WO2020047759A1

WO2020047759A1 - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: WO2020047759A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/104039
Authority: WO
Inventors: 韩金侠; 李铮; 南杨; 李振宇; 张武荣
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2018-09-05
Filing date: 2018-09-05
Publication date: 2020-03-12
Also published as: CN112586057A; CN112586057B

Abstract

Disclosed by the embodiments of the present application are a communication method and device, relating to the field of communications, and capable of controlling a duty ratio within a fixed channel period to be less than or equal to a preset duty ratio. The specific solution is: A downlink subframe is pre-configured to be disabled. In a first period in a time domain, NPDSCH or/and NPDCCH is sent on the downlink subframe, and the ratio of the sum of the total duration of a first type of downlink subframes for transmitting NPDSCH or/and NPDCCH and the total duration of a third type of downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to a preset duty ratio. The first type of downlink subframes are downlink subframes used for downlink transmission, the second type of downlink subframes are invalid downlink subframes, and the third type of downlink subframes are used to transmit NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH. The embodiments of the present application are used in a downlink transmission process.

Description

Communication method and equipment

Technical field

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

Background technique

Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology is an emerging technology in the field of Internet of Things, which supports the cellular data connection of low-power devices in the WAN. It has wide coverage, multiple connections, fast speed, low cost, and high performance. Low power consumption and excellent architecture. Narrowband Internet of Things can also be called low-power wide-area network (LPWAN). In order to make full use of spectrum resources, the MulteFire Alliance (MFA) has proposed an unlicensed spectrum narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT-U) technology based on unlicensed spectrum. NB-IoT-U has the technical characteristics of NB-IoT, but in order to adapt to unlicensed spectrum regulations, on the basis of the NB-IoT frame structure, some modifications to adapt to unlicensed spectrum regulations are also needed. For example, spectrum regulations of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) stipulate that for devices using unlicensed spectrum below 1 GHz, the duty cycle should be less than or equal to a preset duty cycle (for example, a preset (Duty cycle is 10%). The duty cycle refers to a ratio of a transmission time of an transmitter of each transmitting device on an observation frequency band to an observation period in an observation period. However, according to the frame structure of NB-IoT-U under the existing ETSI regulations, in a fixed channel period, if the frame structure of NB-IoT-U, all downlink subframes except for the fixed channel part are used to send narrowband In the case of a physical downlink shared channel (narrowband physical downlink shared channel (NPDSCH)) or / and a narrowband physical downlink control channel (narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH)), the duty cycle is greater than a preset duty cycle. Therefore, how to control the downlink duty cycle in a fixed channel period to be less than or equal to a preset duty cycle is an urgent problem to be solved.

Summary of the Invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device that can control a duty cycle in a fixed channel period to be less than or equal to a preset duty cycle.

To achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is applicable to the method and the base station, and / or the method is applicable to a communication device that can support the base station to implement the method. For example, the communication device includes In a chip system, the method includes: sending a NPDSCH or / and an NPDCCH on a downlink subframe in a first period in the time domain. The downlink subframe includes a first type downlink subframe and a second type downlink subframe. The first type of downlink subframe is a downlink subframe used for downlink transmission. The second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe. among them,

T ₁ represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes for sending NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, T ₂ represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T _total represents the total duration of the first period, and D _{presupposition} represents the preset duty cycle ratio. The preset duty cycle is the sum of the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes for all NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH transmissions in the first cycle and the total duration of the first cycle ratio. The preset duty cycle can be 10% or 2.5%. The third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal (NPSS), a narrowband secondary synchronization signal (NSSS), and a narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH). In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, before using a downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, first determine to disable the downlink subframe, and then occupy the enabled downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, so that the NPDSCH is actually transmitted. Or the duty cycle of the sum of the total duration of the NPDCCH-enabled downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes is less than or equal to the preset duty cycle.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method is applicable to the method and the terminal device, and / or the method is applicable to a communication device that can support the terminal device to implement the method, such as the communication The device includes a chip system. The method includes: in a first period in the time domain, receiving NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH on a downlink subframe, the downlink subframe includes a first type downlink subframe and a second type downlink subframe, the first The downlink sub-frame is a downlink sub-frame for downlink transmission, and the downlink sub-frame of the second type is an invalid downlink sub-frame.

T ₁ represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes for sending NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, T ₂ represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T _total represents the total duration of the first period, and D _{presupposition} represents the preset duty cycle In contrast, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH. In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, before using a downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, first determine to disable the downlink subframe, and then occupy the enabled downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, so that the NPDSCH is actually transmitted. Or the duty cycle of the sum of the total duration of the NPDCCH-enabled downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes is less than or equal to the preset duty cycle.

With reference to the first aspect and the second aspect described above, in a first possible design, the second type of downlink subframes are discretely distributed in the first period. Specifically, the second type of downlink subframes are evenly distributed in the first period. Therefore, the delay of downlink data transmission can be effectively reduced.

In combination with the foregoing possible design, in a second possible design, the first period includes M first time units including a first type of downlink subframe and P first time units including a second type of downlink subframe, M Greater than 0 and less than N, the sum of M and P is greater than or equal to N, N represents the total number of first time units in the first period, P is greater than 0 and less than N, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

Wherein, the sum of M and P is equal to N, and all the downlink subframes included in each of the first time units of the first time units including the second type of downlink subframes are disabled downlink subframes.

The sum of M and P is greater than N, and at least one of the P first time units including the second type of downlink subframes includes the first type of downlink subframes and the second type of downlink subframes.

When the sum of M and P is equal to N, in a third possible design, the duration of the first period is 1280 milliseconds, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit. The second time unit The duration is 20ms, the duration of the first time unit is 40ms, the first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes and 36 uplink subframes, and the index number of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes is a multiple of 7. In 1280ms, the index number starts from the first first time unit, and the index number of the first first time unit starts from 1.

When the sum of M and P is equal to N, in a fourth possible design, the duration of the first cycle is 1280ms, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit, and the duration of the second time unit 20ms, the duration of the first time unit is 20ms, the first time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 18 uplink subframes, and the index number of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes is a multiple of 7. Within 1280ms, the index number starts from the first first time unit, and the index number of the first first time unit starts from 1.

When the sum of M and P is equal to N, in a fifth possible design, the duration of the first period is 1280ms, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit, and the duration of the second time unit 20ms, the duration of the first time unit is 20ms, the first time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 18 uplink subframes, and the index number of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes is 1 and 8 Multiples. Within 1280ms, the index number starts from the first first time unit, and the index number of the first first time unit starts from 1.

The sum of M and P is greater than N. In a sixth possible design, the duration of the first period is 1280ms, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit. The duration of the second time unit is 20ms, the duration of the first time unit is 80ms, the first time unit includes 8 downlink subframes and 72 uplink subframes, and the index of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes is a multiple of 7, at 1280ms Within, the index number starts from the first first time unit, and the index number of the first first time unit starts from 1.

With reference to the foregoing possible design, in a seventh possible design, the first period further includes a third time unit, and the third time unit includes only an uplink subframe. When the duration of the first time unit is 80 ms, the duration of the third time unit is 60 ms. When the duration of the first time unit is 40 ms, the duration of the third time unit is 20 ms.

When the sum of M and P is equal to N, in the eighth possible design, the duration of the first period is 1280 ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20 ms, and the duration of the third time unit is 0 ms. The unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 8 uplink subframes, and the index number of the first time unit including the downlink subframe of the second type is an even index or an odd index, and

It is a multiple of 7, within 1280 milliseconds, the index number starts from the first first time unit, and the index number of the first first time unit starts from 1.

