain resource of the SSB. Alternatively, the time domain resources of the first indication information may be located within the time domain resources of the first control resource set, and the frequency domain resources of the first indication information may be located within the frequency domain resources of the first control resource set. The time domain resources of the second indication information may be located within the time domain resources of the first system message block and the frequency domain resources of the second indication information may be located within the frequency domain resources of the first system message block.

In one possible design, the method provided in fig. 6 may further include: the target TRP transmits the second information. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the second information.

Optionally, the second information may include one or more of the following: information for ultra-cell reselection, an earthquake tsunami warning system, a commercial mobile early warning service early warning message, or global positioning system time information.

Wherein the second information is carried in RRC reconfiguration (RRC configuration) message and/or non-access stratum (non access stratum, NAS) signaling. That is, the information in the SIB2-SIB9 existing in the 5G NR may be carried in an RRC message and/or NAS signaling, and sent to the terminal device through the RRC message and/or NAS signaling. The RRC message and/or NAS signaling carry information, which may be updated separately for the second information, so that the update state of the second information may be prevented from affecting the update states of other system message blocks, for example, the second information may be updated separately in the case that the second information is updated, thereby reducing the overhead of the terminal device and improving the operation efficiency. For example, the second information may be configured to the terminal device by the TRP through RRC message and/or NAS signaling after the initial access of the terminal device.

Wherein, the information of the ultra-cell reselection may include a fourth distance threshold value for determining whether to perform the ultra-cell reselection.

And if the moving distance of the terminal equipment exceeds the fourth distance threshold, the terminal equipment executes the flow of the ultra-cell reselection.

It is understood that, in the above second information, a third distance threshold value for determining whether to perform registration area update may be further included.

The information for the ultra-cell reselection may include one or more of the following: and the fourth distance threshold is used for determining whether to perform the super-cell reselection, the public SMTC of each of one or more super-cells adjacent to the super-cell where the terminal equipment is located, the frequency points of one or more super-cells adjacent to the super-cell where the terminal equipment is located and the reference positions of one or more super-cells adjacent to the super-cell where the terminal equipment is located.

In this case, the method provided in FIG. 6 may further include steps 6-5.

And 6-5, the terminal equipment acquires the moving distance of the terminal equipment.

For example, for registration area update, a dedicated (UE-specific) distance-related threshold, such as a third distance threshold, may be configured for each terminal device.

At this point, the method provided in FIG. 6 may further include step 6-6.

Step 6-6, if the moving distance of the terminal equipment is greater than the third distance threshold, the terminal equipment executes a registration area update flow, namely the terminal equipment initiates a request for updating the registration area to the network equipment, and the update request carries the current position related information of the terminal equipment; after receiving the registration area update request, the network device updates the UE location information maintained by the network side and sends the UE location information to the UE registration area request response information, wherein the response information can carry information such as a new moving distance threshold value.

For example, the terminal device may send a registration area update request to the network device, where the registration area update request may include location information after the terminal device has moved. After receiving the registration area update request of the terminal device, the network device may update the location of the terminal device.

For the specific procedure of the registration area update, reference may be made to the procedure of the existing registration area update, which will not be further described herein.

The moving distance may be a position of the current position of the terminal device relative to a reference time point, such as a time point of the second information delivery.

For example, for a super cell reselection, a dedicated (UE-specific) distance-related threshold, such as a fourth distance threshold, may be configured for each terminal device. At this point, the method provided in FIG. 6 may further include steps 6-7.

And step 6-7, if the moving distance of the terminal equipment is larger than the fourth distance threshold value, the terminal equipment executes a super-cell reselection flow.

For the procedure of cell reselection, reference may be made to a procedure of cell reselection in a communication system of a non-femtocell network architecture, which is not described herein. Information configured by higher layer signaling is described below in connection with a specific scenario.

