CN117858252A

CN117858252A - Communication method and related product

Info

Publication number: CN117858252A
Application number: CN202211217543.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 高飞; 黄秀璇; 花梦
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-09-30
Filing date: 2022-09-30
Publication date: 2024-04-09
Also published as: WO2024067315A1

Abstract

The application discloses a communication method and related products, the method comprising: receiving first configuration information from access network equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate PDCCH, and the second search space set comprises a second candidate PDCCH; in the case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the search space set for listening; the occurrence of the situation that the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a large number of the related cells cannot be monitored can be reduced.

Description

Communication method and related product

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and related products.

Background

To meet the increasing demand for wireless transmission, wireless communication technologies need to be further evolved to increase the network capacity and transmission rate of wireless networks. In the evolution direction of wireless communication technology, further mining of frequency resources and spatial resources of wireless communication is two dimensions of paramount importance.

In order to support future network capacity and transmission rate requirements, more transmission bandwidth is required from the dimension of the mined frequency resources. However, in the current sub-6GHz spectrum resources, large-bandwidth continuous spectrum resources are quite scarce. That is, a single carrier has a limited bandwidth. Carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA) is a key technique to address the problem of limited single carrier bandwidth by aggregating two or more carrier units (component carrier, CC) together to support a larger transmission bandwidth. In a CA scenario, there may be a plurality of cells serving a terminal device. That is, the terminal device has a plurality of serving cells. Wherein the plurality of serving cells of the terminal device include a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (scells).

Until a New Radio (NR) Rel-17 is reached, based on the existing CA mechanism, if the base station wants to schedule User Equipment (UE) on multiple carriers to perform physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink share channel, PDSCH) or physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink share channel, PUSCH) transmission simultaneously, it needs to send multiple downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI) to schedule, and one DCI for each carrier needs to schedule. According to the carrier wave for transmitting DCI, two modes of self-carrier wave scheduling and cross-carrier wave scheduling are classified. When the self-carrier scheduling method is used, DCI for scheduling PDSCH or PUSCH transmission on one carrier is also transmitted on the carrier. When the cross-carrier scheduling mode is used, DCI for scheduling PDSCH or PUSCH transmission on one carrier can be sent on the other carrier, so that the effect that DCI is sent on only one carrier is achieved. It may be noted that the number of DCIs required, whether self-carrier scheduling or cross-carrier scheduling, is proportional to the number of carriers used simultaneously. Discrete multi-carriers require more control channel resources for carrying multiple DCIs based on existing CA mechanisms than continuous wideband carriers, using the same bandwidth to transmit data. This manner of multi-DCI scheduling increases the overhead of the control channel.

Based on the existing CA mechanism, multiple carrier transmission scheduled by multiple DCIs is used, the UE needs to blindly solve the multiple DCIs, and the blind solution budget of the UE increases with the increase of the number of carriers. This increases the complexity of blind solution for the UE compared to a continuous wideband carrier of the same transmission bandwidth.

The third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) Rel-18 Work Item (WI) has established that the use of a single DCI to schedule PDSCH or PUSCH on multiple frequency bands/carriers reduces the overhead of control channels caused by the use of multiple DCIs to schedule multiple carriers, avoiding the placement of physical downlink control channels (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH) on each carrier. Such a Single DCI is commonly referred to as "Single DCI". Compared with a plurality of DCI schedules under the existing CA mechanism, the Single DCI (hereinafter may be written as Single DCI) is used in the discrete multi-carrier, so that the overhead of a control channel can be obviously reduced, more downlink resources are released for PDSCH transmission, the downlink capacity is improved, and the performance of the continuous broadband carrier is approximated.

In the R18 CA scenario, 1 single DCI may schedule uplink data transmission or downlink data reception of multiple cells. Assuming that the single DCI configuration is monitored on the PCell, the 3 cells PCell, scell#1, and scell#2 may be simultaneously scheduled through higher layer signaling configuration. If the number of Blind Detection (BD) or control channel elements (control channel element, CEE) corresponding to the search space set of the listening single DCI is configured to exceed the PDCCH blind detection capability of the UE, the UE will not perform blind detection on the candidate PDCCHs in the search space set, so that the UE will not listen to the single DCI, thereby affecting data scheduling of other cells and reducing the spectrum utilization rate. Thus, there is a need to investigate how to reduce the occurrence of situations where access network devices (e.g., base stations) cannot schedule multiple cells through single DCI.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and related products, which can reduce the occurrence that access network equipment (such as a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the method is applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: receiving first configuration information from access network equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate PDCCH, the second search space set comprises a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used for bearing first downlink control information DCI, and the second candidate PDCCH is used for bearing second DCI; in case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCHs in the first search space set to a search space set for listening (first search space set), determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCHs in the second search space set to a search space set for listening (second search space set). Optionally, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of a plurality of cells. For example, the first DCI is single DCI. In this application, determining (or judging) whether to allocate a candidate PDCCH in a certain search space set to a search space set for listening may be referred to as: and performing PDCCH mapping on the search space set. For example, determining (or judging) whether to allocate a PDCCH candidate in the first set of search spaces to the set of search spaces for listening may be referred to as: and performing PDCCH mapping on the first search space set.

In the embodiment of the application, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the search space set for monitoring, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the search space set for monitoring, so that the probability that the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set is allocated to the search space set for monitoring is greater than the probability that the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set is allocated to the search space set for monitoring; the occurrence of the situation that the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a large number of the related cells cannot be monitored can be reduced, so that the occurrence of the situation that access network equipment (such as a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI is reduced. That is, PDCCH candidates in a search space set with a larger number of associated cells are preferentially allocated to a search space set for listening, and PDCCH candidates in a search space set with a smaller number of associated cells (e.g., carrying DCI for scheduling one cell) are later allocated to a search space set for listening.

In one possible implementation, the cells associated with the first search space set include K cells used for scheduling by the first DCI, the cells associated with the second search space set include F cells used for scheduling by the second DCI, an index of the first search space set is greater than or less than an index of the second search space, K and F are integers greater than 0, and K is greater than F. The index of a search space set is understood in this application as a search space set index (searchspace) in a search space set configuration parameter.

In this implementation, the cells associated with the first search space set include K cells used for scheduling by the first DCI, and the cells associated with the second search space set include F cells used for scheduling by the second DCI; the occurrence of the situation that the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a large number of the related cells cannot be monitored can be reduced, so that the occurrence of the situation that access network equipment (such as a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI is reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, and the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both first formats, for example, DCI format 0_X or DCI format 0_5, where the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one or more cells; alternatively, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, for example, DCI format 1_X, or DCI format 1_5, and the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both second formats, where the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one or more cells.

In this implementation manner, the occurrence of the situation that the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a large number of associated cells cannot be monitored can be reduced, so that the occurrence of the situation that the access network device (for example, the base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI can be reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one cell; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, where the format of the first DCI is a first format, the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a third format, and the DCI of the third format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one cell; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, the format of the first DCI is a second format, the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a fourth format, and the DCI of the fourth format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one cell.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second configuration information from the access network device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a third search space set and a fourth search space set, where the third search space set includes a third candidate PDCCH, the fourth search space set includes a fourth candidate PDCCH, the third candidate PDCCH is used to carry third DCI, the fourth candidate PDCCH is used to carry fourth DCI, one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one or more cells, the other is used to schedule a data channel of one cell, and a format of the third DCI is different from a format of the fourth DCI, where it may be understood that when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both uplink scheduling DCIs different from a format of the fourth DCI, for example, a format of the third DCI is DCI format 0_1, and a format of the fourth DCI is DCI 0_X or format 0_5; or when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both downlink scheduling DCIs, the third DCI format is different from the fourth DCI format, for example, the format of the third DCI is DCI format 1_1 and the format of the fourth DCI is DCI format 1_X or DCI format 1_5; in the case that the third search space set and the fourth search space set are both associated with one cell, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the third search space set to the search space set for listening, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the fourth search space set to the search space set for listening, the index of the third search space set being smaller than the index of the fourth search space set.

In this implementation, it may be determined in order whether to allocate candidate PDCCHs in the set of search spaces to the set of search spaces for listening.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and receiving third configuration information from the access network equipment, wherein the third configuration information is used for configuring a cell set associated with the first search space set and configuring a cell set associated with the second search space set. Optionally, according to the third configuration information, a cell set associated with the first search space set and a cell set associated with the second search space set are obtained.

In this implementation, a set of cells associated with a first set of search spaces can be configured, and a set of cells associated with a second set of search spaces can be configured.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and sending first capability information to the access network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support the execution of determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the sequence of the search space set for monitoring according to the number of cells associated with each search space set.

In the implementation manner, the first capability information is sent to the access network equipment, so that the access network equipment can know the sequence of determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the search space set for monitoring according to the number of cells associated with each search space set by the terminal equipment.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communication method, where the method is applied to an access network device, and the method includes: transmitting first configuration information to a terminal device, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate PDCCH, the second search space set comprises a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used for bearing first downlink control information DCI, the second candidate PDCCH is used for bearing second DCI, and the loads of the first DCI and the second DCI are different; in the case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCHs in the first search space set to the search space set for listening, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCHs in the second search space set to the search space set for listening.

In the embodiment of the application, after determining whether to allocate the first candidate PDCCH to the search space set for listening, determining whether to allocate the second candidate PDCCH to the search space set for listening, so that the probability that the first candidate PDCCH is allocated to the search space set for listening is greater than the probability that the second candidate PDCCH is allocated to the search space set for listening; the occurrence of the situation that the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a large number of the related cells cannot be monitored can be reduced, so that the occurrence of the situation that access network equipment (such as a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI is reduced. That is, PDCCH candidates in a search space set with a larger number of associated cells are preferentially allocated to a search space set for listening, and PDCCH candidates in a search space set with a smaller number of associated cells (e.g., carrying DCI for scheduling one cell) are later allocated to a search space set for listening.

In one possible implementation, the cells associated with the first search space set include K cells used for scheduling by the first DCI, the cells associated with the second search space set include F cells used for scheduling by the second DCI, an index of the first search space set is greater than or less than an index of the second search space, K and F are integers greater than 0, and K is greater than F.

In one possible implementation, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, and the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both first formats, where the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both second formats, and the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells.