When the sum of M and P is equal to N, in a ninth possible design, the duration of the first period is 1280 ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20 ms, and the duration of the third time unit is 0 ms. The unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 8 uplink subframes, and the index number of the first time unit including the downlink subframe of the second type is an even index or an odd index, and

It is equal to 1 and a multiple of 8. In 1280 milliseconds, the index number starts from the first first time unit, and the index number of the first first time unit starts from 1.

When the sum of M and P is equal to N, in the tenth possible design, the duration of the first period is 1280 ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20 ms, and the duration of the third time unit is 0 ms. The unit is divided into 2 time units, each time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 8 uplink subframes, the index of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes is a multiple of 7, and includes the second type In the first time unit of the downlink sub-frame, the downlink sub-frame of the first time unit or the second time unit is disabled within 1280 milliseconds, and the index number starts from the first first time unit, and the first The index number of a time unit starts from 1.

With reference to the foregoing possible design, in an eleventh possible design, all downlink subframes of the first type in the first period are used to send a narrowband reference signal NRS.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is applicable to the method and the base station, and / or the method is applicable to a communication device that can support the base station to implement the method. For example, the communication device includes The chip system includes a method of sending narrowband reference signals (NRS) on Q first type downlink subframes in a first period in the time domain. The first type of downlink subframes are used for downlink transmission. For downlink subframes, where Q is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, the ratio of the sum of the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or It is equal to the preset duty cycle. The third type of downlink subframe is used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH. The preset duty cycle may be 10% or 2.5%.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method is applicable to the method and the terminal device, and / or the method is applicable to a communication device that can support the terminal device to implement the method, such as the communication The device includes a chip system. The method includes: in a first period in the time domain, receiving NRS on Q first-type downlink subframes, and the first-type downlink subframes are downlink subframes for downlink transmission, where Q Is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, the ratio of the sum of the total duration of Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to a preset duty cycle, The third type of downlink subframe is used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH.

Therefore, the first type of downlink subframes that are pre-configured to send NRS may be the first type of downlink subframes that send SIB1, which not only ensures the synchronization performance of the terminal device and the base station, but also reserves more first-type downlink subframes. Frames, increasing the flexibility of base station resource scheduling. In these first type of downlink subframes, the base station can decide whether to send NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH, and whether to send NRS at the same time depends on whether NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH are sent. If NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH is sent, NRS is sent. Without NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH transmission, NRS is not transmitted.

With reference to the first aspect and the second aspect described above, in a first possible design, Q first-type downlink subframes are discretely distributed in the first period. Specifically, the Q first downlink subframes are evenly distributed in the first period.

For example, the Q first-type downlink subframes are discretely distributed in the first time units with index numbers 4, 5, 18, 19, 33, 34, 49, and 50. Alternatively, the Q first type downlink subframes are evenly distributed in the first time unit whose index number is an odd index number or an even index number. Alternatively, the Q first downlink subframes are evenly distributed in the first time unit of the index number with an index number multiple of 7.

With reference to the foregoing possible design, in a first possible design, before sending NRS on the Q first downlink subframes, the method further includes: transmitting system information, the system information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used To indicate a first type of downlink subframe for transmitting NRS.

In combination with the foregoing possible design, in a second possible design, before sending the NRS on the Q first downlink subframes, the method further includes: transmitting system information, the system information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used At indicating a first time unit for sending an NRS.

Specifically, the first indication information is a bitmap indication. The length of the bitmap is greater than or equal to the number of downlink subframes in all first time units in the period indicated by the bitmap. One bit in the bitmap corresponds to the period indicated by the bitmap. One downlink subframe of one first time unit.

The first indication information is a bitmap indication. The length of the bitmap is greater than or equal to the number of first time units in the period indicated by the bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a first time unit in the period indicated by the bitmap.

The period indicated by the bitmap is equal to the first period length. Alternatively, the period indicated by the bitmap is equal to a quarter of the length of the first period. For example, the period indicated by the bitmap may be 320ms.

The subframe used to carry the NRS is different from or partially the same as the subframe used for downlink transmission.

With reference to the foregoing possible design, in a third possible design, after sending the NRS on the Q first downlink subframes, the method further includes: sending an NPDSCH or / and an NPDCCH.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus for implementing the method described in the first aspect. The communication device is a base station or a communication device that supports the base station to implement the method described in the first aspect, for example, the communication device includes a chip system. For example, the communication device includes a transmitting unit. The sending unit is configured to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH on a downlink subframe in a first period in the time domain. The downlink subframe includes a first type downlink subframe and a second type downlink subframe. The first type of downlink subframe is a downlink subframe used for downlink transmission. The second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe. among them,

T ₁ represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes for sending NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, T ₂ represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T _total represents the total duration of the first period, and D _{presupposition} represents the preset duty cycle ratio. The preset duty cycle is the sum of the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes for all NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH transmissions in the first cycle and the total duration of the first cycle ratio. The preset duty cycle can be 10% or 2.5%. The third type of downlink subframe is used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH. In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, before using a downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, first determine to disable the downlink subframe, and then occupy the enabled downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH so that the NPDSCH is actually transmitted Or the duty cycle of the sum of the total duration of the NPDCCH-enabled downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes is less than or equal to the preset duty cycle.

Optionally, the specific method is the same as that described in the first aspect, and details are not described herein again.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus for implementing the method described in the second aspect. The communication device is a terminal device and / or a communication device supporting the terminal device to implement the method described in the second aspect, for example, the communication device includes a chip system. For example, the communication device includes a receiving unit. The receiving unit is configured to receive NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH on a downlink subframe in a first period in the time domain. The downlink subframe includes a first type of downlink subframe and a second type of downlink subframe. The downlink subframe is a downlink subframe used for downlink transmission, and the second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe, where:

T ₁ represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes for sending NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, T ₂ represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T _total represents the total duration of the first period, and D _{presupposition} represents the preset duty cycle In contrast, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH. In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, before using a downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, first determine to disable the downlink subframe, and then occupy the enabled downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH so that the NPDSCH is actually transmitted Or the duty cycle of the sum of the total duration of the NPDCCH-enabled downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes is less than or equal to the preset duty cycle.

Optionally, the specific method is the same as that described in the second aspect, and details are not described herein again.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus for implementing the method described in the third aspect. The communication device is a base station or a communication device that supports the base station to implement the method described in the third aspect, for example, the communication device includes a chip system. For example, the communication device includes a transmitting unit. The sending unit is configured to send NRS on Q first type downlink subframes in a first period in the time domain, where the first type downlink subframes are downlink subframes used for downlink transmission, where Q is A positive integer greater than or equal to 1, the ratio of the sum of the total duration of Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to a preset duty cycle, Three types of downlink subframes are used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH, and the preset duty cycle can be 10% or 2.5%.

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus for implementing the method described in the fourth aspect. The communication device is a terminal device and / or a communication device supporting the terminal device to implement the method described in the fourth aspect, for example, the communication device includes a chip system. For example, the communication device includes a receiving unit. The receiving unit is configured to receive NRS on Q first type downlink subframes in a first period in the time domain, where the first type downlink subframes are downlink subframes used for downlink transmission, where Q is A positive integer greater than or equal to 1, the ratio of the sum of the total duration of Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to a preset duty cycle Three types of downlink subframes are used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH.

Optionally, the specific method is the same as that described in the fourth aspect, and details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that the functional modules of the fifth to eighth aspects may be implemented by hardware, and may also be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. For example, the transceiver is used to complete the functions of the receiving unit and the sending unit, the processor is used to complete the functions of the processing unit, and the memory is used by the processor to process the program instructions of the method in the embodiment of the present application. The processor, the transceiver, and the memory are connected and communicate with each other through a bus. Specifically, reference may be made to the function of the behavior of the terminal device or the base station in the method described in the first aspect to the method described in the fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which is configured to implement the methods described in the first aspect and the third aspect. The communication device is a base station or a communication device that supports a base station to implement the methods described in the first aspect and the third aspect. For example, the communication device includes a chip system. For example, the communication device includes a processor, configured to implement the functions of the methods described in the first aspect and the third aspect. The communication device may further include a memory for storing program instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor may call and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement functions in the methods described in the first aspect and the third aspect. The communication device may further include a communication interface, where the communication interface is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, if the communication device is a base station, the other device is a terminal device.

