CN117676874A

CN117676874A - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN117676874A
Application number: CN202210965459.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韩小江; 王妮
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-12
Filing date: 2022-08-12
Publication date: 2024-03-08
Also published as: WO2024032310A1

Abstract

A method and apparatus for communication, the method comprising: the terminal equipment receives the association relation between a plurality of SSBs and a plurality of RS resources from the network equipment, wherein the association relation between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources comprises the association relation between a second SSB and the RS resources; if the terminal equipment is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal equipment determines RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relation between the second SSB and the RS resources; and the terminal equipment receives the RS from the network equipment according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB. According to the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment can determine the RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relation received in advance, so that signaling interaction between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be reduced, resources are saved, the probability of channel congestion is reduced, the time delay of the terminal equipment for acquiring the RS resources can be reduced, and the communication efficiency is improved.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a communication method and device.

Background

There are two types of beams in the communication system, one type is a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (synchronization signal, SS)/(physical broadcast channel, PBCH) beam, which may also be referred to as a broadcast beam; another type is a Reference Signal (RS) beam, which may also be referred to as a signal beam.

Currently, if the SSB where the terminal device is located is switched, the network device may reconfigure RS resources associated with the switched SSB to the terminal device. Therefore, if the SSB where the terminal device is located is frequently switched, signaling interaction between the terminal device and the network device may be frequent, thereby causing a significant overhead.

Therefore, how to reduce the signaling overhead of configuring the RS resources associated with the SSB by the network device to the terminal device is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can reduce signaling overhead of a RS resource associated with a network device configuration SSB to a terminal device.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives association relations between a plurality of SSBs and a plurality of RS resources from a network device, wherein the association relations between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources comprise association relations between a second SSB and RS resources; if the terminal equipment is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal equipment determines the RS resource associated with the second SSB according to the association relation between the second SSB and the RS resource; and the terminal equipment receives the RS from the network equipment according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB.

According to the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment receives the association relation between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources from the network equipment in advance, and if the terminal equipment is switched to the second SSB, the terminal equipment can determine the RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the pre-received association relation. Compared with the SSB switching of the terminal equipment, the network equipment reconfigures the RS resources associated with the switched SSB to the terminal equipment, and based on the embodiment of the application, on one hand, the signaling interaction between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be reduced, so that the resources are saved, the probability of channel congestion is reduced, and on the other hand, the time delay of the terminal equipment for acquiring the RS resources can be reduced, and the communication efficiency is improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes: and the terminal equipment sends the measurement result aiming at the RS to the network equipment.

Illustratively, in a channel state measurement and beam measurement scenario, the terminal device sends a measurement result for the RS to the network device.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the method further includes:

the terminal device autonomously determines to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB.

According to the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment determines whether the SSB is switched or not, so that signaling interaction between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be further reduced.

the terminal device receives first information from the network device, the first information indicating that the terminal device switches from the first SSB to the second SSB.

According to the embodiment of the application, compared with the method that the terminal equipment autonomously determines to perform SSB switching, the network equipment instructs the terminal equipment to perform SSB switching, so that the complexity of processing of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the association between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources is carried in radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) signaling.

According to the embodiment of the application, considering that the number of bits of downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) and media access control unit (media access control control element, MAC CE) signaling is limited, and DCI signaling and MAC CE signaling are more suitable for carrying some information with a faster changing frequency, the information amount of the above association relationship may be larger and may not change for a longer period of time, so the embodiment of the application sends the above association relationship to the terminal device through RRC signaling.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including:

the network equipment determines the association relation between a plurality of SSB and a plurality of RS resources according to the coverage areas of the SSB and the RS beams, wherein the RS beams correspond to the RS resources; the network equipment sends the association relation between the SSB and the RS resources to the terminal equipment, wherein the association relation between the SSB and the RS resources comprises the association relation between a second SSB and the RS resources; and the network equipment sends RS according to the RS resources associated with the second SSB.

According to the embodiment of the application, the network device sends association relations between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources to the terminal device in advance, and if the terminal device is switched to the second SSB, the terminal device can determine the RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relation received in advance. Compared with the SSB switching of the terminal equipment, the network equipment reconfigures the RS resources associated with the switched SSB to the terminal equipment, and based on the embodiment of the application, on one hand, the signaling interaction between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be reduced, so that the resources are saved, the probability of channel congestion is reduced, and on the other hand, the time delay of the terminal equipment for acquiring the RS resources can be reduced, and the communication efficiency is improved.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes:

the network device autonomously determining to switch the terminal device from a first SSB to the second SSB;

the network device sends first information to the terminal device, the first information indicating that the terminal device switches from the first SSB to the second SSB.