In one possible implementation, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one cell; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, where the format of the first DCI is a first format, the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a third format, and the DCI of the third format is used for scheduling data channels of one cell; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, where the format of the first DCI is a second format, the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a fourth format, and the DCI of the fourth format is used for scheduling data channels of one cell.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: transmitting second configuration information to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a third search space set and a fourth search space set, where the third search space set includes a third candidate PDCCH, the fourth search space set includes a fourth candidate PDCCH, the third candidate PDCCH is used to carry third DCI, the fourth candidate PDCCH is used to carry fourth DCI, one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one or more cells, and the other is used to schedule a data channel of one cell, and a format of the third DCI is different from a format of the fourth DCI, which may be understood that when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both uplink scheduling DCIs different from a format of the fourth DCI, for example, a format of the third DCI is DCI format 0_1, and a format of the fourth DCI is DCI format 0_X or format 0_5; or when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both downlink scheduling DCIs, the third DCI format is different from the fourth DCI format, for example, the format of the third DCI is DCI format 1_1 and the format of the fourth DCI is DCI format 1_X or DCI format 1_5; in the case that the third search space set and the fourth search space set are both associated with one cell, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the third search space set to the search space set for listening, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the fourth search space set to the search space set for listening, the index of the third search space set being smaller than the index of the fourth search space set.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and sending third configuration information to the terminal equipment, wherein the third configuration information is used for configuring a cell set associated with the first search space set and configuring a cell set associated with the second search space set.

In the implementation manner, a cell set associated with the first search space set is configured, and a cell set associated with the second search space set is configured, so that the terminal equipment firstly performs PDCCH mapping on the search space set with more cells associated with the first search space set and the second search space set.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and receiving first capability information from the terminal equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support the execution of determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the sequence of the search space set for monitoring according to the number of cells associated with each search space set.

In the implementation manner, the first capability information from the terminal equipment is received, and the access network equipment can acquire the sequence of whether the candidate PDCCH in each search space set is allocated to the search space set for monitoring or not according to the number of cells associated with each search space set supported by the terminal equipment.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method, where the method is applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: receiving first configuration information from access network equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate PDCCH, the second search space set comprises a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used for bearing first downlink control information DCI, the second candidate PDCCH is used for bearing second DCI, the first DCI is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used for scheduling data channels of one cell; allocating the first candidate PDCCH to a search space set for listening; determining whether to allocate the second PDCCH candidate to a set of search spaces for listening.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first PDCCH candidate is allocated to the search space set for monitoring, so that it can be avoided that the PDCCH candidate carrying DCI for scheduling a plurality of cells cannot be monitored.

In one possible implementation, the method includes: and sending first capability information to the access network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support the allocation of the candidate PDCCH used for carrying the DCI used for scheduling the data channels of one or more cells to the search space set used for monitoring, and determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH used for carrying the DCI used for scheduling the data channels of one cell to the search space set used for monitoring.

In this implementation, first capability information is sent to the access network device so that the access network device knows that the terminal device supports allocation of PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling data channels of one or more cells to a set of search spaces for listening.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communication method, where the method is applied to an access network device, and the method includes: transmitting first configuration information to a terminal device, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate PDCCH, the second search space set comprises a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used for bearing first downlink control information DCI, the second candidate PDCCH is used for bearing second DCI, the first DCI is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used for scheduling data channels of one cell; allocating the first candidate PDCCH to a search space set for listening; determining whether to allocate the second PDCCH candidate to a set of search spaces for listening.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first capability information from the terminal device, the first capability information being used to instruct the terminal device to support allocation of PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling a data channel of one or more cells to a set of search spaces for listening, and determining whether to allocate PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling a data channel of one cell to the set of search spaces for listening.

In this implementation, receiving the first capability information from the terminal device, it can be known that the terminal device supports allocation of PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling data channels of one or more cells to a set of search spaces for listening.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communication method, where the method is applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: receiving first configuration information from access network equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set, the first search space set comprises a first PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is used for bearing first DCI, and the first DCI is used for scheduling a primary cell and a first secondary cell of the terminal equipment; determining the times of first monitored PDCCH candidates corresponding to the PDCCH candidates contained in the first search space set and the number of first non-overlapping CCEs; and monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set under the condition that the first BD frequency exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored on the main cell and/or the first non-overlapping CCE number exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the main cell. Optionally, the method further comprises: the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number are counted to the primary cell, and the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number are counted to the first secondary cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the number of first BDs exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored on the primary cell and/or the number of first non-overlapping CCEs exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell, monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set; the situation that the access network equipment (such as a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI can be avoided.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and analyzing domain information related to the first secondary cell scheduling and domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI.

In this implementation, domain information related to first secondary cell scheduling and domain information related to primary cell scheduling in the first DCI are parsed to schedule the first secondary cell and the primary cell.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: analyzing domain information related to the first secondary cell scheduling in the first DCI; and omitting domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI, or skipping analysis of the domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI.

In the implementation manner, domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI is ignored, or analysis of the domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI is skipped; data processing operations may be reduced.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and sending first capability information to the access network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to monitor the candidate PDCCH in the random search space set under the condition that the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH contained in the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCH monitored by the main cell and/or the non-overlapping CCE number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH contained in the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of the non-overlapping CCE corresponding to the main cell.

In this implementation, the first capability information is sent to the access network device so that the access network device knows the capabilities supported by the terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and sending second capability information to the access network equipment, wherein the second capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to schedule the main cell and the auxiliary cell of the terminal equipment by using the DCI monitored by the random search space set under the condition that the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH contained by the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCH monitored by the main cell and/or the non-overlapping CCE number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH contained by the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of the non-overlapping CCE corresponding to the main cell.

In this implementation, the second capability information is sent to the access network device so that the access network device knows the capabilities supported by the terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and sending third capability information to the access network equipment, wherein the third capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to schedule the secondary cell of the terminal equipment by using the DCI monitored by the random search space set under the condition that the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH contained by the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored by the primary cell and/or the non-overlapping CCE number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH contained by the search space set exceeds the maximum number of the non-overlapping CCE corresponding to the primary cell.

In this implementation, the third capability information is sent to the access network device so that the access network device knows the capabilities supported by the terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device having a function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the first aspect described above. The communication device (terminal device) may be a communication device, a component of a communication device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the communication device. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware, where the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, where: the transceiver module is configured to receive first configuration information from an access network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set includes a first candidate physical downlink control channel PDCCH, the second search space set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used to carry first downlink control information DCI, and the second candidate PDCCH is used to carry second DCI; the processing module is configured to, when the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, determine whether to allocate the PDCCH candidates in the second search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the PDCCH candidates in the first search space set to the search space set for listening.

In one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to receive second configuration information from the access network device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a third search space set and a fourth search space set, where the third search space set includes a third candidate PDCCH, the fourth search space set includes a fourth candidate PDCCH, the third candidate PDCCH is used to carry a third DCI, the fourth candidate PDCCH is used to carry a fourth DCI, one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one or more cells, and the other one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one cell, and the format of the third DCI is different from the format of the fourth DCI, where it may be understood that when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both uplink scheduling DCIs different, for example, the format of the third DCI is format 0_1, and the format of the fourth DCI is DCI format 0_X or DCI 0_5; or when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both downlink scheduling DCIs, the third DCI format is different from the fourth DCI format, for example, the format of the third DCI is DCI format 1_1 and the format of the fourth DCI is DCI format 1_X or DCI format 1_5; in the case that the third search space set and the fourth search space set are both associated with one cell, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the third search space set to the search space set for listening, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the fourth search space set to the search space set for listening, the index of the third search space set being smaller than the index of the fourth search space set.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to receive third configuration information from the access network device, where the third configuration information is used to configure a set of cells associated with the first set of search spaces, and configure a set of cells associated with the second set of search spaces.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send first capability information to the access network device, where the first capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to support determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the search space set for listening according to the number of cells associated with each search space set.

Possible implementations of the communication device of the sixth aspect may be seen in the various possible implementations of the first aspect.

With respect to the technical effects brought about by the various possible implementations of the sixth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or of the various possible implementations of the first aspect.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device having a function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the second aspect described above. The communication device (access network device) may be a communication device, a component of a communication device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-a-chip), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the communication device. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware, where the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, where: the transceiver module is configured to send first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set includes a first candidate physical downlink control channel PDCCH, the second search space set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used to carry first downlink control information DCI, the second candidate PDCCH is used to carry second DCI, and loads of the first DCI and the second DCI are different; the processing module is configured to, when the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, determine whether to allocate the PDCCH candidates in the second search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the PDCCH candidates in the first search space set to the search space set for listening.

In one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send second configuration information to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a third search space set and a fourth search space set, where the third search space set includes a third candidate PDCCH, the fourth search space set includes a fourth candidate PDCCH, the third candidate PDCCH is used to carry a third DCI, the fourth candidate PDCCH is used to carry a fourth DCI, one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one or more cells, the other one is used to schedule a data channel of one cell, and a format of the third DCI is different from a format of the fourth DCI, where it may be understood that when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both uplink scheduled DCIs different from the fourth DCI, for example, the format of the third DCI is DCI 0_1, and the format of the fourth DCI is DCI format 0_X or DCI 0_5; or when the third DCI and the fourth DCI are both downlink scheduling DCIs, the third DCI format is different from the fourth DCI format, for example, the format of the third DCI is DCI format 1_1 and the format of the fourth DCI is DCI format 1_X or DCI format 1_5; the processing module is further configured to, in a case where the third search space set and the fourth search space set are each associated with one cell, determine whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the fourth search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the third search space set to the search space set for listening, where an index of the third search space set is smaller than an index of the fourth search space set.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send third configuration information to the terminal device, where the third configuration information is used to configure a cell set associated with the first search space set, and configure a cell set associated with the second search space set.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to receive first capability information from the terminal device, where the first capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to support determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the search space set for listening according to the number of cells associated with each search space set.

Possible implementations of the communication device of the seventh aspect may be seen in the various possible implementations of the second aspect.