In a possible device, the communication device includes: a communication interface, where the communication interface is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, which is configured to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH on a downlink subframe, or send NRS on Q first downlink subframes. Memory for storing program instructions.

Optionally, the specific communication method is the same as that described in the first aspect and the third aspect, and details are not described herein again.

According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus for implementing the methods described in the second aspect and the fourth aspect. The communication device is a terminal device or a communication device that supports the terminal device to implement the methods described in the second aspect and the fourth aspect. For example, the communication device includes a chip system. For example, the communication device includes a processor, configured to implement functions in the methods described in the second aspect and the fourth aspect. The communication device may further include a memory for storing program instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor may call and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement functions in the methods described in the second aspect and the fourth aspect above. The communication device may further include a communication interface, where the communication interface is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, if the communication device is a terminal device, the other device is a base station.

In a possible device, the communication device includes: a communication interface, where the communication interface is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver configured to receive NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH on a downlink subframe, or receive and send NRS on Q first downlink subframes. Memory for storing program instructions.

According to an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, including: computer software instructions; when the computer software instructions are run in a communication device, causing the communication device to perform any of the foregoing first to fourth aspects. A described method.

According to a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product runs in a communication device, the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. .

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system. The chip system includes a processor, and may further include a memory, for implementing functions of a network device or a terminal device in the foregoing method. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also include chips and other discrete devices.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system including the base station described in the fifth aspect or a communication device supporting the base station to implement the method described in the first aspect, and a terminal described in the sixth aspect. A device or a communication device supporting a terminal device to implement the method described in the second aspect;

The communication system includes a base station described in the seventh aspect or a communication device supporting the base station to implement the method described in the third aspect, and a terminal device described in the eighth aspect or a communication device supporting the terminal device to implement the method described in the fourth aspect;

The communication system includes the base station described in the ninth aspect or a communication device supporting the base station to implement the method described in the first or third aspect, and the terminal device described in the tenth aspect or supporting the terminal device to implement the second aspect or the fourth aspect. Aspects of the method of communication device described.

In addition, for the technical effects brought by the design methods in any of the foregoing aspects, refer to the technical effects brought by the different design methods in the first aspect and the second aspect, and details are not described herein again.

In the embodiments of the present application, the names of the terminal equipment, the base station, and the communication device do not constitute a limitation on the equipment itself. In actual implementation, these equipments may appear under other names. As long as the functions of each device are similar to the embodiments of the present application, they belong to the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies.

These or other aspects of the embodiments of the present application will be more concise and easy to understand in the description of the following embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a passing system according to an embodiment of the present application;

2 is a first example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art;

3 is a second example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art;

4 is a third example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art;

5 is a fourth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art;

6 is a fifth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art;

7 is a first flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a first example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a second example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a third example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a fourth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is an example diagram of a fourth time unit provided by an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

13 is a second flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a fifth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a sixth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a seventh example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application;

17 is an example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application;

18 is a structural example diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 19 is a structural example diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

The embodiments of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application can be applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system may include: a base station 101 and a terminal device 102.

The base station 101 may be a base station (BS) or a base station controller for wireless communication. Specifically, the base station may include a user plane base station and a control plane base station. A base station is a device that is deployed in a wireless access network to provide wireless communication functions for the terminal device 102. Its main functions are: management of wireless resources, compression of Internet protocol (IP) headers, and user data flow. Encryption, selection of mobile management entity (MME) when user equipment is attached, routing of user plane data to service gateway (SGW), organization and transmission of paging messages, organization and transmission of broadcast messages, Configuration of measurement and measurement reports for mobility or scheduling purposes, etc. The base station 101 may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, access points, and the like. In systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of devices with base station functions may be different. For example, in LTE networks, they are called evolved base stations (evolved NodeB, eNB, or eNodeB). In a mobile communication technology (the third generation telecommunication (3G) system), it is called a base station (Node B), and in a next generation wireless communication system, it is called a next generation base station (GNB) and so on. As communication technology evolves, the name "base station" may change. In addition, in other possible cases, the base station 101 may be another device that provides a wireless communication function for the terminal device 102. For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, a device that provides a wireless communication function for the terminal device 102 is referred to as a base station.

The terminal device 102 may also be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), or the like. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet, a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, an industrial control (industrial control) ), Wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote surgery, wireless terminals in smart grid, wireless terminals in transportation safety Terminals, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, and the like. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device. The terminal device 102 can also be a relay and a base station that can perform data communication can be used as a terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, as shown in FIG. 1, a terminal device 102 is used as a user equipment in a general sense as an example.

It should be noted that the communication system provided in the embodiments of the present application may refer to an unauthorized wireless communication system restricted by spectrum regulations. For example, the NB-IoT-U system. The communication method described in the embodiments of the present application is applicable to a spectrum with a duty cycle limitation.

For example, taking the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) spectrum regulations as an example, the ETSI regulations impose the following restrictions on devices using unlicensed frequency bands below 1 GHz.

For the frequency band 869.4-869.65MHz (band54), the equivalent radiated power (or effective radiated power) (ERP) is 27 dBm at the maximum, and the duty cycle is 10% at the maximum within one hour. For the 865-868MHz (band47b) frequency band, only 866.66-865.8MHz, 866.22-866.4MHz, 866.8-867.0MHz and 867.64-867.6MHz frequency bands can be used. It needs to have adaptive power control technology. The equivalent radiated power is 27dBm at most During the 1-hour period, the maximum duty cycle of the network access point is 10%, otherwise the duty cycle is 2.5%, that is, for the NB-IoT-U, within the 1-hour period, the maximum downlink duty cycle of the network side is 10 %. For details, please refer to the explanation of COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2017/1483 of August 2017.

Generally, the duty cycle refers to the ratio of the power-on time to the total time in a pulse cycle. In layman's terms, the ratio of the duration of a phenomenon to the total time in a periodic phenomenon. In the embodiment of the present application, the duty cycle refers to the ratio of the time duration of the transmitter of each transmitting device on an observation frequency band to the observation period in the observation period. The observation period can be understood as a fixed channel period.

In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "such as" are used as an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described as “example” or “such as” in the embodiments of the present application should not be construed as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the words "exemplary" or "such as" are used to present concepts in a concrete manner.

The terms "first", "second", "third" and the like in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to define a specific order.