According to the embodiment of the application, compared with the method that the terminal equipment autonomously determines to switch SSB, the network equipment instructs the terminal equipment to switch SSB, so that the complexity of processing of the terminal equipment can be reduced.

the network device receives a measurement result for the RS from the terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, an association relationship between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources is carried in RRC signaling.

In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which may be the terminal device of the first aspect, or may be an apparatus (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) in the terminal device, or may be an apparatus that can be used in cooperation with the terminal device.

In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus may include modules or units corresponding to each other in a one-to-one manner to perform the method/operation/step/action described in the first aspect, where the modules or units may be hardware circuits, or software, or implemented by using hardware circuits in combination with software.

In one possible implementation the communication device includes: and a processing unit connected with the transceiver unit. A transceiver unit, configured to receive an association relationship between a plurality of SSBs and a plurality of RS resources from a network device, where the association relationship between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources includes an association relationship between a second SSB and an RS resource; if the terminal equipment is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB, a processing unit is used for determining the RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relation between the second SSB and the RS resources; the receiving and transmitting unit is configured to receive an RS from the network device according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is configured to send a measurement result for the RS to the network device.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the processing unit is configured to autonomously determine to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is configured to receive first information from the network device, where the first information indicates that the terminal device switches from the first SSB to the second SSB.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the association between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources is carried in RRC signaling.

In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the communication apparatus may be the network device of the second aspect, or may be an apparatus (for example, a chip, or a system on a chip, or a circuit) in the network device, or may be an apparatus that can be used in cooperation with the network device.

In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus may include modules or units corresponding to each other in a one-to-one manner to perform the method/operation/step/action described in the second aspect, where the modules or units may be hardware circuits, or software, or implemented by using hardware circuits in combination with software.

In one possible implementation the communication device includes: and a processing unit connected with the transceiver unit. The processing unit is used for determining the association relation between the SSB and the RS resources according to the coverage areas of the SSB and the RS beams, and the RS beams correspond to the RS resources; a transceiver unit, configured to send association relationships between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources to a terminal device, where the association relationships between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources include association relationships between a second SSB and an RS resource; the receiving and transmitting unit is configured to send an RS according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is configured to autonomously determine to switch the terminal device from the first SSB to the second SSB; the transceiver unit is configured to send first information to the terminal device, where the first information indicates that the terminal device switches from the first SSB to the second SSB.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is configured to receive a measurement result for the RS from the terminal device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, an association relationship between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources is carried in RRC signaling.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising a communication interface for outputting and/or inputting signals and a processor for executing a computer program or instructions stored in a memory, causing the communication device to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect; or cause the communication device to perform the method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

Alternatively, the memory may be included in the communication device, as a way, the memory may be provided separately from the processor; alternatively, the memory may be located in the processor and integrated with the processor.

In the alternative, the memory may be coupled to the processor in addition to the communication device.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a chip or chip system is provided, the chip or chip system comprising processing circuitry for performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, and an input-output interface; alternatively, the processing circuitry is adapted to perform the method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect. The input-output interface is used for inputting and/or outputting signals.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions) which, when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect; or cause a computer to perform the method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided that includes a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device is configured to perform the method in any of the possible implementations of the first aspect. The network device is configured to perform the method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a communication system to which the present application is applicable.

Fig. 2 is a schematic interaction diagram of an example of the method proposed in the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic interaction diagram of an example of the method proposed in the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic interaction diagram of an example of the method proposed in the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic interaction diagram of an example of the method proposed in the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided herein.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided herein.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various third generation partnership project (the 3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) communication systems, for example: long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, e.g., LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), fifth generation (5th generation,5G) communication systems, also known as New Radio (NR) communication systems, future evolution communication systems, e.g., sixth generation (6th generation,6G) communication systems, and the like.

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: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. Furthermore, the symbol "/" appearing in the present application may represent "and/or", e.g. a/B represents a and/or B.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "a corresponds to B" means that a is associated with B, from which B may be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may also determine B from a and/or other information.

The term "plurality" as used in the embodiments herein refers to two or more.

The first, second, etc. descriptions in the embodiments of the present application are only used for illustrating and distinguishing the description objects, and no order division is made, nor is the number of the description objects in the embodiments of the present application specified, and no limitation in the embodiments of the present application should be construed.