With respect to the technical effects brought about by the various possible implementations of the seventh aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the second aspect or of the various possible implementations of the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communication device having a function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the third aspect described above. The communication device (terminal device) may be a communication device, a component of a communication device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the communication device. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware, where the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, where: the transceiver module is configured to receive first configuration information from an access network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the second search space set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used to carry first downlink control information DCI, the second candidate PDCCH is used to carry second DCI, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one cell; the receiving and transmitting module is used for distributing the first candidate PDCCH to a search space set for monitoring; determining whether to allocate the second PDCCH candidate to a set of search spaces for listening.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to send first capability information to the access network device, where the first capability information is configured to instruct the terminal device to support allocation of PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling data channels of one or more cells to the set of search spaces for listening, and determine whether to allocate PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling data channels of one cell to the set of search spaces for listening.

Regarding the technical effects brought about by the various possible implementations of the eighth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the third aspect or the various possible implementations of the third aspect.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device having a function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the fourth aspect described above. The communication device (access network device) may be a communication device, a component of a communication device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a system-on-a-chip), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the communication device. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware, where the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, where: the transceiver module is configured to send first configuration information to a terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the second search space set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used to carry first downlink control information DCI, the second candidate PDCCH is used to carry second DCI, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one cell; the processing module is further configured to allocate the first PDCCH candidate to a search space set for listening; determining whether to allocate the second PDCCH candidate to a set of search spaces for listening.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to receive first capability information from the terminal device, where the first capability information is configured to instruct the terminal device to support allocation of PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling data channels of one or more cells to a set of search spaces for listening, and determine whether to allocate PDCCH candidates for carrying DCI for scheduling data channels of one cell to the set of search spaces for listening.

Regarding the technical effects brought about by the various possible implementations of the ninth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the fourth aspect or the various possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device having a function of implementing the actions in the method embodiments of the fifth aspect described above. The communication device (terminal device) may be a communication device, a component of a communication device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the communication device. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware, where the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, where: the transceiver module is configured to receive first configuration information from an access network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure a first search space set, the first search space set includes a first PDCCH candidate, the first PDCCH candidate is used to carry first DCI, and the first DCI is used to schedule a primary cell and a first secondary cell of the terminal device; the processing module is configured to determine a number of times of first monitored PDCCH candidates corresponding to PDCCH candidates included in the first search space set and a first number of CCEs that do not overlap; and monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set under the condition that the first BD frequency exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored on the main cell and/or the first non-overlapping CCE number exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the main cell. Optionally, the processing module is further configured to (count) the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the primary cell, and (count) the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the first secondary cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to parse domain information related to the first secondary cell scheduling and domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to parse domain information related to the first secondary cell scheduling in the first DCI; and omitting domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI, or skipping analysis of the domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send first capability information to the access network device, where the first capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to monitor the candidate PDCCHs in the random search space set if the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCHs included in the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored by the primary cell, and/or if the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the candidate PDCCHs included in the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send second capability information to the access network device, where the second capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to schedule the primary cell and the secondary cell of the terminal device by using DCI monitored through the arbitrary search space set if the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored by the primary cell and/or the non-overlapping CCE number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send third capability information to the access network device, where the third capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to schedule the secondary cell of the terminal device by using DCI monitored through the arbitrary search space set when the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored by the primary cell and/or the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the search space set exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell.

Regarding the technical effects brought about by the various possible implementations of the tenth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the fifth aspect or the various possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communication device, the communication device including a processor coupled with a memory for storing a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method shown in any of the possible implementations of the first to fifth aspects described above.

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

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

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

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

In one possible implementation, the processor and the memory may also be integrated in one device, i.e. the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further comprises a transceiver for receiving signals or transmitting signals, etc.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides another communication device comprising processing circuitry and interface circuitry for acquiring data or outputting data; the processing circuitry is to perform the method as shown in any of the possible implementations of the first to fifth aspects described above.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program comprising program instructions which when executed cause a computer to perform the method as shown in any of the possible implementations of the first to fifth aspects described above.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program comprising program instructions which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method as shown in any of the possible implementations of the first to fifth aspects described above.

A fifteenth aspect of the present application provides a communication system comprising a communication device according to the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect, a communication device according to the seventh aspect or any possible implementation of the seventh aspect.

In a sixteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system comprising a communication device according to any possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect or the eighth aspect, a communication device according to any possible implementation manner of the ninth aspect or the ninth aspect.

In a seventeenth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor reading instructions stored on a memory via the communication interface, performing the method as set forth in any one of the first to fifth aspects above.

Drawings

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

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system 1000 to which embodiments of the present application apply;

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

FIG. 3 illustrates cells in a first set of search spaces and a second set of search spaces that single DCI might schedule;

FIG. 4 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

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

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

The terminology and technical solutions involved in the embodiments of the present application will be described first.

Blind Detection (BD) and blind detection frequency upper limit

The uplink data transmission and the downlink data reception of the terminal device both need scheduling of the access network device (for example, the gNB), and the scheduled information is issued through DCI carried by the PDCCH. Since the terminal device does not know the exact position of the PDCCH carrying the scheduling information of the terminal device, the terminal device performs Blind Detection (BD) in a search space set (SS set) within a control resource set (CORESET).

The access network device may configure the number of PDCCH candidates. For example, the access network device may configure the terminal device with multiple PDCCH candidates, but not all of the multiple PDCCH candidates carry DCI that the terminal device expects to receive, i.e., not all of the PDCCH candidates carry DCI sent to the terminal device. The terminal device needs to attempt decoding of each PDCCH candidate in the search space set to determine whether or not the DCI expected to be received by itself is carried on these PDCCH candidates. Wherein, this behavior of the terminal device in attempting to decode each candidate PDCCH in the 1 or more search space sets may be referred to as blind detection (may be simply referred to as blind detection). Listening for DCI on a certain PDCCH candidate may be understood as blind detection on that PDCCH candidate. For example, the cyclic redundancy check (cyclic redundancy check, CRC) of the DCI that the terminal device expects to receive is masked by the cell-radio network temporary identity (cell-radio network temporary identifier, C-RNTI). The terminal device may perform CRC check on each PDCCH candidate in the search space set according to the C-RNTI. If the CRC check is successful, the terminal device determines that the DCI expected to be received is decoded on the PDCCH candidate, whereas if the CRC check is successful, the terminal device determines that the DCI expected to be received is not decoded on the PDCCH candidate.

The upper limit of the blind detection number may refer to the maximum blind detection number supported by the terminal device in one time slot or one time span (span). The maximum blind detection number can be understood as the maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs. For example, the terminal device does not listen (or does not blindly detect) to PDCCH candidates beyond the maximum number of PDCCH candidates that are listened to. Wherein the upper limit of the blind detection times can be predefined by the protocol. The upper limit of the blind detection number can be related to information such as subcarrier spacing, terminal equipment capability and the like, for example, a cell with 15kHz subcarrier spacing, and the upper limit of the blind detection number corresponding to 1 time slot is 44.

Illustratively, the counting rule for the number of blind tests is: two or more configured PDCCH candidates, which need to satisfy four conditions at the same time, are counted as one blind test number. Alternatively, two different PDCCH candidates within the same search space set, wherein one PDCCH candidate with a larger index is counted as 1 PDCCH candidate to be monitored (or the number of PDCCH candidates for monitoring), and the other PDCCH candidate with a smaller index is not counted as 1 PDCCH candidate to be monitored. Or, two candidate PDCCHs belonging to different search space sets, wherein the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a larger index is calculated as 1 candidate PDCCH to be monitored, and the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a smaller index is not calculated as 1 candidate PDCCH to be monitored. The four conditions are respectively as follows: the aggregation levels of the two or more configured PDCCH candidates are the same, and the CCE sets of the two or more configured PDCCH candidates are the same (it may be understood that the time-frequency resources of the two or more configured PDCCH candidates are the same); the scrambling sequences of the two or more configured PDCCH candidates are the same; the CORESET where the configured candidate PDCCH is located is the same; and, the sizes of the DCIs to be monitored on the two or more configured candidate PDCCHs are the same, for example, the bit number or the load size of the DCIs are the same.

It should be noted that the number of blind tests of a search space set may be understood as the number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored or the number of PDCCH candidates for monitoring, which are obtained after the search space set passes through the counting rule of the number of blind tests.

CCE, non-overlapping CCE and non-overlapping CCE upper limit (non-overlapping CCE limit)

The CCE is a minimum unit of resource allocation of control information, that is, the resource allocation of control information is allocated with the CCE as the minimum unit. 1 CCE is equal to 6 resource element groups (resource element group, REG), 1 REG being defined as 1 physical resource block (physical resource block, PRB) over 1 OFDM symbol.

DCI is affected by the wireless channel environment in the transmission process, and the transmission performance is greatly affected. Therefore, before blind detection, the terminal device needs to cancel the influence of the wireless channel on the transmission signal by performing channel estimation on the pilot frequency inserted in the PDCCH, so as to accurately recover the transmission signal of the transmitting end at the receiving end as much as possible. The pilot sequence may be located on the 1 st RB in the pattern #1, #5, #9 REs, and the PDCCH is allocated with the CCE as the minimum unit, so the number of times the terminal device performs PDCCH channel estimation is counted in the CCE unit. For a plurality of overlapping CCEs, the terminal device may perform PDCCH channel estimation once, while for a plurality of non-overlapping CCEs, the terminal device may need to perform PDCCH channel estimation multiple times.

Illustratively, the counting rule for non-overlapping CCEs is: counting CCEs corresponding to the configured candidate PDCCH as a non-overlapping CCE; or, the CCEs corresponding to the plurality of configured PDCCH candidates overlapping in the time-frequency resource position are counted as non-overlapping CCEs, and the plurality of configured PDCCH candidates overlapping in the time-frequency resource position need to satisfy at least one of the two conditions. The two conditions are respectively: CCEs corresponding to the multiple configured candidate PDCCHs overlapping on the time-frequency resource position belong to different CORESETs, for example, whether the CCEs belong to different CORESETs may be determined according to the index of the CORESETs; the reception start symbol of each of the plurality of configured PDCCH candidates overlapping in time-frequency resource positions is different. For example, pdcch#1 belongs to coreset#1, and AL of pdcch#1 is 2, that is, pdcch#1 occupies 2 ccs, and pdcch#2 candidate belongs to coreset#2, and AL of pdcch#2 is also 2, that is, pdcch#2 also occupies 2 ccs. Since pdcch#1 and pdcch#2 belong to different CORESETs, even if the time-frequency resource locations of pdcch#1 and pdcch#2 are the same, 4 CCEs corresponding to pdcch#1 and pdcch#2 are non-overlapping CCEs, i.e., a total of 4 non-overlapping CCEs.