The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Those of ordinary skill in the art may know that The evolution of the architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

It should be noted that “connected” in the present application means that they can communicate with each other, and specifically, can be connected by wired or wireless means, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application. The devices connected to each other may be directly connected or connected through other devices, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The current ETSI regulations stipulate that a fixed channel period in the frame structure of NB-IoT-U includes a fixed channel segment (anchor segment) and a data channel segment (data segment). The fixed channel period may also be referred to as a discovery reference signal (DRS) period or an anchor segment period. The so-called fixed channel can be understood as a fixed frequency of sending synchronization signals and MIBs, or messages such as synchronization signals, MIBs, and other broadcast information. Fixed channels can also be referred to as common channels. For systems operating on unlicensed spectrum, in order to reduce the delay in the initial access of terminal equipment, base stations usually first send synchronization signals and MIBs, or synchronization signals, MIBs, and other broadcast information, at a fixed frequency point that is predetermined. After waiting for the message, after sending the synchronization signal and MIB, or the synchronization signal, MIB, and other broadcast information, the system information block (SIB) is sent to the terminal device in a time division multiplexed manner on the data channel. Therefore, the synchronization signal and the MIB, or the synchronization signal, the MIB, and other broadcast information are sent on the fixed channel, so that the terminal device searches for the synchronization signal during blind detection, and then receives the MIB information and other broadcast information, and then receives the SIB and executes it. Random access and other processes. The SIB described in the embodiment of the present application includes SIB1 to SIB22, and the like, and other broadcast information described in the embodiment of the present application includes SIB1 or other SIBs. The synchronization signals include a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). The MIB is transmitted through a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). Other broadcast information includes, but is not limited to, other SIBs of the SIB transmission scheme described in the embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, the synchronization signals include a narrowband primary synchronization signal (narrowband primary synchronization signal (NPSS) and a narrowband secondary synchronization signal (narrowband secondary synchronization signal (NSSS)). The MIB is transmitted through a narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH). Other broadcast information includes, but is not limited to, other SIBs of the SIB transmission scheme described in the embodiments of the present application. The fixed channel portion may also be called an anchor point segment, a fixed segment, or a fixed portion. The data channel portion may also be referred to as a data segment or data portion. The data channel part is used to transmit uplink data and downlink data. The frequency domain resources and time domain resources occupied by the fixed channel part and the data channel part according to the embodiments of the present application are both unlicensed spectrum resources.

FIG. 2 is a first example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art. The duration of the fixed channel period is 1280 milliseconds (millisecond, ms), the duration of the fixed channel portion is 20 ms, and the duration of the data channel portion is 1260 ms. The duration for transmitting NPSS and / or NSSS in the fixed channel part may be 10 ms, and the duration for transmitting NPBCH may be 10 ms. According to different allocation ratios of the uplink subframe and the downlink subframe, the number of data frames in the data channel part for transmitting uplink data and downlink data is different. A data frame can also be understood as a time unit for transmitting uplink data and downlink data in a fixed channel period, that is, the data frame corresponds to the first time unit in the following.

FIG. 3 is a second example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art. Assume that the time unit includes 8 downlink subframes and 72 uplink subframes, and the duration of each subframe is 1ms, that is, 8ms in this time unit is used to transmit downlink data and 72ms is used to transmit uplink data. It is 80ms. In this case, the data channel portion of 1260ms may include a maximum of 15 time units of 80ms and a time unit of 60ms. For simplicity, in the following, a time unit including a downlink subframe and an uplink subframe is defined as a first time unit, and a time unit including only an uplink subframe is defined as a third time unit. The fixed channel part is a second time unit.

It should be noted that, in this scenario, the sum of the duration of the third time unit and the duration of the second time unit is equal to the duration of the first time unit. Understandably, the fixed channel period includes 16 time units of 80 ms. For convenience, the length of the first time unit can be used as an unit to index 80ms in a fixed channel period, and the index can be numbered from n. Therefore, the time unit index composed of the second time unit and the third time unit Is n, the index of the first first time unit is n + 1, and so on, and the index of the 15th first time unit is n + 15. For convenience, the index value is represented by a frame number (nFrame) index, and the index value within a fixed channel period may be represented by a frame number (nFrame_anchor) index within a fixed channel period. For example, the index value of nFrame is n, n + 1, n + 2 ..., n + 15, n + 16, ..., but the index value of nFrame_anchor is 0,1,2 ... 15. In the following, the index value is uniformly represented by nFrame_anchor, and the value of nFrame_anchor is different according to the duration of the first time unit. An nFrame_anchor of 0 means the second time unit and a third time unit, an nFrame_anchor of 1 means the first first time unit, and an nFrame_anchor of 15 means the 15th first time unit included in the data channel part.

In the following, if the frame number is used alone, it means the nFrame index. If the frame number in the fixed channel period is used, it means the nFrame_anchor index, that is, the index of the frame number in the fixed channel period of 1280ms. The number of nFrame frames included is determined.

FIG. 4 is a third example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art. Assume that the first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes and 36 uplink subframes, and the duration of each subframe is 1ms, that is, 4ms in the first time unit is used to transmit downlink data, and 36ms is used to transmit uplink data. The duration of a time unit can be 40ms. In this case, the data channel portion of 1260ms may include a maximum of 31 first time units of 40ms and a third time unit of 20ms. It should be noted that, in this case, the sum of the duration of the third time unit and the duration of the second time unit is equal to the duration of the first time unit. Understandably, the fixed channel period includes 32 time units of 40ms. For convenience, the duration of the first time unit may be used as an unit to index 40ms in a fixed channel period, and the index may be numbered from n. Therefore, the duration of the second time unit and the duration of the third time unit are indexed as n, the index of the first first time unit is n + 1, and so on, and the index of the 31st first time unit is n + 31. For convenience, the index value is represented by a frame number (nFrame) index, and the index value within a fixed channel period may be represented by a frame number (nFrame_anchor) index within a fixed channel period. For example, the index value of nFrame is n, n + 1, n + 2 ..., n + 31, n + 32, ..., but the index value of nFrame_anchor is 0,1,2 ... 31. In the following, the index value is uniformly represented by nFrame_anchor, and the value of nFrame_anchor is different according to the duration of the first time unit. An nFrame_anchor of 0 means the second time unit and a third time unit, an nFrame_anchor of 1 means the first first time unit, an nFrame_anchor of 31 means the 31st first time unit included in the data channel part.

FIG. 5 is a fourth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art. Assume that the time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 18 uplink subframes, and the duration of each subframe is 1ms, that is, 2ms in the first time unit is used to transmit downlink data, and 18ms is used to transmit uplink data. The first time The duration of the unit can be 20ms. In this case, the data channel portion of 1260ms may include up to 63 first time units of 20ms. It should be noted that, in this case, there is no third time unit including only the uplink subframe in the fixed channel period. The duration of the first time unit is the same as the duration of the second time unit. Understandably, the fixed channel period includes 64 time units of 20 ms. For convenience, the length of the first time unit can be used to index 20ms in a fixed channel period, and the index can be numbered from n. Therefore, the index of the second time unit is n, and the first first time unit The index of is n + 1, and so on, and the index of the 63rd first time unit is n + 63. For convenience, the index value is represented by a frame number (nFrame) index, and the index value within a fixed channel period may be represented by a frame number (nFrame_anchor) index within a fixed channel period. For example, the index value of nFrame is n, n + 1, n + 2 ..., n + 63, n + 64, ..., but the index value of nFrame_anchor is 0,1,2 ... 63. In the following, the index value is uniformly represented by nFrame_anchor, and the value of nFrame_anchor is different according to the duration of the first time unit. nFrame_anchor is 0 to indicate the fixed channel portion (second time unit), nFrame_anchor is 1 to indicate the first first time unit, and nFrame_anchor to 63 is the 63rd first time unit included in the data channel portion.

FIG. 6 is a fifth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided in the prior art. Assume that the time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 8 uplink subframes, and the duration of each subframe is 1ms. This time unit is the fourth time unit, that is, 2ms in the fourth time unit is used to transmit downlink data, and 8ms For transmitting uplink data, the duration of the fourth time unit is 10 ms. In this case, the data channel portion of 1260 ms may include up to 126 fourth time units of 10 ms. It should be noted that, in this case, there is no third time unit including only the uplink subframe in the fixed channel period. The duration of the second time unit is twice the duration of the fourth time unit. To facilitate numbering the fourth time unit, two fourth time units may be numbered as one first time unit. Understandably, the fixed channel period includes 64 time units of 20 ms. For convenience, the length of the first time unit can be used to index 20ms in a fixed channel period, and the index can be numbered from n. Therefore, the index of the second time unit is n, and the first first time unit The index of is n + 1, and so on, and the index of the 63rd first time unit is n + 63. For convenience, the index value is represented by a frame number (nFrame) index, and the index value within a fixed channel period may be represented by a frame number (nFrame_anchor) index within a fixed channel period. For example, the index value of nFrame is n, n + 1, n + 2 ..., n + 63, n + 64, ..., but the index value of nFrame_anchor is 0,1,2 ... 63. In the following, the index value is uniformly represented by nFrame_anchor, and the value of nFrame_anchor is different according to the duration of the first time unit. If nFrame_anchor is 0, it means the fixed channel part (second time unit), if nFrame_anchor is 1, it means the first first time unit, and if nFrame_anchor is 63, it means the 63rd first time unit included in the data channel part.