As shown in fig. 12, one network device corresponds to the supercell 3 to the supercell 5, and the supercell 3 is adjacent to the supercell 4, and the supercell 4 is adjacent to the supercell 5. Wherein, each of the supercells 3 to 5 corresponds to at least one TRP. The terminal equipment 1 and the terminal equipment 2 are both positioned in the ultra-cell 3, and the terminal equipment 3 is positioned in the ultra-cell 2. Taking terminal device as terminal device 1 for example, terminal device 1 is located in the center of the ultra-cell 3, in which case a third distance threshold may be included in the higher layer signaling for terminal device 1.

Illustratively, the third distance threshold may be 1000 kilometers (km).

Alternatively, the reselection-related information may not be included in the higher layer signaling.

Taking the terminal device as the terminal device 2 as an example, the terminal device 2 is located at the edge of the supercell 3 and the supercell 4 (for example, the positions of the terminal device and the reference point are greater than a given threshold), in this case, for the terminal device 2, the common SMTC of the supercell 3 and the fourth distance threshold may be configured in the higher layer signaling. For example, the fourth distance threshold may be 100km.

Taking the terminal device as the terminal device 3 as an example, the terminal device 3 is located at the edge of the supercell 4 and the supercell 5, in this case, the second information may include a common SMTC of the supercell 4, a third distance threshold, and a fourth distance threshold, where the third distance threshold may be 30km, and the fourth distance threshold may be 500km.

Or, the second information may further include a correspondence between the moving direction of the terminal device and the third distance threshold, and/or a correspondence between the moving direction of the terminal device and the fourth distance threshold.

In a possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate a time-frequency resource of the paging search space (paging search space, paging ss) corresponding to the terminal device.

The paging search space is used to carry fifth indication information, such as control information for paging messages. The fifth indication information is used to indicate paging occasions (paging occasions), i.e., the time at which the paging message is received. Wherein the control information of the paging message may be used to indicate paging occasions.

Alternatively, the method provided in fig. 6 may further include: step 6-8 and step 6-9.

Step 6-8, the target TRP transmits fourth indication information. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the fourth indication information.

The fourth indication information is used for indicating the third control resource set.

The fourth indication information may be carried in the PDCCH.

The third set of control resources may be CORESET0.

And 6-9, the terminal equipment determines the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment according to the first mapping relation and the third control resource set.

The first mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space, or the frequency domain range of the paging search space is located in the frequency domain range of the paging search space. The time domain position of the paging search space is located after the time domain position of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space. The paging search space is scrambled based on specific identification information of terminal devices within the super-cell.

As shown in fig. 13, assuming that the vertical axis direction is the frequency domain and the horizontal axis direction is the time domain, the frequency domain of the third control resource set is the frequency domain of the paging search space corresponding to the third control resource. The paging search space may indicate paging occasions. For example, the frequency domain range of the third set of control resources may be the same as the frequency domain range including the paging search space. The time domain position of the paging search space corresponding to the third control resource set is located after the time domain position of the third control resource set. Wherein, after the time domain position of the paging search space, a physical downlink shared channel (pysical downlink share channel, PDSCH) can also be included.

It will be appreciated that, taking one TRP for one satellite as an example, the paging occasion on the terminal device may correspond to one broadcast beam of one satellite. For example, the paging occasion on the terminal device may correspond to the kth broadcast beam under satellite M.

In this way, the terminal device determines the paging search space according to the PBCH or the third control resource set, so that the first system message block can be prevented from being demodulated to determine the paging search space, and the processing complexity of the terminal device can be reduced, thereby further improving the communication efficiency.

In other embodiments, to improve communication efficiency, the time-frequency resources of the paging search space may also be indicated by the control resource set for receiving the paging message.

Fig. 14 is a schematic flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method may be applied to communication between the terminal device and the satellite shown in fig. 4. A communication method is provided. The communication method comprises the following steps:

s1401, the second TRP transmits sixth indication information. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the sixth indication information.

The sixth indication information is used for indicating the fourth control resource set.