It should be noted that the number of non-overlapping CCEs in one search space set may be understood as the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the PDCCH candidates for monitoring obtained by the search space set after passing through the counting rule of the non-overlapping CCEs.

The non-overlapping CCE upper limit may refer to the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs supported by a terminal device within one slot or one time span (span). For example, the terminal device will not listen (or not blindly detect) to PDCCH candidates beyond the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs. Wherein the non-overlapping CCE upper limit may be protocol predefined. The non-overlapping CCE upper limit may relate to information such as subcarrier spacing, terminal equipment capability, etc., for example, a subcarrier spacing of 15kHz cell, and a non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to 1 slot is 56.

PDCCH mapping procedure

In NR, the number of candidate PDCCHs corresponding to CSS and USS configured by the base station is variable and not fixed. Thus, a super-configuration (oversubscription) situation may occur. The case of super-configuration includes: the number of monitored PDCCH candidates calculated according to the configuration of PDCCH candidates and the counting rule of BD number exceeds the BD number upper limit (BD limit) that the terminal device can support, or the number of non-overlapping CCEs calculated according to the configuration of PDCCH candidates and the counting rule of non-overlapping CCEs exceeds the non-overlapping CCE upper limit (CCE limit) that the terminal device can support. The BD number may be understood as the number of PDCCH candidates for listening or the number of PDCCH candidates to be listened to. When the PDCCH is super-configured, if all the candidate PDCCHs are blindly detected according to the PDCCH configuration, the complexity of the implementation of the terminal equipment is high. Therefore, NR introduces a mechanism to ensure that the terminal device will only listen to PDCCH candidates or SS sets that do not exceed its own PDCCH listening capability. For example, the terminal device ensures that the candidate PDCCH configured to the terminal device for monitoring by the base station does not exceed the monitoring capability of the terminal device through three modules, namely, BD count (i.e. blind detection times), non-overlapping CCE count and PDCCH mapping.

The terminal device may determine the PDCCH candidates (which may be referred to as PDCCH candidates) configured by the base station by using the PDCCH mapping rules (PDCCH mapping rule) defined in the 3GPP standard protocol 38.213, i.e. screen the PDCCH candidates requiring blind detection to a range, so as to ensure that the PDCCH candidates to be monitored do not exceed the blind detection capability of the terminal device. Note that here the "blind detection upper limit" is equivalent to "maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs" or "maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs", where: the "maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored" is equal to the "BD limit number (BD limit) that the terminal device can support", and the "maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs" is equal to the "non-overlapping CCE limit number (CCE limit) that the terminal device can support". The PDCCH mapping rule may be as follows:

the base station ensures that the number of blind detection and the number of non-overlapping CCEs obtained after the candidate PDCCH of the CSS configured in 1 slot/span passes through a BD/CCE counting rule do not exceed the upper limit of the blind detection and the upper limit of the non-overlapping CCEs.

And subtracting the blind detection times corresponding to the CSS and the number of non-overlapped CCEs from the BD/CCE limit within 1 slot/span to be used as a measurement USS configured BD/CCE limit.

In 1 slot/span, according to the sequence from small to large of USS index (index), calculating the number of candidate PDCCHs and the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to one USS one by one, and judging whether the USS exceeds the updated BD/CCE limit or not:

If not, then this USS is the USS to be listened to. Then, the terminal device subtracts the number of monitored candidate PDCCHs and the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the USS from the updated BD/CCE limit, and updates the BD/CCE limit again. Then selecting a USS with USS index larger than the USS index to perform the same operation;

if the updated BD/CCE limit is exceeded, the terminal device will not monitor the USS and USS larger than the USS index, and the slot/span PDCCH mapping operation is terminated.

Note 1: the granularity of the PDCCH mapping may be a slot or a time span.

Note 2: a PDCCH super-configuration scenario may only exist on the PCell; PDCCH super-configuration does not occur on the SCell and needs to be guaranteed by the base station.

Note 3: the terminal device and the base station execute the PDCCH mapping rule to ensure that the terminal device and the base station keep consistent understanding of the monitored candidate PDCCH or the search space set. The base station may perform the configuration of the PDCCH according to slot or span as granularity, and determine a candidate PDCCH set that may transmit DCI. And the terminal equipment receives the PDCCH configuration information sent by the base station, executes the PDCCH configuration information according to the slot or span as granularity, and determines the monitored candidate PDCCH or the monitored search space set.

As described in the background, there is a need to investigate how to reduce the occurrence of the situation that an access network device (e.g., a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI. According to the communication scheme provided by the application, the occurrence of the situation that the candidate PDCCH in the search space set with a large number of related cells cannot be monitored can be reduced, so that the occurrence of the situation that access network equipment (for example, a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI is reduced. A communication system to which the communication scheme provided in the present application is applicable is first described below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system 1000 to which embodiments of the present application apply. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system comprises a radio access network 100 and a core network 200, and optionally the communication system 1000 may further comprise the internet 300. The radio access network 100 may include at least one radio access network device (e.g., 110a and 110b in fig. 1) and may also include at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in fig. 1). The terminal is connected with the wireless access network equipment in a wireless mode, and the wireless access network equipment is connected with the core network in a wireless or wired mode. The core network device and the radio access network device may be separate physical devices, or may integrate the functions of the core network device and the logic functions of the radio access network device on the same physical device, or may integrate the functions of part of the core network device and part of the radio access network device on one physical device. The terminals and the radio access network device may be connected to each other by wired or wireless means. Fig. 1 is only a schematic diagram, and other network devices may be further included in the communication system, for example, a wireless relay device and a wireless backhaul device may also be included, which are not shown in fig. 1.

A radio access network device (hereinafter may be simply referred to as an access network device) is an access device to which a terminal accesses in a communication system by wireless. The radio access network device may be a base station (base station), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission and reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth generation (5th generation,5G) mobile communication system, a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6th generation,6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc.; the present invention may also be a module or unit that performs a function of a base station part, for example, a Central Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU). The CU can complete the functions of a radio resource control protocol and a packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) of the base station and can also complete the functions of a service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP); the DU performs the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (medium access control, MAC) layer of the base station, and may also perform the functions of a part of the physical layer or the entire physical layer, and for a detailed description of the above protocol layers, reference may be made to the relevant technical specifications of the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP). The radio access network device may be a macro base station (e.g. 110a in fig. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g. 110b in fig. 1), a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the wireless access network equipment. For convenience of description, a base station will be described below as an example of a radio access network device.

A terminal is a device having a wireless transceiving function, and can transmit a signal to a base station or receive a signal from a base station. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user Equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. The terminal may be widely applied to various scenes, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-device (vehicle to everything, V2X) communication, machine-type 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, and the like. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a computer with a wireless receiving and transmitting function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, intelligent household equipment and the like. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific equipment form adopted by the terminal.

The base station and the terminal may be fixed in position or movable. Base stations and terminals may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; the device can be deployed on the water surface; but also on aircraft, balloons and satellites. The application scenes of the base station and the terminal are not limited in the embodiment of the application.

The roles of base station and terminal may be relative, e.g., helicopter or drone 120i in fig. 1 may be configured as a mobile base station, terminal 120i being the base station for those terminals 120j that access radio access network 100 through 120 i; but for base station 110a 120i is a terminal, i.e., communication between 110a and 120i is via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i may be performed via an interface protocol between base stations, and in this case, 120i is also a base station with respect to 110 a. Thus, both the base station and the terminal may be collectively referred to as a communication device, 110a and 110b in fig. 1 may be referred to as a communication device having base station functionality, and 120a-120j in fig. 1 may be referred to as a communication device having terminal functionality.

Communication can be carried out between the base station and the terminal, between the base station and between the terminal and the terminal through the authorized spectrum, communication can be carried out through the unlicensed spectrum, and communication can also be carried out through the authorized spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum at the same time; communication can be performed through a frequency spectrum of 6 gigahertz (GHz) or less, communication can be performed through a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more, and communication can be performed using a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or less and a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more simultaneously. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communications.

In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or may be performed by a control subsystem including the functions of the base station. The control subsystem comprising the base station function can be a control center in the application scenarios of smart power grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, smart cities and the like. The functions of the terminal may be performed by a module (e.g., a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or by a device including the functions of the terminal.

In the application, a base station sends a downlink signal or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is borne on a downlink channel; the terminal sends an uplink signal or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order for a terminal to communicate with a base station, it is necessary to establish a radio connection with a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a radio connection is called the serving cell of the terminal. The terminal may also be interfered by signals from neighboring cells when communicating with the serving cell.

The communication method provided in the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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

201. The access network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the access network device. The access network device is the radio access network device in fig. 1. The first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set. The first search space set includes a first PDCCH candidate. The first PDCCH candidate is used for carrying first DCI. The first set of search spaces contains one or more PDCCH candidates. That is, the first search space set may include only the first PDCCH candidate, may include the first PDCCH candidate and other PDCCH candidates, and may be understood as the first PDCCH candidate is any one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates in the first search space set. The second search space set includes a second PDCCH candidate. The second PDCCH candidate is used for carrying a second DCI. The second set of search spaces contains one or more PDCCH candidates. That is, the second search space set may include only the second PDCCH candidate, may include the second PDCCH candidate and other PDCCH candidates, and may be understood as the second PDCCH candidate is any one of the plurality of PDCCH candidates in the second search space set.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device may further perform the following operations: and sending first capability information to the access network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support the execution of determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the sequence of the search space set for monitoring according to the number of cells associated with each search space set. Accordingly, the access network device receives the first capability information from the terminal device. In the implementation manner, the first capability information is sent to the access network equipment, so that the access network equipment can know the sequence of determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the search space set for monitoring according to the number of cells associated with each search space set by the terminal equipment. After obtaining the first capability information, the access network device may configure the terminal device to perform the flow in fig. 2 with the access network device.

202. In the case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, the terminal device determines whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the search space set for listening.