It should be noted that in the NB-IoT-U frame structure, the uplink part in the first time unit reserves 1 subframe, that is, 1 ms is a special subframe, which is used for downlink to uplink switching. Since the special subframe is not related to the embodiments of the present application, the special subframe is uniformly assigned as an uplink subframe.

In addition, in the NB-IoT-U frame structure, there are two types of physical downlink channels and two types of physical uplink channels. The two physical downlink channels are a narrowband physical downlink control channel (Narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH)) and a narrowband physical downlink shared channel (Narrowband physical downlink shared channel (NPDSCH)). The two physical uplink channels are a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH)) and a narrowband physical random access channel (narrowband physical random access channel (NPRACH)). The NPUSCH includes two formats, which are NPUSCH format 1 and NPUSCH format 2. NPUSCH format 1 is used to send user data, and NPUSCH format 2 is used to send downlink feedback information. NPRACH is used to send random access signals. The NPDCCH is used to send downlink control information, and the NPDSCH is used to send downlink data and / or broadcast information.

In the NB-IoT-U frame structure, uplink subframes are used to send NPRACH and / or NPUSCH format 1 and / or NPUSCH format 2. For the convenience of description, they are collectively referred to as uplink data. In addition to the downlink sub-frames, the downlink sub-frames The frame and other downlink parts are used to send NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH. For convenience of description, they are collectively referred to as downlink data.

In addition, there are physical signals in the NB-IoT-U frame structure. For example, narrowband reference signals (NRS) and demodulation reference signals (DMRS). When the downlink part sends NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH, the NRS is included by default and will not be described separately. Similarly, when the uplink part sends NPUSCH format 1 or / and NPUSCH format 2, the DMRS is included by default.

According to the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, in 1280ms, assuming that all downlink subframes have downlink data transmission, the duty cycle in 1280ms is shown in Table 1.

Table 1

上下行配置Uplink and downlink configuration	占空比(％)Duty cycle (%)	备注Note
8D+72U8D + 72U	10.937510.9375	((1280/80-1)8+20)/1280((1280 / 80-1) 8 + 20) / 1280
4D+36U4D + 36U	11.2511.25	((1280/40-1)4+20)/1280((1280 / 40-1) 4 + 20) / 1280
2D+18U2D + 18U	11.4062511.40625	((1280/20-1)2+20)/1280((1280 / 20-1) 2 + 20) / 1280
2D+8U2D + 8U	21.2521.25	(((1280-20)/10)2+20)/1280(((1280-20) / 10) 2 + 20) / 1280
2D+8U+2D+8U2D + 8U + 2D + 8U	21.2521.25	((1280/20)4+20)/1280((1280/20) 4 + 20) / 1280

It can be seen that among the four uplink and downlink configurations currently supported, if there is no restriction on the use of resources in the downlink, the downlink duty cycle will all exceed 10% in 1280ms. It should be noted that when the uplink and downlink configuration is 2D + 8U, the duration of the second time unit is twice as long as the duration of the fourth time unit. Two fourth time units can be used as one first time unit to calculate the occupation. The air-to-air ratio is shown in Table 1 as the uplink and downlink configuration is 2D + 8U + 2D + 8U.

According to the ETSI regulations, the statistical time of the duty cycle is 1 hour. Therefore, in order to meet the requirement that the duty cycle does not exceed 10%, the following two methods can be used to restrict it. The first method ensures that the duty cycle does not exceed 10% within 1280ms, and the second method does not exceed 10% within one hour. No matter which method is used to constrain the downlink resources, some downlink subframes cannot send downlink data, that is, some downlink subframes need to be disabled or muted. It should be noted that the so-called disabling of the downlink subframe in the embodiments of the present application means that the downlink subframe cannot send any data. In the following, the duration of the subframes in the following rows is 1 ms as an example. The downlink duration and the corresponding number of downlink subframes need to be disabled for different uplink and downlink ratios in 1280 ms. As shown in table 2.

Table 2

The method for determining the disabled downlink duration and the corresponding number of downlink subframes shown in Table 2 is only a schematic description, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

To control the duty cycle in the fixed channel period is less than or equal to the preset duty cycle. An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The basic principle is that in a first period in the time domain, NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is transmitted on a first type of downlink subframe included in a downlink subframe, and the downlink subframe further includes: The second type of downlink subframes, the first type of downlink subframes are enabled downlink subframes, and the second type of downlink subframes are disabled downlink subframes, where:

Among them, T ₁ represents the total duration of the downlink subframes for which NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is enabled, T ₂ represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T _total represents the total duration of the first cycle, and D _{presupposition} represents a preset occupation. Air ratio. In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, before using a downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, first determine to disable the downlink subframe, and then occupy the enabled downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, so that the NPDSCH is actually transmitted. Or the duty cycle of the sum of the total duration of the NPDCCH-enabled downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes is less than or equal to the preset duty cycle.

In the following, for ease of understanding, the embodiment of the present application assumes that the sending entity is a base station and the receiving entity is a terminal device. The communication between the base station and the terminal device is taken as an example for description.

FIG. 7 is a first flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7, the method may include:

S701. In a first period in the time domain, the base station sends NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH on a downlink subframe.

The first period can be understood as a fixed channel period. For a detailed explanation of the fixed channel period, reference may be made to the foregoing description, which is not repeatedly described in the embodiment of the present application. The downlink subframe includes a first type downlink subframe and a second type downlink subframe. The first type of downlink subframe is an enabled downlink subframe. The so-called enabled downlink subframe is a downlink subframe that can send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, and NRS. The second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe, and an invalid downlink subframe may also be referred to as a disabled downlink subframe. The so-called disabled downlink subframes are invalid downlink subframes that cannot send any data or signals, such as downlink subframes that do not send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, and NRS. The first type of downlink subframes and the second type of downlink subframes are downlink subframes included in the data channel portion. The first period also includes a third type of downlink subframe. The third type of downlink subframe is used to send NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH. The third type of downlink subframe is a downlink subframe included in the fixed channel portion.

When sending a downlink NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, the base station selects a corresponding number of first-type downlink subframes from the first-type downlink subframes included in the data channel part to send the NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. Because the downlink subframes that affect the duty cycle requirements are removed from all the downlink subframes included in the data channel portion, only the remaining first type of downlink subframes are used to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. So that

T ₁ represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes for sending NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH; T ₂ represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes; T _total represents the _total duration of all subframes in the first period Duration; D _{presupposition} represents a preset duty cycle.

It can be understood that the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes used to send the NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes occupied by the NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH.

It should be noted that the preset duty ratio may be 10% or 2.5%. In addition, if the downlink subframes are disabled in multiple consecutive first time units, the base station needs to delay at least the duration of the first time unit including the second type of subframes when performing downlink transmission. In a possible implementation manner, the downlink subframes of the second type may be discretely distributed in the first period. Specifically, the second type of downlink subframes are uniformly distributed in the first period, thereby not only ensuring a 10% duty cycle, but also effectively reducing data transmission delay. It should be noted that the uniform distribution described in the embodiments of the present application is not strictly uniform.