Fig. 1 shows a communication system to which the present application is applicable. The system comprises a terminal device and a network device.

In the present application, a terminal device may be various devices that provide voice and/or data connectivity to a user, and may also be referred to as a terminal, user Equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, and so on. The terminal device may be widely applied to various scenarios, such as customer-terminal device (CPE), point of sale (POS) machine, side-link (e.g., device-to-device (D2D), internet of vehicles (vehicle to everything, V2X)), machine-based communication (MTC), internet of things (internet of things, IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autopilot, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a computer with a wireless receiving and transmitting function, a wearable device, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a vehicle-mounted device, an aerospace device and the like. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip applied to the above device may also be referred to as a terminal.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be an access network device such as a base station, and the base station may be an evolved base station (evolutional nodeB, eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, a next generation base station in a 5G system, a 6G system, a next generation base station in a communication system after 6G, and the like. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device configuration adopted by the network device, and may be, for example: macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, transmission and reception nodes (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmission points (transmitting point, TP), mobile switching centers, network devices in non-terrestrial communication network (non-terrestrial network, NTN) communication systems (i.e., deployed on high-altitude platforms or satellites), and sidelink scenarios (e.g., D2D, V X), devices that assume base station functions in MTC communication, and the like. The network device may be a module or unit that performs a function of a base station part, for example, may be a Central Unit (CU) or may be a Distributed Unit (DU). Wherein, CU and DU respectively complete a part of protocol stack functions of the base station. Furthermore, the functionality of a CU may be implemented by a plurality of entities, e.g. separating the functionality of the Control Plane (CP) and the User Plane (UP) of the CU, forming a CU control plane (CU-CP) and a CU user plane (CU-UP). For example, CU-CP and CU-UP may be implemented by different functional entities and connected through an E1 interface, and CU-CP and CU-UP may be coupled to DUs.

For ease of understanding, the terms referred to in this application are first introduced:

(1) Reference Signal (RS) beam

In the present application, RS beams may be classified into three types, that is, a channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS) beam for channel state measurement, a tracking reference signal (tracking reference signal, TRS) beam for time frequency offset tracking measurement, and a CSI-RS beam for beam measurement (or referred to as beam training), respectively.

Wherein the coverage of the TRS beam may be substantially the same as that of the SSB, or the coverage of the TRS beam may be narrower than that of the SSB, or the coverage of the TRS beam may be wider than that of the SSB, without limitation.

In the present application, "a is substantially the same as B" may be understood as "a is less different from B", e.g. the difference between a and B is less than a preset threshold, which is less.

(2) RS resource

In this application, RS resources are resources for transmitting RS beams, or resources for transmitting RSs. For example, the RS resources include time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code domain resources, and the like.

Since the RS beam can be classified into three types, the RS resources can be classified into three types, namely CSI-RS resources for channel state measurement, TRS resources for time-frequency offset tracking measurement, and CSI-RS resources for beam measurement.

The following describes the current problems in detail in connection with the above three types of RS beams.

(1) CSI-RS beams for channel state measurement

For example, if the terminal device is in coverage of CSI-RS beam #1, the network device may configure CSI-RS resources corresponding to CSI-RS beam #1 to the terminal device. If the terminal device is switched from the CSI-RS beam #1 to the CSI-RS beam #2, the network device reconfigures the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the CSI-RS beam #2 to the terminal device. Wherein CSI-RS beam #1 may comprise one or a group of CSI-RS beams, CSI-RS beam #2 being similar.

Thus, if the CSI-RS beam where the terminal device is located is changed frequently, the signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device may be frequent.

(2) TRS beam for time frequency offset tracking measurement

Taking the case where the coverage of the TRS beam is substantially the same as that of the SSB, the following description will be given:

for example, if the terminal device is in coverage of ssb#1, the network device may transmit MAC ce#1 to the terminal device, where the MAC ce#1 is used to activate a TRS resource corresponding to the ssb#1. If the terminal equipment is switched from SSB#1 to SSB#2, the network equipment transmits MAC CE#2 to the terminal equipment, wherein the MAC CE#2 is used for activating TRS resources corresponding to the SSB#2; or the network device reconfigures the TRS resource corresponding to ssb#2 to the terminal device.

Thus, if the SSB in which the terminal device is located is frequently changed, signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device may be frequent.