Determining whether to allocate PDCCH candidates in the first set of search spaces to the set of search spaces for listening may be understood as: determining (judging) whether to monitor the PDCCH candidates in the first search space set, that is, performing a PDCCH mapping operation on the first search space set, may also be understood as performing a PDCCH mapping rule (pseudo code described in the protocol) defined in 3GPP standard protocol 38.213 on the PDCCH candidates in the first search space set. The determination of whether to allocate the PDCCH candidates in the first set of search spaces to the set of search spaces for listening may be: it is determined whether to allocate PDCCH candidates in the first set of search spaces to the first set of search spaces for listening. Before determining to monitor the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set, the first search space set can be regarded as a configured search space set by the terminal equipment; after determining to monitor the PDCCH candidates in the first set of search spaces, the first set of search spaces may be considered as a set of search spaces for monitoring.

It is understood that the set of search spaces for which the first configuration information is configured is not necessarily the set of search spaces for listening, but the set of search spaces is the set of search spaces for listening after the terminal device determines to listen to a certain set of search spaces for which the first configuration information is configured. If one set of search spaces is determined to be a set of search spaces to be monitored after passing the PDCCH mapping rule, it can be understood that it is determined to allocate candidate PDCCHs in the one set of search spaces to the set of search spaces for monitoring. For example, if the PDCCH candidates included in uss#1 do not exceed BD/CCE limit or do not exceed updated BD/CCE limit after the PDCCH mapping rule is operated on one by one, it may be understood that all the PDCCH candidates in uss#1 are allocated to uss#1 for listening. If one search space set is not determined to be the search space set to be monitored after passing the PDCCH mapping rule, it may be understood that it is determined that the candidate PDCCHs in the search space set are not allocated to the search space set for monitoring, the UE does not monitor all the candidate PDCCHs in the search space set, and it may be understood that the UE discards all the candidate PDCCHs in the search space set. For example, if the PDCCH candidates included in uss#1 are beyond BD/CCE limit or beyond updated BD/CCE limit after being operated by the PDCCH mapping rule, it may be understood that it is determined that all the PDCCH candidates in uss#1 are not allocated to uss#1 for monitoring, and the UE does not monitor all the PDCCH candidates in uss#1. Before the PDCCH mapping rule is executed, uss#1 is a configured search space set, and is used for monitoring DCI related to the configuration of the uss#1, but whether the terminal device actually monitors the candidate PDCCH in uss#1 needs to be judged through the PDCCH mapping rule. When the blind detection times corresponding to all the candidate PDCCHs in the USS#1 do not exceed BD/CCE limit or do not exceed updated BD/CCE limit, the USS#1 is changed from the configured search space set to the USS#1 to be monitored, namely the UE monitors all the candidate PDCCHs in the USS#1. When the blind detection number corresponding to one PDCCH candidate or part of PDCCH candidates or all PDCCH candidates in the uss#1 exceeds BD/CCE limit or exceeds updated BD/CCE limit, the uss#1 changes from the configured search space set to non-listening uss#1, i.e. the UE does not need to listen to all PDCCH candidates in the uss#1. The determination of whether to allocate the PDCCH candidates in the second set of search spaces to the set of search spaces for listening may be: it is determined whether to allocate PDCCH candidates in the second set of search spaces to the second set of search spaces for listening. Performing the determination of whether to allocate the PDCCH candidates in each search space set to a search space set for listening may be understood as performing a PDCCH mapping procedure/rule on a search space set as described in the background.

It may be appreciated that step 202 illustrates one example of the order in which the terminal device performs PDCCH mapping on multiple sets of search spaces of the first configuration information (including the first set of search spaces and the second set of search spaces). Before performing step 202, the terminal device may perform the following operations: and determining the sequence of PDCCH mapping on the plurality of search space sets configured by the first configuration information. Or, determining the mapping priority of each search space set configured by the first configuration information, wherein the higher the mapping priority of the search space set is, the earlier the mapping priority of the search space set is in the PDCCH mapping.

In practical applications, the order of PDCCH mapping for multiple sets of search spaces (including the first set of search spaces and the second set of search spaces) configured by arbitrary configuration information (e.g., the first configuration information) may be determined as follows: the order of PDCCH mapping is ordered according to the number of cells associated with each search space set, and if the number of cells associated with the two search space sets is the same, the order of PDCCH mapping is ordered according to the indexes of the two search space sets. Specifically, if the number of cells associated with the two search space sets is the same, performing PDCCH mapping operation on the search space set with the smaller index of the two search space sets, and performing PDCCH mapping operation after the search space set with the larger index of the two search space sets. It can be appreciated that the terminal device determines the sequence of PDCCH mapping for each search space set according to the number of cells associated with each search space set and/or the index of each search space set. In practical application, after determining the sequence of performing PDCCH mapping on each search space set, the terminal equipment can sequentially perform PDCCH mapping on the search space sets according to the sequence; when the monitored candidate PDCCH corresponding to a certain search space set exceeds the upper limit of BD times or the number of non-overlapping CCEs exceeds the upper limit of non-overlapping CCEs, the terminal equipment cannot monitor the search space set and the search space set which participates in PDCCH mapping after the search space set, and the PDCCH mapping operation of the slot/span is terminated.

The embodiment of the application mainly provides a method for determining the sequence of PDCCH mapping on each search space set, and does not limit the specific method for PDCCH mapping on the search space set. For example, the first configuration information is used to configure USS set#1 (i.e. the first search space set), USS set#2 (i.e. the second search space set), and USS set#3, where USS set#1 is associated with 2 cells (cells), USS set#2 is associated with 3 cells, USS set#3 is associated with 4 cells, and the sequence of PDCCH mapping performed by the terminal device on USS set#1, USS set#2, USS set#3 is as follows: USS set #3 performs PDCCH mapping operation first, USS set #2 performs PDCCH mapping operation after USS set #3, and USS set #1 enters PDCCH mapping operation after USS set #3 and USS set # 2. In other words, the priority levels of USS set#1, USS set#2, USS set#3 are arranged as follows: USS set #3>USS set#2>USS set#1, i.e. the priority of USS set with a small number of scheduling cells is low. For another example, the first configuration information is used to configure USS set#1 (i.e. the first search space set), USS set#2 (i.e. the second search space set), and USS set#3, where the index of USS set#1 is smaller than that of USS set#2, USS set#1 is associated with 2 cells (cells), USS set#2 is associated with 2 cells, USS set#3 is associated with 4 cells, and the sequence of PDCCH mapping performed by the terminal device on USS set#1, USS set#2, USS set#3 is as follows: USS set #3 performs PDCCH mapping operation first, USS set #1 performs PDCCH mapping operation after USS set #3, and USS set #2 performs PDCCH mapping operation after USS set #3 and USS set # 1.

In one possible implementation manner, the cells associated with the first search space set include K cells used for scheduling by the first DCI, the cells associated with the second search space set include F cells used for scheduling by the second DCI, an index of the first search space set is greater than or less than an index of the second search space, K and F are integers greater than 0, and K is greater than F. The number of cells associated with the first search space set may be a total number of cells for scheduling carried by at most P DCIs (including the first PDCCH candidate) in the first search space set, where each PDCCH candidate carries at most one DCI, and P is an integer greater than 0. For example, the first search space set includes only the first PDCCH candidate, the first DCI carried by the first PDCCH candidate is used to schedule K cells, and the number of cells associated with the first search space set is K. For another example, the first search space set includes a first PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH candidate 1, the first DCI carried by the first PDCCH candidate is used for scheduling 2 cells, the DCI 1 carried by the PDCCH candidate 1 is used for scheduling 3 cells, and the number of cells associated with the first search space set is 5 (2+3). The number of cells associated with the second search space set may be the total number of cells used for scheduling by Q DCIs carried by Q PDCCH candidates (including the second PDCCH candidate) in the second search space set, where each PDCCH candidate carries at most one DCI, and Q is an integer greater than 0. For example, the second search space set includes only the second PDCCH candidate, the second DCI carried by the second PDCCH candidate is used to schedule F cells, and the number of cells associated with the second search space set is F. For another example, the second search space set includes a second PDCCH candidate and a PDCCH candidate 2, the first DCI carried by the second PDCCH candidate is used for scheduling 2 cells, the DCI 2 carried by the PDCCH candidate 2 is used for scheduling 4 cells, and the number of cells associated with the second search space set is 6 (2+4). In another possible implementation manner, the cell used for scheduling by the first DCI may be at least one cell in cells associated with the first search space set. For example, the first search space set associates cell sets cc#1, cc#2, and cc#3. At a certain moment, the UE detects a first DCI in the first set of search spaces, which first DCI schedules cells cc#1 and cc#3. At another time, the UE detects one first DCI in the first set of search spaces, which simultaneously schedules cells cc#1, cc#2, and cc#3. The second set of search spaces contracts with the first set of search spaces and is not described in detail herein.

In one possible implementation, the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both first formats, and the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one or more cells; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both second formats, and the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one or more cells. The present application relates generally to two kinds of DCI, one of which may be referred to as legacy DCI (legacy DCI) can only schedule a data channel of one cell and the other of which may be referred to as single DCI, for scheduling data signals of one or more cells. The legacy DCI is a DCI format (DCI format) that has been introduced in the current standard, for example, a fallback DCI format is used for scheduling an uplink DCI format0_0 and a downlink DCI format1_0, a non-fallback DCI format is used for scheduling an uplink DCI format0_1 and a downlink DCI format1_1, a compressed DCI format is used for scheduling an uplink DCI format0_2 and a downlink DCI format1_2, and so on. In this implementation, the first DCI and the second DCI are both single DCI. The DCI of the first format is single DCI for scheduling an uplink data channel of one or more cells, for example, DCI format 0_X for scheduling an uplink data channel, or DCI format 0_5. The DCI of the second format is single DCI for scheduling a downlink data channel of one or more cells, for example, DCI format 1_X for scheduling a downlink data channel, or DCI format 1_5.

In one possible implementation, the first DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one or more cells, and the second DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one cell; or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, where the format of the first DCI is a first format, the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a third format, and the DCI of the third format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one cell; alternatively, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, the format of the first DCI is a second format, the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a fourth format, and the DCI of the fourth format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one cell. In this implementation, the first DCI is single DCI and the second DCI is legacy DCI, i.e., legacy DCI. The DCI of the first format is single DCI for scheduling an uplink data channel of one or more cells. The DCI of the third format is single DCI for scheduling an uplink data channel of one cell. The DCI of the second format is single DCI for scheduling downlink data channels of one or more cells. The DCI of the fourth format is legacy DCI for scheduling a downlink data channel of one cell.