Exemplarily, taking the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 as an example, the first period may include M first time units including a first type of downlink subframe and P numbers including a second type of downlink In the first time unit of the subframe, M is greater than 0 and less than N, and the sum of M and P is greater than or equal to N. N represents the total number of first time units in the first period, P is greater than 0 and less than N, and N is greater than or A positive integer equal to 1. The P first time units including the second type of downlink subframes may be evenly distributed in the first period. In the case where the sum of M and P is equal to N, all the downlink subframes included in each first time unit of the P first time units including the second type of downlink subframes are disabled downlink subframes. In the case where the sum of M and P is greater than N, at least one of the P first time units including the second type of downlink subframes includes the first type of downlink subframes and the second type of downlink subframes.

The following uses the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 as an example to describe in detail how P first time units including the second type of downlink subframes are distributed in the first period.

FIG. 8 is a first example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided by an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first cycle is 1280ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20ms, the duration of the third time unit is 60ms, and the duration of the first time unit is 80ms. The first time unit includes 8 downlink subframes and 72 uplink subframes. frame. You need to disable 12ms downlink data within 1280ms. The duration of each subframe is 1ms, that is, 12 downlink subframes are disabled. Because each data frame includes 8ms downlink subframes, it is equivalent to disabling 8 downlink subframes in 1 first time unit and 4 downlink subframes in 1 first time unit. According to the frame number index coding method in the fixed channel period shown in FIG. 3, the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the second type of downlink subframes may be a multiple of 7, that is, the first time unit with the index number 7 includes Disable all the downlink subframes of the IPC, and disable the four downlink subframes included in the first time unit with the index number of 14. The four downlink subframes may be the first four downlink subframes included in the first time unit with the index number 14, or may be the last four downlink subframes included in the first time unit with the index number 14, which is implemented in this application. Examples do not limit this. Alternatively, according to the frame number index coding method shown in FIG. 3, all the downlink subframes included in the first time unit including the frame number of the second type of downlink subframes where the index number satisfies nFrame% 16 = 7 are disabled, And the index number of the frame number where the second type of downlink subframe is located satisfies the disabling of the four downlink subframes included in the first time unit of nFrame% 16 = 14.

It should be noted that "%" used in conjunction with nFrame represents a "modulo" operation or a "module" operation in mathematical calculations, which is not described in detail below.

FIG. 9 is a second example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first period is 1280ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20ms, the duration of the third time unit is 20ms, the duration of the first time unit is 40ms, and the first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes and 36 uplink subframes. frame. You need to disable 16ms downlink data within 1280ms. The duration of each subframe is 1ms, that is, 16 downlink subframes are disabled. Because each data frame includes a 4ms downlink subframe, it is equivalent to disabling all the downlink subframes in the four first time units. According to the index coding method of the frame number in the fixed channel period shown in FIG. 4, the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the second type of downlink subframes may be a multiple of 7, that is, the first time unit with the index number 7. All downlink subframes included are disabled, all downlink subframes included in the first time unit with index number 14 are disabled, all downlink subframes are disabled and index numbers included in the first time unit with index 21 Disable all downlink subframes included in the first time unit of 28. Alternatively, according to the frame number index coding method shown in FIG. 4, the index number including the frame number where the second type of downlink subframe is located satisfies nFrame% 32 = 7 and nFrame% 32 = 14 and nFrame% 32 = 21 and nFrame% Disable all downlink subframes included in the first time unit of 32 = 28.

FIG. 10 is a third example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided by an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first period is 1280ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20ms, and the duration of the third time unit is 0ms, that is, the third time unit is not included, the duration of the first time unit is 20ms, and the first time unit includes 2 Downlink subframes and 18 uplink subframes. You need to disable the 18ms downlink data within 1280ms. The duration of each subframe is 1ms, that is, 18 downlink subframes are disabled. Because each data frame includes a 2ms downlink subframe, it is equivalent to disabling all the downlink subframes in the 9 first time units. According to the index coding method of the frame number in the fixed channel period shown in FIG. 5, the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the second type of downlink subframes may be a multiple of 7, that is, the first time unit with the index number 7. All downlink subframes included are disabled, all downlink subframes included in the first time unit with index number 14 are disabled, all downlink subframes are disabled, index numbers included in the first time unit with index 21 Disable all downlink subframes included in the first time unit of 28 and disable all downlink subframes included in the first time unit of index 35. All downlink subframes included in the first time unit of index 42 Frame disable, all downlink subframes included in the first time unit with index number 49 disabled, all downlink subframes included in the first time unit with index number 56 disabled, and first downlink units with index number 63 Disable all downlink subframes included in the time unit. Alternatively, the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the second type of downlink subframe may be 1 and 63, and the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period may be a multiple of 8. For example, the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the downlink subframe of the second type is 1, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 63. Or, according to the frame number index coding method shown in FIG. 4, the index number including the frame number where the second type of downlink subframe is located satisfies nFrame% 64 = 7,14,21,28,35,42,49,56, 63 or nFrame% 32 = 1, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 63 All the downlink subframes included in the first time unit are disabled.

FIG. 11 is a fourth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided by an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first cycle is 1280ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20ms, the duration of the fourth time unit is 10ms, the duration of the first time unit is 20ms, and the fourth time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 8 uplink subframes. Frame, the first time unit includes two downlink subframes, eight uplink subframes, two downlink subframes, and eight uplink subframes. The 144ms downlink data needs to be disabled within 1280ms. The duration of each subframe is 1ms, that is, 144 downlink subframes are disabled. Since each fourth time unit includes a 2 ms downlink subframe, it is equivalent to disabling all the downlink subframes in 72 fourth time units. According to the index coding method of the frame number in the fixed channel period shown in FIG. 6, the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the second type of downlink subframes is 1 to 63, that is, the first period includes 63 first times Unit, the first 2ms or the next 2ms in each first time unit are the second type of downlink subframes. In addition, in the first time unit in which the index number of the frame number is a multiple of 7 in the fixed channel period, the remaining 2ms are also The second type of downlink subframe.

In addition, according to the current MFA conference progress, one possible NB-IoT-U frame structure stipulated by ETSI regulations is: ETSI supports at least a single carrier design in band54, and may support two carrier designs in band54 and band47b in the future, and even more carriers Design, but to ensure compatibility, even in multi-carrier design, band54 is an anchor carrier or main carrier, that is, NPSS, NSSS, and NPBCH are sent on band54.

The following describes how to disable the downlink subframe when the base station uses multiple carriers to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH to ensure that the duty cycle does not exceed the preset duty cycle within 1280 ms.

In the embodiment of the present application, a carrier transmitting NPSS, NSSS, NPBCH, and / or SIB is defined as a fixed carrier or a primary carrier, and other carriers are non-fixed carriers or secondary carriers. The number of carriers can be configured through MIB or SIB1 sent on a fixed carrier. If SIB1 is sent on a fixed carrier, the number of carriers is configured through SIB1, and if SIB1 is sent on a non-fixed carrier, the number of carriers is configured through MIB. When the number of carriers is configured through MIB or SIB1, the frequency point information of each carrier needs to be configured at the same time. The configuration order of the carrier frequency point information in MIB or SIB1 determines the corresponding carrier index. The carrier index can also be called the carrier index number. For example, the default fixed carrier index is 0, the carrier index corresponding to the first carrier configured in MIB or SIB1 is 1, the carrier index corresponding to the second carrier configured in MIB or SIB1 is 2, and so on.