(3) CSI-RS beam for beam measurement

In the beam measurement process, after the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the network device, the network device may send multiple CSI-RSs to the terminal device through multiple narrow beams. The terminal device may report measurement results for the plurality of CSI-RS to the network device, so that the network device determines an appropriate beam from the plurality of narrow beams, thereby communicating with the terminal device.

For example, if the terminal device is in coverage of ssb#1, the network device may configure a set of CSI-RS resources corresponding to ssb#1 to the terminal device. If the terminal device is switched from ssb#1 to ssb#2, the network device reconfigures a set of CSI-RS resources corresponding to ssb#2 to the terminal device.

In summary, the frequent signaling interaction between the network device and the terminal device increases the resource overhead on one hand, and increases the probability of channel congestion on the other hand.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present application proposes a communication method 200, as shown in fig. 2, the method 200 includes:

s201, the network equipment determines the association relation between the SSB and the RS resources according to the coverage areas of the SSB and the RS beams.

The plurality of SSBs include a second SSB, and the association between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources includes an association between the second SSB and the RS resources.

Optionally, the plurality of SSBs further includes a first SSB, and the association relationship between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources further includes an association relationship between the first SSB and the RS resources.

The plurality of RS beams may be used for channel state measurements, or time frequency offset tracking measurements, or beam measurements. The plurality of RS beams and the plurality of RS resources are corresponding.

For a detailed description of S201, reference may be made to methods 300 to 500 below.

S202, the network device sends the association relationship between the SSBs and the RS resources determined in S201 to the terminal device # 1. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives association relations of a plurality of SSBs from the network device with a plurality of RS resources.

As one way, the association may be carried in RRC signaling.

The RRC signaling may be classified into RRC dedicated signaling and RRC common signaling.

For example, for RRC dedicated signaling, the RRC signaling may be any of RRCSetup, RRCResume, RRCReestablishment.

For example, for RRC common signaling, the RRC signaling may be a system message block (system information block, SIB). Illustratively, the SIB may be SIB1. The process of receiving SIB1 by terminal device #1 is explained below.

At the initial access of the cell, the terminal device #1 searches for the SSB on the synchronization grid (synchronization raster, synchronization subscriber) of the SSB. SSBs are classified into cell-defining SSBs (CD-SSBs) of defined cells and non-cell-defining SSBs (NCD-SSBs) of undefined cells. The CD-SSB includes master information block (master, information block, MIB) signaling that configures a control resource set (control resource set, CORESET) for terminal device #1 with an ID of 0, CORESET #0.

Terminal device #1 listens to the physical downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH) of scheduling SIB1 on CORESET #0, PDCCH being used to schedule the physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH), PDSCH being used to carry SIB1.

S203, if the terminal device #1 switches from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal device #1 determines RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship between the second SSB and the RS resources received in S202.

The reason why the terminal device #1 switches from the first SSB to the second SSB may be any one of the following:

(a) Terminal device #1 is caused to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB due to the movement of the network device. For example, the network device is located on a satellite and moves with the movement of the satellite.

(b) The terminal device #1 is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB due to the movement of the terminal device # 1.

The manner in which the terminal device #1 determines to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB includes:

mode 1:

terminal device #1 autonomously (autonomously) determines to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB. That is, terminal device #1 may itself detect that the in-process SSB is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB.

For example, the terminal device #1 may determine whether or not the SSB (SSB used at the time) in which the terminal device #1 is located is changed according to the size of the reference signal received power (reference signal received power, RSRP).

Mode 2:

the network device autonomously determines to switch terminal device #1 from the first SSB to the second SSB. The network device may send first information to the terminal device #1, the first information instructing the terminal device #1 to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB. The terminal device #1 determines to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB based on the first information.

For example, the network device is located on a satellite, and the network device may determine to switch the SSB in which the terminal device #1 is located from the first SSB to the second SSB according to a movement speed, a movement direction, and the like of the satellite. For another example, the network device may determine to switch the SSB in which the terminal device #1 is located from the first SSB to the second SSB according to the movement speed, movement direction, and the like of the terminal device # 1.

S204, the network equipment sends the RS according to the RS resources associated with the second SSB. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the RS from the network device according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB.

The method 200 of the present application is described in detail below in connection with the method 300-500.

Fig. 3 illustrates a method 300 as set forth herein. In this method 300, the RS beam is a CSI-RS beam for channel state measurement. Specifically, the method 300 includes:

s301, the network equipment determines association relations (marked as association relation #A) between the SSB and the CSI-RS resources according to the coverage areas of the SSB and the CSI-RS beams.