In one possible implementation, before performing step 202, the terminal device may perform the following operations: and receiving third configuration information from the access network equipment, wherein the third configuration information is used for configuring a cell set associated with the first search space set and configuring a cell set associated with the second search space set. The third configuration information may be higher layer signaling, such as an RRC message. Different SS sets are associated with different schedulable sets of cells or with different co-scheduled cells. Optionally, the search space set has an association relationship with the scheduled cell set, and DCI monitored by the terminal device in the search space set may schedule a subset of the cell set, or the monitored DCI may schedule at least one cell of the cell set. For example, the access network device is associated with scell#3 and scell#1 through the first set of search spaces with the third configuration information (including RRC parameter configuration), i.e. the terminal device listens to one single DCI in the first set of search spaces, which single DCI may schedule scell#3, or scell#1, or both scell#1 and scell#3. The cells associated with the first set of search spaces are associated with a value of a first parameter, e.g., the first parameter may be a carrier indication field (carrier indicator field, CIF), and the value of the CIF corresponding to the first set of search spaces is 1. For example, the access network device is associated with the PCell and scell#2 through a second set of search spaces with third configuration information (including RRC parameter configuration), i.e., the terminal device listens to one single DCI in the second set of search spaces, and this single DCI may schedule the PCell, or schedule the scell#2, or schedule both the PCell and scell#2. The cells associated with the second set of search spaces are associated with a value of a second parameter (e.g., CIF), e.g., the value of CIF corresponding to the second set of search spaces is 2. Fig. 3 shows cells that single DCI in the first and second sets of search spaces may schedule. In fig. 3, single DCI 1 in the first search space set may schedule scell#1 and scell#3, single DCI 2 in the second search space set may schedule PCell and scell#2, { scell#1, scell#3} and { PCell, scell#2} may be understood as different combinations (combinations) of co-scheduling cells { PCell, scell#1, scell#2, scell#3}, or as SS sets for listening to single DCI are related to co-scheduling cells. In this implementation manner, the cell set associated with the first search space set can be configured, and the cell set associated with the second search space set can be configured, so that PDCCH mapping is determined to be performed on the first search space set with more associated cells first according to the number of cells associated with the first search space set and the number of cells associated with the second search space set.

203. In the case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, the access network device determines whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the search space set for listening.

In some embodiments, the PDCCH mapping is performed first for the search space set with a larger number of associated cells, and then for the search space set with a smaller number of associated cells. In other embodiments, the PDCCH mapping is performed first for a search space set with a smaller number of associated cells and then for a search space set with a larger number of associated cells. In practical application, the sequence of PDCCH mapping to each search space set can be determined according to the actual demand and the number of cells associated with each search space set. The application mainly describes a scheme that a search space set with a large number of associated cells is subjected to PDCCH mapping first. It should be understood that, the scheme of performing PDCCH mapping first by the search space set with a smaller number of associated cells is similar to the scheme of performing PDCCH mapping first by the search space set with a larger number of associated cells, and will not be described in detail.

Step 203 may refer to step 202. Step 202 differs from step 203 in that step 202 is performed by the terminal device and step 203 is performed by the access network device. The order of steps 202 and 203 is not limited. The terminal device performs step 202, and the access network device performs step 203, so that the terminal device and the access network device can be guaranteed to keep consistent understanding of the monitored candidate PDCCH or search space set.

In the embodiment of the application, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the search space set for listening, it is determined whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the search space set for listening. That is, the PDCCH mapping is performed on the first search space set earlier, i.e., the first search space set participates in the PDCCH mapping earlier; and performing PDCCH mapping on the second search space set later, namely the second search space set participates in PDCCH mapping later. The first set of search spaces that participate earlier in PDCCH mapping is kept with a greater probability for the terminal device to listen, while the second set of search spaces that participate later in PDCCH mapping operations is more easily discarded or cannot be allocated to the terminal device for listening. This can reduce the occurrence of the situation that the access network device (e.g., base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI by failing to monitor the candidate PDCCHs in the search space set with a large number of associated cells.

Fig. 4 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The interaction flow in fig. 4 is one possible implementation of the method described in fig. 2. In this implementation, PDCCH mapping may be performed on the set of search spaces in order. As shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

401. the access network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the access network device. Step 401 may refer to step 201.

402. In the case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, the terminal device determines whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the search space set for listening.

Step 402 may refer to step 202.

403. In the case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, the access network device determines whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the search space set for listening.

Step 403 may refer to step 203. The terminal device performs step 402, and the access network device performs step 403, so that the terminal device and the access network device can be guaranteed to keep consistent understanding of the monitored candidate PDCCH or search space set. Before performing step 403, the terminal device may perform the following operations: and determining the sequence of PDCCH mapping on the plurality of search space sets configured by the first configuration information. In practical applications, the order of PDCCH mapping for multiple sets of search spaces (including the first set of search spaces and the second set of search spaces) configured by arbitrary configuration information (e.g., the first configuration information) may be determined as follows: the order of PDCCH mapping is ordered according to the number of cells associated with each search space set, and if the number of cells associated with the two search space sets is the same, the order of PDCCH mapping is ordered according to the indexes of the two search space sets.

404. The access network device sends the second configuration information to the terminal device.

Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second configuration information from the access network device. The second configuration information is used for configuring a third search space set and a fourth search space set. The third search space set includes a third PDCCH candidate for carrying a third DCI. The third search space set may contain only the third PDCCH candidate, and may also include the third PDCCH candidate and other PDCCH candidates. The fourth search space set includes a fourth PDCCH candidate for carrying a fourth DCI. The fourth search space set may contain only the fourth PDCCH candidate, and may also include the fourth PDCCH candidate and other PDCCH candidates. One of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one or more cells, and the other is used to schedule a data channel of one cell. Alternatively, one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is single DCI, and the other is legacy DCI.

405. In the case that the third search space set and the fourth search space set are each associated with one cell, the terminal device determines whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the fourth search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the third search space set to the search space set for listening.

The index of the third set of search spaces is less than the index of the fourth set of search spaces. For example, the network device configures the UE to monitor a third PDCCH candidate of a third search space set, the third PDCCH candidate being used to carry a third DCI, the third DCI being legacy DCI. The network equipment configures the UE to monitor a fourth candidate PDCCH of a fourth search space set, wherein the fourth candidate PDCCH is used for bearing a fourth DCI, and the fourth DCI is single DCI. The network configures one cell (e.g., CC # 3) associated with the fourth set of search spaces through higher layer parameters (e.g., RRC parameters), i.e., the fourth DCI can only be used to schedule this cell (CC # 3). Since the third set of search spaces is a set of search spaces in the prior art, only one cell can be scheduled. The fourth search space set is associated with one cell due to the high-level parameter configuration, or the cell set associated with the fourth search space set only comprises 1 cell, and the number of the cells associated with the third search space set and the fourth search space set is the same and is associated with one cell. If the index of the third search space set is smaller than that of the fourth search space set, the third search space set performs the PDCCH mapping operation first, and then performs the PDCCH mapping operation on the fourth search space set. Otherwise, when the index of the third search space set is greater than that of the fourth search space set, the fourth search space set performs the PDCCH mapping operation first, and then performs the PDCCH mapping operation on the third search space set.

Step 405 shows an example of the order in which the terminal device performs PDCCH mapping on the multiple sets of search spaces (including the third set of search spaces and the fourth set of search spaces) of the second configuration information. In the embodiment of the present application, if the number of cells associated with the two search space sets is the same, the order of PDCCH mapping is ordered according to the indexes of the two search space sets. An example of step 405 is as follows: the third search space set and the fourth search space are both associated with 1 cell, the index of the fourth search space set is before the index of the third search space set, that is, the index of the fourth search space set is smaller than the index of the third search space set, the terminal equipment firstly performs the PDCCH mapping on the fourth search space set, and then performs the PDCCH mapping on the third search space set. Before performing step 405, the terminal device may perform the following operations: and determining the sequence of PDCCH mapping on the plurality of search space sets configured by the second configuration information. If the second configuration information is further used for configuring one or more search space sets with the number of the associated cells being greater than 1, determining the sequence of PDCCH mapping on each search space set according to the number of the cells associated with each search space set and the index of each search space set.

406. In the case that the third search space set and the fourth search space set are each associated with one cell, the access network apparatus determines whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the fourth search space set to the search space set for listening after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the third search space set to the search space set for listening.

Step 406 may refer to step 405. Step 406 differs from step 405 in that step 405 is performed by the terminal device and step 406 is performed by the access network device. The order of steps 405 and 406 is not limited. The sequence of steps 401 to 403 and steps 404 to 406 is not limited. That is, the terminal device and the access network device may perform steps 401 to 403 first, and then perform steps 404 to 406; steps 404 to 406 may be performed first, and steps 401 to 403 may be performed. The terminal device performs step 405, and the access network device performs step 406, so that the terminal device and the access network device can ensure that the understanding of the monitored candidate PDCCH or search space set is consistent.

In the embodiment of the application, determining the sequence of PDCCH mapping to each search space set according to the number of cells associated with each search space set and/or the index of each search space set; the PDCCH mapping may be performed on the search space set in order. Since the search space set which participates in PDCCH mapping earlier is reserved with a larger probability, so that the terminal equipment can monitor, and the search space set which participates in PDCCH mapping operation later is more easily discarded or cannot be distributed to the terminal equipment to monitor, the occurrence of the situation that candidate PDCCHs in the search space set with more number of associated cells cannot be monitored can be reduced, and the occurrence of the situation that access network equipment (such as a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI can be reduced.