Optionally, the first two downlink subframes in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the even index number are disabled, and the last two in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the even index number. The downlink subframe is used to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. Disable the last two downlink subframes in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the odd index number, and use the first two downlink subframes in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the odd index number. For sending NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. In addition, all downlink subframes included in the first time unit whose index number is a multiple of 7 in the fixed channel period are disabled; or, for the first time unit whose index number is a multiple of 7, the first time unit is disabled. All downlink subframes included in the time unit are disabled. The index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the second type of downlink subframes can be 1 and 63, and the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period is a multiple of 8. . For example, the index number of the frame number in the fixed channel period including the downlink subframe of the second type is 1, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 63. Or, according to the frame number index coding method, the index number including the frame number where the second type of downlink subframe is located satisfies nFrame% 64 = 7,14,21,28,35,42,49,56,63 or nFrame% 32 = 1,8,16,24,32,40,48,56,63 All the downlink subframes included in the first time unit are disabled.

Alternatively, the first two downlink subframes in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the odd index number are disabled, and the last two downlink subframes in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the odd index number are disabled. The frame is used to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. Disable the last 2 downlink subframes in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the even index number, and use the first 2 downlink subframes in the first time unit corresponding to the carrier whose carrier index is the even index number. For sending NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. In addition, all downlink subframes included in the first time unit whose index number is a multiple of 7 are disabled.

Of course, if there is a carrier with no duty cycle requirement in a multi-carrier configuration, the carrier is not subject to the above regulations.

Take two carriers as an example. Assume that the fixed carrier index is 0, the non-fixed carrier index is 1, and SIB1 is sent on the fixed carrier, and the number of carriers is configured by SIB1. As shown in FIG. 12, each first time unit corresponding to carrier 0 includes two fourth time units. The duration of the first time unit is 20 ms, and the duration of the fourth time unit is 10 ms. The downlink subframes in the first fourth time unit are used to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, and the downlink subframes in the second fourth time unit are disabled. In addition, the first 2 downlink subframes or the last 2 downlink subframes in the first time unit in which the index number of the first time unit is a multiple of 7 are disabled. For example, the index of the first time unit that is a multiple of 7 is 7,14,21,28,35,42,49,56,63.

Similarly, each first time unit corresponding to carrier 1 includes two fourth time units, the duration of the first time unit is 20 ms, and the duration of the fourth time unit is 10 ms. Disable the downlink subframes in the first fourth time unit, and the downlink subframes in the second fourth time unit are used to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. In addition, the first 2 downlink subframes or the last 2 downlink subframes in the first time unit in which the index number of the first time unit is a multiple of 7 are disabled. For example, the index of the first time unit that is a multiple of 7 is 7,14,21,28,35,42,49,56,63. The foregoing solution for disabling downlink subframes can be implemented in a pre-configured manner, and the terminal device is not notified through a signaling message, which saves air interface resources and can effectively reduce service delay. In addition, under various uplink and downlink configuration schemes, unified processing can be performed to reduce the complexity of base stations and terminal equipment.

In addition, for NPDCCH and NPDSCH transmission, NRS transmission must be included by default. If a disabled subframe is encountered, the transmission of NPDCCH and NPDSCH and the corresponding NRS will be postponed to the next available downlink subframe to continue sending.

In addition, optionally, all first-type downlink subframes in the first period are used to send NRS. For example, NRS is transmitted by default on downlink subframes that send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH. Even if the subframe has no NPDSCH and no NPDCCH occurs, the subframe also sends NRS.

S702. In a first period in the time domain, the terminal device receives an NPDSCH or / and an NPDCCH in a downlink subframe.

For the manner in which the terminal device receives the NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH in the downlink subframe in the first period in the time domain, reference may be made to the description of the method for sending the NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH in the downlink subframe in S701. I will not repeat them here.

In the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, before using a downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, first determine to disable the downlink subframe, and then occupy the enabled downlink subframe to send NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, so that the NPDSCH is actually transmitted. Or the duty cycle of the sum of the total duration of the NPDCCH-enabled downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes is less than or equal to the preset duty cycle.

In the above embodiment, no matter whether the first type of downlink subframes in the first period sends NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH, all the first type of downlink subframes in the first period send NRS, so that the terminal device can communicate with the NRS through the NRS. The base station maintains time synchronization and frequency synchronization. In addition, by disabling the first type of downlink subframes, that is, the second type of downlink subframes are used to ensure that the requirements of the preset duty cycle are met. However, in practical applications, in order to save downlink resources, the NRS may also be transmitted according to the NPDSCH or / and the NPDCCH. It can be understood that the base station sends the NRS only when the NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is sent to the terminal device, that is, the NRS is sent on the first type of downlink subframe in which the NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is sent in the first period. In this case, when the terminal device only needs to send uplink data and no downlink data is received, or for a terminal device in an idle (RRC_Idle) state, it cannot be determined whether the NRS is transmitted in the downlink subframe, and therefore the terminal device cannot pass the NRS Keeping synchronization with the base station results in the terminal equipment not being able to synchronize time and frequency with the base station, resulting in performance degradation. In this scenario, how to make the terminal device and the base station maintain time synchronization and frequency synchronization, and meet the requirements of the preset duty ratio when performing downlink transmission is an urgent problem to be solved.

In the second implementation manner, the base station and the terminal device may determine the first type of downlink subframes for sending NRS through a pre-configuration method, so that the terminal device obtains the number of NRS sending subframes, and enables the first type of downlink subframes for sending NRS. The frame and the third type of downlink subframe meet a preset duty cycle in the first period.

It should be noted that in the second implementation manner and the subsequent third implementation manner, the second type of downlink subframes are not configured through pre-configuration or a method instructed by the base station, so the second implementation manner and the subsequent third implementation manner The default downlink subframe is the first type of downlink subframe.

FIG. 13 is a second flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 13, the method may include:

S1301. In a first period in the time domain, the base station sends NRSs on Q first-type downlink subframes.

Before the base station performs downlink transmission, Q first type downlink subframes for sending NRS are pre-configured, where Q is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. In the first period, the ratio of the sum of the total duration of the Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to the first preset duty cycle. Formulated as:

T ₃ represents the total duration of the Q first type downlink subframes, T ₂ represents the total duration of the third type downlink subframes, T _total represents the total duration of the first period, and D _{presupposition1} represents the first preset duty cycle. It should be noted that the first preset duty cycle may be 10%, and may also be 2.5% or 5%.

In addition, if the NRS is sent centrally in one or more consecutive first time units, the terminal device can only synchronize with the base station within the first time unit in which the NRS is sent centrally in the first cycle. The timing of synchronization less. In a possible implementation manner, the Q first downlink subframes may be discretely distributed in the first period. Specifically, the Q first downlink subframes may be evenly distributed in the first period. For example, the Q first-type downlink subframes may be discretely distributed in the Q first time units in the first period, and each of the Q first time units is a first-type downlink subframe in each of the first time units. Used to send NRS. Alternatively, the Q first-type downlink subframes may be discretely distributed in Q / 2 first time units in the first period, and the two first time units in each of the Q / 2 first time units One type of downlink subframe is used to send NRS. Alternatively, the Q first-type downlink subframes may be discretely distributed in Q / 4 first time units in the first period, and four fourth time units in each of the first time units in the Q / 4 first time units. One type of downlink subframe is used to send NRS. Therefore, it can be ensured that the terminal device can synchronize with the base station multiple times within 1280ms. In addition, because the first type of downlink subframes that send SIB1 must also send NRS at the same time, because SIB1 is discretely distributed within 1280 ms, the subframes that send NRS can reuse the transmission subframes of SIB1, reducing the duty cycle of NRS transmission. Improve the flexibility of base station scheduling resources.

Exemplarily, taking the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 as an example, the first cycle includes N first time units, and Q first type downlink subframes are distributed with index numbers being odd index numbers. Or within the first time unit of the even index number, or Q, the first type of downlink subframes are discretely distributed at the frame number index satisfying nFrame% 64 = 2,3,4,5,16,17,18,19,32, 33, 34, 35, 48, 49, 50 and 51 in the first time unit. Alternatively, the frame number index value within the fixed channel period can be represented by the frame number (nFrame_anchor) index within the fixed channel period. Then, the Q number of the first type of downlink subframes discretely distributed within the fixed channel period is 2. 3,4,5,16,17,18,19,32,33,34,35,48,49,50 and 51 in the first time unit.