The implementation principle of the sixth indication information may refer to the related description of the fourth indication information, and the implementation principle of the fourth control resource set may refer to the related description of the third control resource set, which is not described herein again.

The implementation principle of S1401 can be referred to the related description of steps 6-8, and will not be repeated here.

S1402, the terminal device determines a paging search space corresponding to the terminal device according to the second mapping relation and the fourth control resource set.

The second mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

The implementation principle of the second mapping relationship may refer to the implementation principle of the first mapping relationship, which is not described herein.

Optionally, the communication method shown in fig. 14 may further include: step 14-1.

In step 14-1, the terminal device receives control information of the paging message on a time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal device. Wherein the control information of the paging message may be used to indicate transmission opportunities for the specific paging message, i.e. the time and frequency positions at which the specific paging message is received.

In addition, the method shown in fig. 14 may further include: step 14-2.

Step 14-2, the third TRP transmits the SSB. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the SSB according to the SMTC corresponding to the third TRP and the time offset of the SMTC.

The time offset of SMTC may be described with reference to the above description of the time offset of SMTC in the method embodiment shown in fig. 6.

In step 14-2, the implementation principle of the third TRP transmitting SSB may refer to the implementation principle of the TRP transmitting SSB in the prior art.

The third TRP may be different from the second TRP, in which case the second TRP and the third TRP may be the desired TRP in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 6; alternatively, the second TRP, the third TRP may be the first TRP in the method embodiment shown in fig. 6. In step 14-2, the terminal device may refer to step 6-1 according to the SMTC corresponding to the third TRP and the implementation principle of the time offset of the SMTC.

The third TRP may be the same satellite as the second TRP, in which case the second TRP may be the target TRP in the method embodiment of fig. 6 and the third TRP may be the first TRP in the method embodiment of fig. 6. In step 14-2, the terminal device may refer to step 6-2 according to the SMTC corresponding to the third TRP and the implementation principle of receiving SSB by the SMTC time offset.

Based on the communication method provided in fig. 14, the terminal device determines the paging search space under the condition of avoiding demodulating the first system message block, thereby reducing the workload of the terminal device and improving the communication efficiency. In addition, if a plurality of satellites transmit SSBs at different frequency points, the terminal device may receive paging of the plurality of satellites, thereby further improving communication efficiency.

In still other embodiments, to improve communication efficiency, the time-frequency resources of the paging search space may also be indicated by a set of control resources for receiving paging messages.

Fig. 15 is a schematic flow chart of still another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication method may be applied to communication between the terminal device and the satellite shown in fig. 4.

The communication method comprises the following steps:

s1501, the fourth TRP transmits the PBCH. The terminal device receives the PBCH.

The PBCH carries seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate a time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal device.

The PBCH may be carried in the SSB, in which case in S1501, the satellite transmits the SSB to transmit the PBCH, the terminal device receives the SSB, and acquires the PBCH from the SSB.

The fourth TRP is the target TRP in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 6; the fourth TRP may be the first TRP in the method embodiment illustrated in fig. 6. The implementation principle of the terminal device receiving the SSB may refer to step 6-2, which is not described herein.

S1502, the terminal equipment receives the control information of the paging message in the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment.

Wherein the control information of the paging message may be used to indicate paging occasions, i.e. the time at which the paging message was received.

Based on the communication method provided in fig. 15, the terminal device determines the paging search space under the condition of avoiding demodulating the first system message block, thereby reducing the workload of the terminal device and improving the communication efficiency. In addition, if multiple networks are combined and SSBs are transmitted at different frequency points, the terminal device can receive paging of multiple satellites, so that the communication efficiency is further improved.

The implementation principle of S1502 may refer to the description related to S603, which is not repeated herein.

The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 6 to 15. A communication apparatus for performing the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 16 to 17.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 16, the communication apparatus 1600 includes: a processing module 1601 and a transceiver module 1602. For convenience of explanation, fig. 16 shows only major components of the communication apparatus.

In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 1600 may be adapted to perform the functions of a terminal device in the communication method shown in fig. 6 in the communication system shown in fig. 4.