Wherein the plurality of CSI-RS beams are used for channel state measurements. The plurality of SSBs includes a second SSB, and the association relationship #a includes an association relationship between the second SSB and the CSI-RS resource.

Optionally, the plurality of SSBs further includes a first SSB, and the association relationship #a further includes an association relationship between the first SSB and the CSI-RS resource.

For example, the association relationship between SSB and CSI-RS resource may be one-to-many. The plurality of CSI-RS beams and the plurality of CSI-RS resources are corresponding.

Taking the second SSB as an example, if the coverage of the second SSB is approximately the same as the sum of the coverage of 3 CSI-RS beams (the 3 CSI-RS beams are respectively denoted as CSI-RS beam #1, CSI-RS beam #2 and CSI-RS beam #3, where CSI-RS beam #1 corresponds to CSI-RS resource #1, CSI-RS beam #2 corresponds to CSI-RS resource #2, and CSI-RS beam #3 corresponds to CSI-RS resource # 3), the second SSB has an association relationship with CSI-RS resource #1, CSI-RS resource #2 and CSI-RS resource # 3.

For example, the coverage area of the second SSB includes cell 1, cell 2 and cell 3, where the coverage area of CSI-RS beam #1 is cell 1, the coverage area of CSI-RS beam #2 is cell 2, and the coverage area of CSI-RS beam #3 is cell 3, and then the coverage area of the second SSB is approximately the same as the sum of the coverage areas of the 3 CSI-RS beams.

S302, the network device transmits the association relationship #a to the terminal device # 1. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the association relationship #a.

For example, the association relationship #a may be carried in RRC signaling. In this regard, reference may be made to the description in S202.

Optionally, the network device may further send, to the terminal device #1, indication information #a, where the indication information #a is used to instruct the terminal device #1 to perform measurement according to one CSI-RS resource, or instruct the terminal device #1 to perform measurement according to multiple CSI-RS resources at the same time.

S303, if the terminal device #1 switches from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal device #1 determines CSI-RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship #a.

The reason why the terminal device #1 is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB may be referred to the description in S203.

It should be understood that, initially, the terminal device #1 is located within the coverage area of the first SSB, and the terminal device #1 performs measurement according to the CSI-RS resource associated with the first SSB and feeds back the measured CSI to the network device. After that, the terminal device #1 switches from the first SSB to the second SSB, and the terminal device #1 determines CSI-RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship #a.

The manner in which the terminal device #1 determines to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB may be referred to the description in S203.

Alternatively, if the terminal device #1 autonomously determines to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal device #1 may transmit, to the network device, indication information #b for indicating that the terminal device #1 switches from the first SSB to the second SSB.

As an implementation, if the network device determines that there is no terminal device within the coverage of the first SSB, the network device may stop sending RSs according to CSI-RS resources associated with the first SSB, thereby saving resources and signaling overhead.

S304, the network equipment sends the CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS resources associated with the second SSB. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the CSI-RS from the network device according to the CSI-RS resource associated with the second SSB.

The terminal device #1 may measure the CSI-RS to obtain CSI.

S305, the terminal device #1 transmits the measurement result for the CSI-RS received in S304 to the network device. Accordingly, the network device receives the measurement result.

That is, the terminal device #1 transmits the CSI measured in S304 to the network device.

According to the embodiment of the application, the terminal device may receive the association relationship #a from the network device in advance, and if the terminal device switches to the second SSB, the terminal device may determine CSI-RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship #a received in advance. Therefore, based on the embodiment of the application, on one hand, signaling interaction between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be reduced, so that resources are saved, the probability of channel congestion is reduced, and on the other hand, the time delay of acquiring the CSI-RS resources by the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the communication efficiency is improved.

Fig. 4 illustrates a method 400 presented herein, unlike method 300, in which method 400 the RS beam is a TRS beam for time-frequency offset tracking measurements. Specifically, the method 400 includes:

s401, the network device determines association relations (denoted as association relation #b) between the SSBs and the TRS resources according to coverage areas of the SSBs and coverage areas of the TRS beams.

Wherein the plurality of TRS beams are used for time frequency offset tracking measurements. The plurality of TRS beams and the plurality of TRS resources are corresponding. The plurality of SSBs includes a second SSB, and the association relationship #b includes an association relationship between the second SSB and the TRS resource.

Optionally, the plurality of SSBs further includes a first SSB, and the association relationship #b further includes an association relationship between the first SSB and the TRS resource.