Fig. 5 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method in fig. 5 has the same technical problems and basically the same technical effects as the methods in fig. 2 and fig. 4, and adopts different technical means. The main principle of the method in fig. 5 is that no SS set (hereinafter may be referred to as MC-USS set) for listening to single DCI will enter PDCCH mapping operation, and SS set for listening to legacy DCI will enter PDCCH mapping operation; after the PDCCH mapping operation, the terminal device may monitor all MC-USS sets configured by the access network device, and may monitor all legacy DCI or part of legacy DCI or may not monitor legacy DCI. The PDCCH candidates in the SS set for monitoring the single DCI bear the single DCI, and the PDCCH candidates in the SS set for monitoring the legacy DCI bear the legacy DCI. As shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

501. the access network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the access network device. The first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set. The first search space set includes a first PDCCH candidate for carrying a first DCI for scheduling data channels of one or more cells. The first search space set may contain only the first PDCCH candidate, and may also include the first PDCCH candidate and other PDCCH candidates. The second search space set includes a second PDCCH candidate, where the second PDCCH candidate is used to carry a second DCI, and the second DCI is used to schedule a data channel of a cell. The first DCI is single DCI, and the second DCI is legacy DCI.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device further performs the following operations: the first capability information is sent to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device receives the first capability information from the terminal device. The first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support allocation of a candidate PDCCH used for carrying DCI used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells to a search space set used for monitoring, and determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH used for carrying DCI used for scheduling the data channels of one cell to the search space set used for monitoring. Or, the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support the search space set for monitoring single DCI as a search space set to be monitored, and performing PDCCH mapping on the search space set for monitoring legacy DCI. After obtaining the first capability information, the access network device may configure the terminal device to perform the flow in fig. 5 with the access network device.

502. The terminal device allocates the first PDCCH candidate to a set of search spaces for listening.

Step 502 may be replaced with: the terminal equipment allocates the candidate PDCCH in the first search space set to the first search space set for monitoring, namely, the first search space set is used as the search space set to be monitored.

In one possible implementation, step 502 is replaced with: and the terminal equipment allocates the candidate PDCCHs in each search space set for monitoring the single DCI configured by the first configuration information to the search space set for monitoring. For example, the first configuration information is used to configure a search space set 1 (i.e., a first search space set), a search space set (i.e., a second search space set), and a search space set 3, where the search space set 1 and the search space set 3 are used to monitor single DCI, the search space set 2 is used to monitor legacy DCI, the terminal device allocates candidate PDCCHs in the search space set 1 to the search space set 1 for monitoring, and allocates candidate PDCCHs in the search space set 2 to the search space set 2 for monitoring. In this implementation manner, the terminal device allocates the candidate PDCCH in each search space set for monitoring single DCI configured by the first configuration information to the search space set for monitoring, so that each single DCI can be ensured to be monitored.

503. The terminal device determines whether to allocate the second PDCCH candidate to the set of search spaces for listening.

Step 503 may be replaced by: the terminal device determines whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the second search space set to the second search space set for listening, i.e. PDCCH mapping is performed on the second search space set. The order in which the terminal device performs steps 502 and 503 is not limited.

In one possible implementation, step 503 is replaced by: and the terminal equipment performs PDCCH mapping on the search space set configured by the first configuration information and used for monitoring legacy DCI. For example, the terminal device sequentially performs PDCCH mapping on each search space set according to the index of each search space set for listening legacy DCI. The specific manner of the terminal device performing PDCCH mapping on the search space set configured by the first configuration information and used for monitoring legacy DCI may refer to the relevant content of the PDCCH mapping procedure above, which is not described herein again.

504. The access network device allocates the first PDCCH candidate to a set of search spaces for listening.

Step 504 may refer to step 502. Step 504 differs from step 502 in that step 502 is performed by the terminal device and step 504 is performed by the access network device.

505. The access network device determines whether to allocate the second PDCCH candidate to the set of search spaces for listening.

Step 505 may refer to step 503. Step 505 differs from step 503 in that step 503 is performed by the terminal device and step 505 is performed by the access network device.

It can be appreciated that both the terminal device and the access network device may implement PDCCH mapping rules to ensure that the terminal device and the access network device keep consistent understanding of the monitored PDCCH candidates or search space sets. The terminal device performs step 502 and step 503, and the access network device performs step 504 and step 505, so that the terminal device and the access network device can ensure that the understanding of the monitored candidate PDCCH or search space set is consistent.

Fig. 6 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. Compared with the methods shown in fig. 2, 4 and 5, the method shown in fig. 6 has the same technical problems and basically the same achieved technical effects, and adopts different technical means. The main principle of the method in fig. 6 counts the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the search space set to a primary cell and one or more secondary cells of the terminal device; and when the number of the monitored candidate PDCCHs corresponding to the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of the monitored candidate PDCCHs on the main cell, or the number of the non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the random search space set exceeds the maximum number of the non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the main cell, the terminal equipment still monitors the random search space set. As shown in fig. 6, the method includes:

601. the access network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the access network device. The first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used for bearing a first DCI, and the first DCI is used for scheduling a primary cell and a first secondary cell of the terminal equipment. The first DCI may be used to schedule one or more secondary cells, the first secondary cell being just one example. The first DCI is single DCI.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device further performs the following operations: and sending first capability information to the access network device, where the first capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH candidates in the arbitrary search space set when the number of BD corresponding to the PDCCH candidates contained in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of PDCCH candidates monitored by the primary cell, and/or when the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the PDCCH candidates contained in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell. After obtaining the first capability information, the access network device may configure the terminal device to perform the flow in fig. 6 with the access network device. In this implementation, the first capability information is sent to the access network device so that the access network device knows the capabilities supported by the terminal device.

602. The terminal equipment determines the times of the first monitored PDCCH candidates corresponding to the PDCCH candidates contained in the first search space set and the number of first non-overlapping CCEs.

603. The terminal device counts the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the primary cell, and counts the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the first secondary cell.

If the first DCI is used to schedule two or more secondary cells, the counting of the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number onto the first secondary cell may be: the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number are counted onto each secondary cell. For example, the first DCI is used to schedule the primary cell, the secondary cell 1, and the secondary cell 2, count the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the primary cell, count the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the secondary cell 1, and count the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the secondary cell 2. Step 603 is optional and not necessary.

604. And monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set under the condition that the first BD number exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored on the main cell and/or the first non-overlapping CCE number exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the main cell.

The first BD number exceeding the maximum number of PDCCH candidates monitored on the primary cell indicates that if the first search space set is monitored, the PDCCH monitoring capability of the terminal device on the primary cell will be exceeded. The number of the first non-overlapping CCEs exceeding the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell indicates that if the first search space set is monitored, the PDCCH monitoring capability of the terminal device on the primary cell is exceeded. In the embodiment of the present application, the first DCI is used to schedule a primary cell and a first secondary cell of a terminal device; when the number of the first BDs exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored on the primary cell and/or the number of the first non-overlapping CCEs exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell, the PDCCH monitoring capability of the terminal device on the first secondary cell is used for monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set, so that the PDCCH monitoring capability of the terminal device is not exceeded.

Step 604 may be replaced with: and monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set under the condition that the first BD frequency does not exceed the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored on the main cell and the first non-overlapping CCE number does not exceed the maximum number of the non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the main cell. It can be appreciated that each PDCCH candidate for listening to any set of search spaces for single DCI would be listened to. Steps 602 to 604 may be understood as an example of an operation performed by the terminal device for one set of search spaces for listening to single DCI. The terminal device may perform operations similar to steps 602 to 604 for any search space set for listening to single DCI, so that a failure to listen to single DCI may be avoided.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device performs operations similar to steps 602 to 604 for each search space set configured for listening to single DCI of the first configuration information, and screens the PDCCH candidates requiring blind detection to a range according to the PDCCH mapping rule described above for each search space set configured for listening to legacy DCI of the first configuration information. For example, PDCCH mapping is performed successively on the search space set for listening to legacy DCI according to the index of the search space set for listening to legacy DCI.

Fig. 7 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The interaction flow in fig. 7 is one possible implementation of the method described in fig. 6. As shown in fig. 7, the method includes:

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

Step 701 may refer to step 601.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device performs the following operations: and sending second capability information to an access network device, where the second capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to schedule the primary cell and the secondary cell of the terminal device by using DCI monitored by the arbitrary search space set when the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored by the primary cell and/or the non-overlapping CCE number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell. Note that any set of search spaces herein refers to a set of search spaces for listening to single DCI. After obtaining the second capability information, the access network device may configure the terminal device to perform the procedure in fig. 7 with the access network device. In this implementation, the second capability information is sent to the access network device so that the access network device knows the capabilities supported by the terminal device.

702. The terminal equipment determines the times of the first monitored PDCCH candidates corresponding to the PDCCH candidates contained in the first search space set and the number of first non-overlapping CCEs.

Step 702 may refer to step 602.

703. The terminal device counts the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the primary cell, and counts the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the first secondary cell.

Step 703 may refer to step 603.

704. And monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set under the condition that the first BD number exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored on the main cell and/or the first non-overlapping CCE number exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the main cell.

Step 704 may refer to step 604.

705. The terminal equipment analyzes domain information related to the first secondary cell scheduling and domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI.

In a possible implementation manner, when the number of first BDs exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored on the primary cell and/or the number of first non-overlapping CCEs exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell, the primary cell cannot be scheduled by the first DCI, the domain information related to the primary cell in the first DCI is set to a reserved bit (reserved bits), or the terminal device understands that the domain information related to the primary cell in the first DCI is a reserved bit. The reserved bit may be 0 or 1, and does not represent any specific meaning or indicate any scheduling information.

It should be understood that the access network device may schedule the primary cell and the first secondary cell of the terminal device through the first DCI.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the number of first BDs exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored on the primary cell and/or the number of first non-overlapping CCEs exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell, monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set, and analyzing domain information related to first secondary cell scheduling and domain information related to primary cell scheduling in the first DCI; the situation that the access network equipment (such as a base station) cannot schedule a plurality of cells through single DCI can be avoided.

Fig. 8 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The interaction flow in fig. 8 is one possible implementation of the method described in fig. 6. As shown in fig. 8, the method includes:

801. the access network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

Step 801 may refer to step 601.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device performs the following operations: and sending third capability information to the access network device, where the third capability information is used to instruct the terminal device to schedule the secondary cell of the terminal device by using the DCI monitored by the arbitrary search space set when the BD number corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the arbitrary search space set exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored by the primary cell and/or the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the candidate PDCCH included in the search space set exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell. After obtaining the second capability information, the access network device may configure the terminal device to perform the flow in fig. 8 with the access network device. In this implementation, the third capability information is sent to the access network device so that the access network device knows the capabilities supported by the terminal device.