Wherein the processing module 1601 is configured to obtain first information.

Wherein the first information includes a measurement timing configuration SMTC based on a broadcast information block corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs, and a time offset of each SMTC. The plurality of TRPs corresponds to at least one logical cell, and a time offset of SMTC corresponds to the communication apparatus 1600, the time offset of SMTC being used to instruct the communication apparatus 1600 to acquire the magnitude of the offset time of the synchronization signal and the broadcast channel block SSB.

A transceiver module 1602, configured to receive an SSB corresponding to each of the plurality of TRPs according to the first information. Wherein, the SSB corresponding to one TRP is used for determining the signal quality of the TRP.

The transceiver module 1602 is further configured to receive a system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP.

In one possible design, the time offset of SMTC corresponding to the target TRP may be related to at least one of: the time offset between the system frame of the target TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, the time delay between the communication apparatus 1600 and the TRP where the terminal device is currently resident, and the time delay between the communication apparatus 1600 and the target TRP.

Optionally, each TRP of the plurality of TRPs corresponds to a satellite, and the time offset of the target TRP corresponding to SMTC may satisfy the following relationship: offset=d2-d1+f2-F1. Wherein, offset is the time offset of the target TRP corresponding to SMTC, d2 is the time delay between the communication device 1600 and the target TRP, d1 is the time delay between the communication device 1600 and the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, F2 is the start time of the system frame of the target TRP, and F1 is the start time of the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides.

In one possible design, the transceiver module 1602 may be specifically configured to: the system message block of the target TRP is received according to the SSB corresponding to the target TRP if the distance between the TRP currently residing in the communication device 1600 and the communication device 1600 is greater than or equal to the first distance threshold and/or the distance between the target TRP and the communication device 1600 is less than or equal to the second distance threshold.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP carries the first indication information. Alternatively, the transceiver module 1602 may be further configured to receive the first indication information. The first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. The first indication information is used to indicate whether the first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for the communication device 1600 to access the target TRP.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the second indication information. Alternatively, the transceiver module 1602 may be further configured to receive the second indication information. Wherein the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the second system message block is updated.

In one possible design, the second system message block may include one or more of the following information for the target TRP: ephemeris information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, reference point position information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, or time at which the communication device 1600 is serviced by the target TRP.

In one possible design, the transceiver module 1602 may also be configured to receive the second information. The second information is carried in an RRC message and/or NAS signaling.

In a possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the communication device 1600. Alternatively, the transceiver module 1602 may be further configured to receive the fourth indication information. The fourth indication information is used for indicating the third control resource set. The processing module 1601 may be further configured to determine a paging search space corresponding to the communication device 1600 according to the first mapping relationship and the third control resource set. The first mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

In one possible design, the processing module 1601 may also be configured to obtain a distance traveled by the communication device 1600. And if the moving distance is greater than the third distance threshold, executing a registration area updating process.

Alternatively, the transceiver module 1602 may include a receiving module and a transmitting module. The transceiver module 1602 is configured to implement a transmitting function and a receiving function of the communication device 1600.

Optionally, the communication device 1600 may also include a storage module storing programs or instructions. The processing module 1601, when executing the program or instructions, enables the communication device 1600 to perform the communication method shown in fig. 6.

It is to be appreciated that the processing module 1601 involved in the communication device 1600 may be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit component, which may be a processor or processing unit; transceiver module 1602 may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit component, which may be a transceiver or a transceiver unit.

The communication device 1600 may be a terminal device, a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that may be disposed in the terminal device, or a device including the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1600 may refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in fig. 6, which are not described herein.

In other embodiments, the communication device 1600 may be adapted for use in the communication system shown in fig. 4 to perform the function of the intended TRP in the communication method shown in fig. 6.

Wherein, the processing module 1601 is configured to obtain first information.

The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send the first information to a terminal device.