The SSB and the TRS resource may be a one-to-one association, a one-to-many association, or a many-to-one association. That is, the SSB and the TRS beam may have a one-to-one association, a one-to-many association, or a many-to-one association.

For example, if the coverage of 1 SSB is substantially the same as the coverage of 1 TRS beam, the 1 SSB has an association with the 1 TRS beam.

For another example, if the coverage of 1 SSB is substantially the same as the sum of the coverage of 2 TRS beams, then the 1 SSB and the 2 TRS beams have an association relationship.

For another example, if the sum of coverage areas of 2 SSBs is substantially the same as the coverage area of 1 TRS beam, the 2 SSBs and the 1 TRS beam have an association relationship.

S402, the network device transmits the association relationship #b to the terminal device # 1. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the association relationship #b.

For example, the association relationship #b may be carried in RRC signaling. In this regard, reference may be made to the description in S202.

S403, if the terminal device #1 switches from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal device #1 determines the TRS resource associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship between the second SSB and the TRS resource received in S402.

Regarding the reason why the terminal device #1 is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB, and the manner in which the terminal device #1 determines to switch from the first SSB to the second SSB, reference may be made to S203.

Alternatively, if the TRS resources associated with the second SSB are plural, the network device may transmit, to the terminal device #1, indication information #c for indicating which TRS resource of the plural TRS resources is employed by the terminal device # 1. As an implementation, the indication information #c may be carried in MAC CE signaling.

And S404, the network equipment transmits TRS according to the TRS resources associated with the second SSB. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the TRS from the network device according to the TRS resource associated with the second SSB.

Further, the terminal device #1 may perform time-frequency offset measurement according to the TRS received in S404, and compensate the channel estimation according to the result of the time-frequency offset measurement, thereby improving the downlink demodulation performance of the terminal device # 1.

According to the embodiment of the application, the terminal device may receive the association relationship #b from the network device in advance, and if the terminal device switches to the second SSB, the terminal device may determine the TRS resource associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship #b received in advance. Therefore, based on the embodiment of the application, on one hand, signaling interaction between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be reduced, so that resources are saved, the probability of channel congestion is reduced, and on the other hand, the time delay of the terminal equipment for acquiring TRS resources can be reduced, and the communication efficiency is improved.

Fig. 5 illustrates a method 500 presented herein, unlike methods 300 and 400, in which method 500 the RS beam is a CSI-RS beam for beam measurement. Specifically, the method 500 includes:

s501, the network equipment determines association relations (marked as association relation #C) between the SSB and the CSI-RS resources according to the coverage areas of the SSB and the CSI-RS beams.

The process may refer to S301.

Wherein the plurality of CSI-RS beams are used for beam measurement. The plurality of CSI-RS beams and the plurality of CSI-RS resources are corresponding. The plurality of SSBs includes a second SSB, and the association relationship #c includes an association relationship between the second SSB and the CSI-RS resource.

Optionally, the plurality of SSBs further includes a first SSB, and the association relationship #c further includes an association relationship between the first SSB and the CSI-RS resource.

For example, the association relationship between SSB and CSI-RS resource may be one-to-many.

S502, the network device transmits the association relationship #c to the terminal device # 1. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the association relationship #c.

For example, the association relationship #c may be carried in RRC signaling, and in particular, S202 may be referred to.

S503, if the terminal device #1 switches from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal device #1 determines CSI-RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship #c.

S504, the network equipment sends the CSI-RS according to the CSI-RS resources associated with the second SSB. Accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the CSI-RS from the network device according to the CSI-RS resource associated with the second SSB.

As one way, the second SSB associates a plurality of CSI-RS resources, according to which the network device may transmit a plurality of CSI-RS, and accordingly, the terminal device #1 receives the plurality of CSI-RS. The plurality of CSI-RSs are in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of CSI-RS narrow beams. Further, the terminal device #1 measures the received plurality of CSI-RSs.

S505, the terminal device #1 transmits the measurement result for the CSI-RS received in S504 to the network device. Accordingly, the network device receives the measurement result.

Further, the network device may determine a narrow beam for communication with the terminal device #1 based on the measurement result.

For example, if the terminal device #1 feeds back measurement results of 3 CSI-RS (denoted as CSI-RS #1 to CSI-RS # 3) to the network device, and the best one of the measurement results of 3 CSI-RS is the measurement result of CSI-RS #1, the network device determines that the narrow beam communicating with the terminal device #1 is the narrow beam corresponding to CSI-RS # 1.