802. The terminal equipment determines the times of the first monitored PDCCH candidates corresponding to the PDCCH candidates contained in the first search space set and the number of first non-overlapping CCEs.

Step 802 may refer to step 602.

803. The terminal device counts the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the primary cell, and counts the first BD number and the first non-overlapping CCE number to the first secondary cell.

Step 803 may refer to step 603. Step 803 is optional.

804. And monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set under the condition that the first BD number exceeds the maximum number of the candidate PDCCHs monitored on the main cell and/or the first non-overlapping CCE number exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the main cell.

Step 804 may refer to step 604.

805. The terminal equipment analyzes the domain information related to the first secondary cell scheduling in the first DCI, and ignores the domain information related to the primary cell scheduling in the first DCI.

Omitting the domain information related to primary cell scheduling in the first DCI may be replaced with: the parsing of domain information related to primary cell scheduling in the first DCI is skipped. Omitting the domain information related to primary cell scheduling in the first DCI may be replaced with: the domain information related to primary cell scheduling in the first DCI is set to a special pattern, e.g., all "0". It should be understood that the access network device may schedule the first secondary cell of the terminal device through the first DCI, and may not schedule the primary cell of the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the number of first BDs exceeds the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored on the primary cell and/or the number of first non-overlapping CCEs exceeds the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the primary cell, monitoring each candidate PDCCH in the first search space set, and analyzing domain information related to first secondary cell scheduling in the first DCI; the situation that the access network equipment cannot schedule the auxiliary cell through single DCI can be avoided.

The foregoing describes the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The structure of a communication device that can implement the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 may implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments, or may implement the functions or steps implemented by the access network device in the foregoing method embodiments. The communication device may include a processing module 910 and a transceiver module 920. Optionally, a storage unit may be included, which may be used to store instructions (code or programs) and/or data. The processing module 910 and the transceiver module 920 may be coupled to the storage unit, for example, the processing module 910 may read instructions (code or program) and/or data in the storage unit to implement a corresponding method. The units can be independently arranged or partially or fully integrated. For example, the transceiver module 920 may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module may be a transmitter and the receiving module may be a receiver. The entity corresponding to the transceiver module 920 may be a transceiver or a communication interface.

In some possible embodiments, the communications apparatus 900 can correspondingly implement the behaviors and functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. For example, the communication apparatus 900 may be a terminal device, or may be a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) applied to the terminal device. The transceiver module 920 may be used, for example, to perform all the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4 to 8. The processing module 910 is configured to perform all operations performed by the terminal device except for the transceiving operations in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4 to 8.

In some possible embodiments, the communications apparatus 900 can correspondingly implement the behavior and functions of the access network device in the method embodiments described above. For example, the communication apparatus 900 may be an access network device, or may be a component (such as a chip or a circuit) applied in the access network device. The transceiver module 920 may be used, for example, to perform all the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the access network device in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4-8. The processing module 910 is configured to perform all operations performed by the access network device in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4 to 8, except for the transceiving operations.

It will be appreciated that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the access network device and the terminal device include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the elements and method steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application scenario and design constraints imposed on the solution.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. These communication devices may be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the access network device in the above method embodiments, so that the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments may also be implemented. As shown in fig. 10, the communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010 and an interface circuit 1020. The processor 1010 and the interface circuit 1020 are coupled to each other. It is understood that interface circuit 1020 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further comprise a memory 1030 for storing instructions to be executed by the processor 1010 or for storing input data required by the processor 1010 to execute instructions or for storing data generated after the processor 1010 executes instructions. The processor 1010 may be configured to implement the functions of the processing module 910, and the interface circuit 1020 may be configured to implement the functions of the transceiver module 920.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 1010 and interface circuit 1020 may be used to perform functions or operations performed by a terminal device, etc. The interface circuit 1020 performs, for example, all of the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4-8. The interface circuit 1020 is for example used to perform all operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4 to 8 except for the transceiving operations.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 1010 and interface circuit 1020 may be used to perform functions or operations performed by an access network device, etc. The interface circuit 1020 performs all of the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the access network device in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4-8, for example. The interface circuit 1020 is for example used to perform all operations performed by the access network in the embodiments of fig. 2, 4-8 except for the transceiving operations.

When the communication device is a chip applied to the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment chip realizes the functions of the terminal equipment in the embodiment of the method. The chip of the terminal device receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal device, and the information is sent to the terminal device by the access network device; alternatively, the chip of the terminal device sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal device, which is sent by the terminal device to the access network device.

When the communication device is a module applied to the access network equipment, the access network equipment module realizes the function of the access network equipment in the embodiment of the method. The access network equipment module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the access network equipment, and the information is sent to the access network equipment by the terminal equipment; alternatively, the access network device module sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the access network device, where the information is sent by the access network device to the terminal device. The access network device module may be a baseband chip of the access network device, or may be a DU or other module, where the DU may be a DU under an open radio access network (open radio access network, O-RAN) architecture.

It is to be appreciated that the processor in embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, it may be any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in hardware, or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, erasable programmable read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. The storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may reside in an access network device or a terminal device. The processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in an access network device or terminal device.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product described above includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described above for embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program or 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, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired or wireless means. 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 integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium such as a floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape; but also optical media such as digital video discs; but also semiconductor media such as solid state disks. The computer readable storage medium may be volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage medium.

In the various embodiments of the application, if there is no specific description or logical conflict, terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

Claims

1. A communication method, wherein the method is applied to a terminal device, the method comprising:

receiving first configuration information from access network equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), the second search space set comprises a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used for bearing first Downlink Control Information (DCI), and the second candidate PDCCH is used for bearing second DCI;

in the case that the number of cells associated with the first search space set is greater than the number of cells associated with the second search space set, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCHs in the first search space set to the search space set for listening, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCHs in the second search space set to the search space set for listening.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cells associated with the first set of search spaces comprise K cells used for scheduling by the first DCI, the cells associated with the second set of search spaces comprise F cells used for scheduling by the second DCI, an index of the first set of search spaces is greater than or less than an index of the second search space, both K and F are integers greater than 0, and K is greater than F.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells;

or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, and the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both first formats, where the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one or more cells;

or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both second formats, and the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one or more cells.

4. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one cell;

or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, where the format of the first DCI is a first format, the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a third format, and the DCI of the third format is used for scheduling uplink data channels of one cell;

or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, the format of the first DCI is a second format, the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a fourth format, and the DCI of the fourth format is used for scheduling downlink data channels of one cell.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

receiving second configuration information from the access network device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a third set of search spaces and a fourth set of search spaces, the third set of search spaces includes a third PDCCH candidate, the fourth set of search spaces includes a fourth PDCCH candidate, the third PDCCH candidate is used to carry third DCI, the fourth PDCCH candidate is used to carry fourth DCI, one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used to schedule a data channel of one or more cells, the other is used to schedule a data channel of one cell, and a format of the third DCI is different from a format of the fourth DCI;

In the case that the third search space set and the fourth search space set are both associated with one cell, after determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the third search space set to the search space set for listening, determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in the fourth search space set to the search space set for listening, the index of the third search space set being smaller than the index of the fourth search space set.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

and receiving third configuration information from the access network equipment, wherein the third configuration information is used for configuring a cell set associated with the first search space set and configuring a cell set associated with the second search space set.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

and sending first capability information to the access network equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support the execution of determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the sequence of the search space set for monitoring according to the number of cells associated with each search space set.

8. A method of communication, the method being applied to an access network device, the method comprising:

transmitting first configuration information to a terminal device, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring a first search space set and a second search space set, the first search space set comprises a first candidate Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), the second search space set comprises a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH is used for bearing first Downlink Control Information (DCI), the second candidate PDCCH is used for bearing second DCI, and the loads of the first DCI and the second DCI are different;

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the cells associated with the first set of search spaces comprise K cells used for scheduling by the first DCI, the cells associated with the second set of search spaces comprise F cells used for scheduling by the second DCI, the index of the first set of search spaces is greater than or less than the index of the second search space, both K and F are integers greater than 0, and K is greater than F.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells;

or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, and the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both first formats, where the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells;

or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, the format of the first DCI and the format of the second DCI are both second formats, and the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells.

11. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule data channels of one or more cells and the second DCI is used to schedule data channels of one cell;

or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for uplink scheduling, where the format of the first DCI is a first format, the DCI of the first format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a third format, and the DCI of the third format is used for scheduling data channels of one cell;

Or, the first DCI and the second DCI are both used for downlink scheduling, where the format of the first DCI is a second format, the DCI of the second format is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells, the format of the second DCI is a fourth format, and the DCI of the fourth format is used for scheduling data channels of one cell.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, further comprising:

transmitting second configuration information to the terminal equipment, wherein the second configuration information is used for configuring a third search space set and a fourth search space set, the third search space set comprises a third candidate PDCCH, the fourth search space set comprises a fourth candidate PDCCH, the third candidate PDCCH is used for bearing a third DCI, the fourth candidate PDCCH is used for bearing a fourth DCI, one of the third DCI and the fourth DCI is used for scheduling data channels of one or more cells, the other is used for scheduling data channels of one cell, and the format of the third DCI is different from that of the fourth DCI;

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising:

and sending third configuration information to the terminal equipment, wherein the third configuration information is used for configuring a cell set associated with the first search space set and configuring a cell set associated with the second search space set.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, further comprising:

and receiving first capability information from the terminal equipment, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to support the execution of determining whether to allocate the candidate PDCCH in each search space set to the sequence of the search space set for monitoring according to the number of cells associated with each search space set.

15. A communication device comprising means or units for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

16. A communication device comprising means or units for implementing the method of any one of claims 8 to 14.

17. A computer readable storage medium, wherein a computer program is stored in the computer readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program instructions which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7, or which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 8 to 14.

18. A communications device comprising a processor for causing the communications device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7 or causing the communications device to perform the method of any one of claims 8 to 14 when the instructions are executed.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a memory for storing the instructions.

20. A chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor reading instructions stored on a memory via the communication interface, performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 7, or performing the method of any one of claims 8 to 14.

21. A communication system comprising a communication device according to claim 15 and a communication device according to claim 16.