The first information includes a time offset of a SMTC and an SMTC configured based on measurement timing of a broadcast information block of each of a plurality of TRPs, the plurality of TRPs correspond to at least a logical cell, the time offset of the SMTC corresponds to a terminal device, and the time offset of the SMTC is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire a synchronization signal and an offset time of a broadcast channel block SSB. The communication device 1600 is a communication device 1600 corresponding to a TRP where the terminal device currently resides, among a plurality of TRPs.

In one possible design, the time offset of SMTC for one TRP may be related to one or more of the following: the time offset between the system frame of the TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, the time delay between the terminal device and the communication apparatus 1600, and the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP.

Note that the communication device 1600 may be a satellite, a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that may be disposed in the satellite, or a device including the satellite, which is not limited in this application.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1600 may refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in fig. 6, and will not be described herein.

Wherein, the processing module 1601 is configured to send the SSB through the transceiver module 1602 and send a system message block to a terminal device. The communication device 1600 is a communication device 1600 corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the first indication information. Or, the transceiver module 1602 may be further configured to send the first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. The first indication information is used for indicating whether a first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for accessing the target TRP by the terminal equipment.

In one possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry the second indication information. Or, the transceiver module 1602 may be further configured to send the second indication information to the terminal device. Wherein the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP. Wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the second system message block is updated.

Optionally, the second system message block may include one or more of the following information of the communication device 1600 to which the target TRP corresponds: ephemeris information, reference point location information, or time at which the target TRP serves the terminal device.

In a possible design, the transceiver module 1602 may also be configured to send the second information to the terminal device. The second information is carried in an RRC message and/or NAS signaling.

In a possible design, the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP may carry third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal device. Or, the transceiver module 1602 may be further configured to send fourth indication information to the terminal device. The fourth indication information is used for indicating the third control resource set. And determining a paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment according to the first mapping relation and the third control resource set. The first mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

In other embodiments, the communication apparatus 1600 may be adapted to perform the functions of a terminal device in the communication method shown in fig. 14 in the communication system shown in fig. 4.

The transceiver module 1602 is configured to receive the sixth indication information. The sixth indication information is used for indicating the fourth control resource set. A processing module 1601 is configured to determine a paging search space corresponding to the communication device 1600 according to the second mapping relationship and the fourth control resource set. The second mapping relationship is used for indicating a corresponding relationship between the control resource set and the paging search space, and the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space comprises the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1602 may also be configured to receive control information of paging messages on a paging search space corresponding to the communication device 1600.

Optionally, the communication device 1600 may also include a storage module storing programs or instructions. The processing module 1601, when executing the program or instructions, enables the communication device 1600 to perform the communication method shown in fig. 14.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1600 may refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in fig. 14, and will not be described herein.

In other embodiments, the communication device 1600 may be adapted for use in the communication system shown in fig. 4 to perform the function of the third satellite in the communication method shown in fig. 14.

The sixth indication information is used for indicating the fourth control resource set. The fourth control resource set is used for determining the time-frequency resource of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment.

In other embodiments, the communication apparatus 1600 may be adapted to perform the functions of a terminal device in the communication method shown in fig. 15 in the communication system shown in fig. 4.

The processing module 1601 is configured to receive a PBCH from a satellite through the transceiver module 1602. The PBCH carries seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate time-frequency resources of the paging search space corresponding to the communication device 1600. The processing module 1601 is further configured to receive control information of the paging message through a time-frequency resource according to a paging search space corresponding to the communication device 1600.

Optionally, the communication device 1600 may also include a storage module storing programs or instructions. The processing module 1601, when executing the program or instructions, enables the communication device 1600 to perform the communication method shown in fig. 15.

In other embodiments, the communication device 1600 may be adapted for use in the communication system shown in fig. 4 to perform the function of the fifth satellite in the communication method shown in fig. 15.

Wherein, the processing module 1601 is configured to obtain seventh indication information. The seventh indication information is used for indicating time-frequency resources of the paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment. A transceiver module 1602, configured to send PBCH. Wherein the PBCH carries seventh indication information.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 1600 may refer to the technical effects of the communication method shown in fig. 15, and will not be described herein.

Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of a second configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal device or a satellite, or may be a chip (system) or other component or assembly that may be provided in the terminal device or the satellite. As shown in fig. 17, the communication device 1700 may include a processor 1701. Optionally, the communication device 1700 may also include a memory 1702 and/or a transceiver 1703. The processor 1701 is coupled to the memory 1702 and the transceiver 1703, such as by a communication bus.

The following describes each constituent element of the communication apparatus 1700 in detail with reference to fig. 17:

the processor 1701 is a control center of the communication apparatus 1700, and may be one processor or a collective term of a plurality of processing elements. For example, the processor 1701 is one or more central processing units (central processing unit, CPU), but may also be an integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement embodiments of the present application, such as: one or more digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA).

Alternatively, the processor 1701 may perform various functions of the communications apparatus 1700 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 1702 and invoking data stored in the memory 1702.

In a particular implementation, the processor 1701 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in fig. 17, as an embodiment.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 1700 may also include a plurality of processors, such as the processor 1701 and the processor 1704 shown in fig. 17. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

The memory 1702 is configured to store a software program for executing the solution of the present application, and is controlled to execute by the processor 1701, and the specific implementation manner may refer to the above method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Alternatively, memory 1702 may be, but is not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, but may also be electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (compact disc read-only memory) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 1702 may be integrated with the processor 1701 or may exist separately and be coupled to the processor 1701 through an interface circuit (not shown in fig. 17) of the communication device 1700, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

A transceiver 1703 for communication with other communication devices. For example, the communication apparatus 1700 is a terminal device, and the transceiver 1703 may be used to communicate with a satellite or another terminal device. For another example, the communication device 1700 is a satellite and the transceiver 1703 may be used to communicate with a terminal device or with another satellite.

Optionally, the transceiver 1703 may include a receiver and a transmitter (not separately shown in fig. 17). The receiver is used for realizing the receiving function, and the transmitter is used for realizing the transmitting function.

Alternatively, the transceiver 1703 may be integrated with the processor 1701 or may exist separately and be coupled to the processor 1701 through an interface circuit (not shown in fig. 17) of the communication device 1700, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the structure of the communication device 1700 shown in fig. 17 is not limited to the communication device, and an actual communication device may include more or less components than those shown, or may combine some components, or may be different in arrangement of components.

In addition, the technical effects of the communication apparatus 1700 may refer to the technical effects of the communication method described in the above method embodiment, and will not be described herein.

It should be appreciated that the processor in embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), which may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should also be appreciated that the memory in embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (random access memory, RAM) are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (ESDRAM), synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM).

The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (e.g., circuitry), firmware, or any other combination. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are all or partially produced. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains one or more sets of available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium may be a solid state disk.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" is merely an association relationship describing the associated object, and means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: there are three cases, a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the associated object is an "or" relationship, but may also indicate an "and/or" relationship, and may be understood by referring to the context.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic thereof, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

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

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment 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 functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a 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.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in 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.

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

Claims

1. A method of communication, the method comprising:

acquiring first information; wherein the first information includes a SMTC configured based on a measurement timing of a synchronization signal and a broadcast channel block corresponding to each of a plurality of transmission and reception points TRP, and a time offset of each SMTC; the TRPs correspond to at least one logic cell, the time offset of the SMTC corresponds to the terminal equipment, and the time offset of the SMTC is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the offset time of the synchronous signal and the broadcast channel block SSB;

receiving SSB corresponding to each TRP in the plurality of TRPs according to the first information; wherein, SSB corresponding to one TRP is used for determining the signal quality of the TRP;

receiving a system message block of a target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each TRP; wherein the target TRP is a TRP of which the signal quality is greater than or equal to a signal quality threshold value among the plurality of TRPs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to the target TRP is related to at least one of: the time offset between the system frame of the target TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, and the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP are correlated.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to the target TRP satisfies the relationship:

offset＝d2-d1+F2-F1；

wherein offset is the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to the target TRP, d2 is the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP, d1 is the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, F2 is the start time of the system frame of the target TRP, and F1 is the start time of the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein said receiving a system message block of a target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to each of said TRP comprises:

and if the distance between the TRP where the terminal equipment currently resides and the terminal equipment is greater than or equal to a first distance threshold value, and/or the distance between the target TRP and the terminal equipment is less than or equal to a second distance threshold value, receiving a system message block of the target TRP according to the SSB corresponding to the target TRP.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the physical broadcast channel PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP carries first indication information;

alternatively, the method further comprises:

receiving first indication information; wherein, the first indication information is carried on a first control resource set corresponding to the target TRP;

the first indication information is used for indicating whether a first system message block is updated, and the first system message block is used for accessing the target TRP by the terminal equipment.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP carries second indication information;

alternatively, the method further comprises:

receiving second indication information; wherein, the second indication information is carried on a second control resource set corresponding to the target TRP;

wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the second system message block is updated.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second system message block includes one or more of the following information for the target TRP: ephemeris information of a satellite corresponding to a target TRP, reference point position information of a satellite corresponding to the target TRP, or time when the target TRP provides service for the terminal equipment.

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

receiving second information; the second information is carried in a radio resource control reconfiguration message and/or non-access layer signaling.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second information comprises one or more of the following: information for TRP reselection, earthquake tsunami warning system, commercial mobile early warning service early warning message, or global positioning system time information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein a PBCH of the SSB corresponding to the target TRP carries third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate a time-frequency resource of a paging search space corresponding to the terminal device;

alternatively, the method further comprises:

receiving fourth indication information; the fourth indication information is used for indicating a third control resource set;

determining a paging search space corresponding to the terminal equipment according to the first mapping relation and the third control resource set; the first mapping relation is used for indicating the corresponding relation between the control resource set and the paging search space; the frequency domain range of the control resource set corresponding to the paging search space includes the frequency domain range of the paging search space.

11. A communication method, the communication method comprising:

acquiring first information; the first information comprises a synchronization signal and broadcast channel block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) corresponding to each of a plurality of TRPs, and a time offset of the SMTC, wherein the plurality of TRPs correspond to at least one logical cell, the time offset of the SMTC corresponds to a terminal device, and the time offset of the SMTC is used for indicating the terminal device to acquire the offset time of the synchronization signal and broadcast channel block (SSB);

and sending the first information to the terminal equipment.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the time offset of the SMTC for one TRP is related to one or more of: the time offset between the system frame of the TRP and the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device is currently residing, the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device is currently residing, and the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP are correlated.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the time offset of the SMTC for one TRP satisfies the relationship:

offset＝d2-d1+F2-F1；

wherein offset is the time offset of the SMTC corresponding to one TRP, d2 is the time delay between the terminal device and the target TRP, d1 is the time delay between the terminal device and the TRP where the terminal device currently resides, F2 is the start time of the system frame of the target TRP, and F1 is the start time of the system frame of the TRP where the terminal device currently resides.

14. A communication device for performing the communication method according to any of claims 1-13.

15. A communication device, comprising: a processor coupled to the memory;

the processor configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, to cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1-13.

16. A communication device, comprising: a processor and interface circuit; wherein,

the interface circuit is used for receiving code instructions and transmitting the code instructions to the processor;

the processor is configured to execute the code instructions to perform the method of any of claims 1-13.

17. A communication device comprising a processor and a transceiver for information interaction between the communication device and other communication devices, the processor executing program instructions for performing the communication method of any of claims 1-13.

18. A processor, comprising: the processor is configured to perform the communication method of any of claims 1-13.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium comprises a computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1-13.

20. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising: computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1-13.

21. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises a terminal device for performing the method according to any of claims 1-10 and a first TRP for performing the method according to any of claims 11-13.