According to the embodiment of the application, the terminal device may receive the association relationship #c from the network device in advance, and if the terminal device switches to the second SSB, the terminal device may determine CSI-RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relationship #c received in advance. Therefore, based on the embodiment of the application, on one hand, signaling interaction between the terminal equipment and the network equipment can be reduced, so that resources are saved, the probability of channel congestion is reduced, and on the other hand, the time delay of acquiring the CSI-RS resources by the terminal equipment can be reduced, and the communication efficiency is improved.

According to the foregoing method, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the communication device includes a transceiver 601 and a processing unit 602.

The transceiver unit 601 may be configured to implement a corresponding information transceiver function. The transceiver unit 601 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. The processing unit 602 may be used for performing processing operations.

Illustratively, the apparatus further comprises a storage unit, which may be used for storing instructions and/or data, and the processing unit 602 may read the instructions and/or data in the storage unit, so that the apparatus implements the actions of the apparatus in the foregoing method embodiments.

As a first implementation manner, the apparatus may be a network device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a component (such as a chip) of the network device. The transceiver unit and the processing unit may be configured to implement the relevant operations of the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. Illustratively, the transceiver unit is configured to implement S202 and S204, or to implement S302 and S304, or to implement S402 and S404, or to implement S502 and S504, and the processing unit is configured to implement S201, S301, S401, or S501.

As a second implementation manner, the apparatus may be the terminal device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a component (such as a chip) of the terminal device. The transceiver unit and the processing unit may be configured to implement the related operations of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments. Illustratively, the transceiver unit is configured to implement S305 or S505, and the processing unit is configured to implement S203, S303, S403, or S503.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and is not described herein for brevity.

It should also be understood that the apparatus herein is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" herein may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor, etc.) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality.

The communication device has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the device in the method. The functions may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions; for example, the transceiver unit may be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., a transmitting unit in the transceiver unit may be replaced by a transmitter, a receiving unit in the transceiver unit may be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as a processing unit, etc., may be replaced by a processor, to perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in the various method embodiments, respectively.

The transceiver 601 may be a transceiver circuit (e.g., may include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

It should be understood that the apparatus in fig. 6 may be the apparatus in the foregoing method embodiment, and may also be a chip or a chip system, for example: system on chip (SoC). The receiving and transmitting unit can be an input and output circuit and a communication interface; the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit on the chip. And are not limited herein.

The embodiment of the application further provides a communication device, as shown in fig. 7, including: a processor 701 and a communication interface 702. The processor 701 is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory 703 or to read data stored in the memory 703 to perform the methods in the method embodiments above. Illustratively, the processor 701 is one or more. The communication interface 702 is used for reception and/or transmission of signals. For example, the processor 701 is configured to control the communication interface 702 for receiving and/or transmitting signals.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 7, the communication device may further comprise a memory 703, the memory 703 for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data. The memory 703 may be integrated with the processor 701 or may be provided separately. Of course, the communication device may also not include the memory 703, and the memory 703 may be provided outside the communication device. Illustratively, the memory 703 is one or more.

Illustratively, the processor 701, the communication interface 702, and the memory 703 are interconnected by a bus 704; bus 704 may be a peripheral component interconnect standard (peripheral component interconnect, PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (extended industry standard architecture, EISA) bus, among others. The bus 704 may be classified into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 7, but not only one bus or one type of bus.

For example, the processor 701 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 703.

As a first implementation manner, the apparatus may be a network device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a component (such as a chip) of the network device. Wherein the communication interface and the processor may be configured to implement the operations related to the network device in the above method embodiments. Illustratively, the communication interface is used to implement S202 and S204, or to implement S302 and S304, or to implement S402 and S404, or to implement S502 and S504, and the processor is used to implement S201, S301, S401, or S501.

As a second implementation manner, the apparatus may be the terminal device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a component (such as a chip) of the terminal device. The communication interface and the processor may be configured to implement the relevant operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. Illustratively, the communication interface is for implementing S305 or S505, and the processor is for implementing S203, S303, S403 or S503.

It should be appreciated that the processors referred to in the embodiments of the present application (e.g., processor 701) may be central processing units (central processing unit, CPU), network processors (network processor, NP) or a combination of CPU and NP. The processor may further comprise a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an ASIC, a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD) or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (complex programmable logic device, CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA), general-purpose array logic (generic array logic, GAL), or any combination thereof.

It should also be appreciated that the memory referred to in embodiments of the present application (e.g., memory 703) may be 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.

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 elements is merely a logical functional division, and there may be additional divisions of actual implementation, e.g., multiple elements 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 over 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. The present application provides a computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any one of the possible implementations of the method embodiments described above.

The technical solutions of the present application or parts of the technical solutions may be embodied in the form of a software product. Accordingly, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instructions), when executed, causes a computer to perform any one of the possible implementations of the method embodiments described above. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes 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 of the various embodiments of the present application.

And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc.

The matters in the various embodiments of the present application may be referenced to each other in terms and/or descriptions consistent with each other and to each other in the absence of specific illustrations and logic conflicts between, the technical features of the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on the inherent logic relationships.

It will be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and/or the network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, these steps or operations are merely examples, and in the embodiments of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. Furthermore, the various steps may be performed in a different order presented in accordance with embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the embodiments of the present application may be performed.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives association relations between a plurality of synchronous signals/physical broadcast channel blocks (SSB) and a plurality of Reference Signal (RS) resources from a network device, wherein the association relations between the SSB and the RS resources comprise association relations between a second SSB and the RS resources;

If the terminal equipment is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB, the terminal equipment determines the RS resource associated with the second SSB according to the association relation between the second SSB and the RS resource;

and the terminal equipment receives the RS from the network equipment according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

and the terminal equipment sends the measurement result aiming at the RS to the network equipment.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein,

the association relationship between the SSBs and the RS resources is carried in radio resource control RRC signaling.

6. A method of communication, comprising:

The network equipment determines the association relation between a plurality of SSBs and a plurality of RS resources according to the coverage areas of a plurality of synchronous signals/physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) and the coverage areas of a plurality of Reference Signal (RS) beams, wherein the plurality of RS beams correspond to the plurality of RS resources;

the network equipment sends the association relation between the SSB and the RS resources to the terminal equipment, wherein the association relation between the SSB and the RS resources comprises the association relation between a second SSB and the RS resources;

and the network equipment sends RS according to the RS resources associated with the second SSB.

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

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the method further comprises:

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein,

10. A terminal device, comprising:

a transceiver unit, configured to receive an association relationship between a plurality of synchronization signals/physical broadcast channel blocks SSBs and a plurality of reference signal RS resources from a network device, where the association relationship between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources includes an association relationship between a second SSB and an RS resource;

if the terminal equipment is switched from the first SSB to the second SSB, a processing unit is used for determining the RS resources associated with the second SSB according to the association relation between the second SSB and the RS resources;

the receiving and transmitting unit is configured to receive an RS from the network device according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB.

11. The terminal device according to claim 10, wherein the transceiving unit is configured to send a measurement result for the RS to the network device.

12. The terminal device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the processing unit is configured to autonomously determine a handover from the first SSB to the second SSB.

13. The terminal device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the transceiving unit is configured to receive first information from the network device, the first information indicating that the terminal device switches from the first SSB to the second SSB.

14. Terminal device according to any of the claims 10-13, characterized in that,

15. A network device, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to determine association relationships between a plurality of SSBs and a plurality of RS resources according to coverage areas of a plurality of synchronization signals/physical broadcast channel blocks SSBs and coverage areas of a plurality of reference signal RS beams, where the plurality of RS beams correspond to the plurality of RS resources;

a transceiver unit, configured to send association relationships between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources to a terminal device, where the association relationships between the plurality of SSBs and the plurality of RS resources include association relationships between a second SSB and an RS resource;

the receiving and transmitting unit is configured to send an RS according to the RS resource associated with the second SSB.

16. The network device of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is configured to autonomously determine to switch the terminal device from a first SSB to the second SSB;

the transceiver unit is configured to send first information to the terminal device, where the first information indicates that the terminal device switches from the first SSB to the second SSB.

17. The network device according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the transceiver unit is configured to receive a measurement result for the RS from the terminal device.

18. The network device according to any of the claims 15-17, characterized in that,

19. A communication device, comprising: a communication interface for outputting and/or inputting signals and a processor for executing a computer program or instructions stored in a memory, causing the communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-5; or cause the communication device to perform the method of any of claims 6-9.

20. The communication device of claim 19, wherein the communication device further comprises the memory.

21. A computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1-5; alternatively, the computer is caused to perform the method of any of claims 6-9.

22. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1-5; alternatively, the computer is caused to perform the method of any of claims 6-9.