The following uses the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 as an example to describe in detail how a first time unit including Q first type downlink subframes is distributed in a first period.

FIG. 14 is a fifth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided by an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first cycle is 1280ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20ms, the duration of the third time unit is 60ms, and the duration of the first time unit is 80ms. The first time unit includes 8 downlink subframes and 72 uplink subframes. frame. According to the index coding method of the first time unit shown in FIG. 3, within 1280ms, it can be sent on the first type of downlink subframes in the first time unit where the frame number index satisfies nFrame% 16 = 1, 3, ... 15. NRS. Of course, the NRS can also be sent on the first type of downlink subframes within the first time unit where the frame number index satisfies nFrame% 16 = 2,4, ... 14; or, the frame number index satisfies nFrame% 16 = 1,4 The NRS is transmitted on the first type of downlink subframes in the first time unit of 5, 8, 9, 12, and 13, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the NRS may be transmitted on all first-type downlink subframes in the first time unit when the index number meets the condition, or a part of the first-type downlink subframes in the first time unit when the index number meets the condition Send NRS on. For example, the NRS is sent on the first 4 first-type downlink subframes in the first time unit with the index number meeting the condition, or the last 4 first-type downlink subframes in the first time unit with the index number meeting the condition Send NRS on. The index number may also be referred to as a frame number index.

FIG. 15 is a sixth example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided by an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first period is 1280ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20ms, the duration of the third time unit is 20ms, the duration of the first time unit is 40ms, and the first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes and 36 uplink subframes. frame. According to the index coding method of the first time unit shown in FIG. 4, within 1280 ms, the NRS is transmitted on the first type of downlink subframes in the first time unit in which the frame number index satisfies nFrame% 32 = 1,3, ... 31 . Of course, the NRS may also be sent on the first type of downlink subframes within the first time unit where the frame number index satisfies nFrame% 32 = 2, 4, ... 30; or, the frame number index satisfies nFrame% 32 = 1 to 3 The NRS is transmitted on the first type of downlink subframes in the first time unit from 8 to 11, 16 to 19, and 24 to 27, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the NRS is transmitted on all the first type of downlink subframes in the first time unit where the frame number index meets the pre-configured condition =, or a part of the first time unit in the first time unit where the frame number index meets the pre-configured condition may be sent. NRS is transmitted on a type of downlink subframe. For example, the NRS is sent on the first two downlink subframes of the first type within the first time unit where the frame number index meets the pre-configured condition, or the last two on the first time unit where the frame number index meets the pre-configured condition NRS is sent on the first type of downlink subframe.

FIG. 16 is a seventh example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U provided by an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first period is 1280 ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20 ms, and the duration of the first time unit is 20 ms. The first time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 18 uplink subframes. According to the index coding method of the first time unit shown in FIG. 5, within 1280ms, the frame number index in the first time unit satisfies nFrame% 64 = 1, 3, ... 63 in the first type of downlink NRS is sent on the subframe. Of course, the NRS may also be sent on the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit where the frame number index of the first time unit satisfies nFrame% 64 being 2,4, ... 62; or, the frame of the first time unit The number index satisfies nFrame% 64 = 2 to 7, 16 to 23, 32 to 39, and 48 to 55 to send NRS on the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the NRS is transmitted on all first-type downlink subframes in the first time unit in which the frame number index meets the pre-configured condition, or a part of the first in the first time unit in which the frame number index meets the pre-configured condition NRS is transmitted on the downlink-like sub-frame. For example, the NRS is sent on the first downlink subframe of the first type within the first time unit where the frame number index satisfies the pre-configured condition, or the last 1 within the first time unit where the frame number index satisfies the pre-configured condition NRS is sent on the first type of downlink subframe.

FIG. 17 is an example of a frame structure of an NB-IoT-U according to an embodiment of the present application. The duration of the first period is 1280 ms, the duration of the second time unit is 20 ms, and the duration of the fourth time unit is 10 ms. The fourth time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 8 uplink subframes. It should be noted that when the uplink and downlink ratio of the fourth time unit is 2 downlink subframes and 8 uplink subframes, the duration of the second time unit is twice the duration of the fourth time unit. The two fourth time units serve as one first time unit, and the first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes and 16 uplink subframes. In this scenario, according to the index coding method of the first time unit shown in FIG. 6, within 1280ms, the index number in the first time unit is 2 to 5, 16 to 19, 32 to 35, 48 to 51. An NRS is transmitted on a first type of downlink subframe in a first time unit. Optionally, sending the NRS on the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit with the index number of the first time unit being 2-5, 16-19, 32-35, and 48-51 may occupy a part of the first The downlink-like sub-frame sends NRS. For example, if the corresponding index number is 2 to 5, 16 to 19, 32 to 35, or 48 to 51, NRS is sent on the first two first-type downlink subframes in the first time unit, or the corresponding index number is 2 NRSs are transmitted on the last two first type downlink subframes within the first time unit of ˜5, 16 to 19, 32 to 35, and 48 to 51. Alternatively, optionally, sending the NRS on the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit with the index number of the first time unit being 2 to 5, 16 to 19, 32 to 35, and 48 to 51 may occupy a part The first type of downlink subframe sends NRS. For example, if the corresponding index number is 2 to 5, 16 to 19, 32 to 35, or 48 to 51, the NRS is transmitted on the first and third downlink subframes of the first type in the first time unit, that is, the corresponding index is occupied. The NRS is sent on the first downlink subframe of each fourth time unit in the first time unit with the numbers 2 to 5, 16 to 19, 32 to 35, and 48 to 51.

S1302. In a first period in the time domain, the terminal device receives the NRS on Q first-type downlink subframes.

Compared with the first implementation manner, the second implementation manner described above is different in that:

In a first implementation manner, a second type of downlink subframe is pre-configured, that is, no downlink signal or data is sent on the second type of downlink subframe. NRSs are sent on other first type downlink subframes regardless of whether NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH are sent.

In the second implementable manner, the first type of downlink subframes that are pre-configured to send NRS has greater flexibility. Understandably, in addition to the first type of downlink subframes that send NRS, whether or not other types of downlink subframes send NRS depends on whether NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH are sent, that is, the first type of downlink subframes that send NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH NRS is transmitted on the frame, and NRS is not transmitted on the first type of downlink subframe that does not transmit NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH. At the same time, the preset duty cycle is guaranteed by the downlink resources actually scheduled by the base station, and it is not limited to meet the preset duty cycle requirement in 1280ms. For example, as long as the downlink resources scheduled by the base station can meet the preset duty cycle requirements within one hour, among them, the downlink resources scheduled by the base station within one hour may exceed the preset duty cycle, but another 1280 ms The downlink resources scheduled by the internal base station may be less than the preset duty cycle.

In the embodiment of the present application, a second preset duty cycle may be defined, and the second preset duty cycle is larger or smaller than the first preset duty cycle. The second preset duty cycle is the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes used only for sending NRS in the second period, the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes used for sending NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH, and the third The ratio of the sum of the total duration of the downlink-like subframes to the total duration of the second period. The second cycle can be one hour.

In addition to determining the first type of downlink subframes for sending NRS in the pre-configured manner described above, in a third implementation manner, the base station may send indication information to the terminal device to indicate that the first type of downlink subframes for sending NRS may be transmitted. For example, the first type of downlink subframe used for transmitting NRS is indicated by the system information. In the prior art, SIB1 may indicate which subframes are downlink subframes by sending a bitmap1 field, and the PDCCH and / or PDSCH may be transmitted on these downlink subframes. In the embodiment of the present application, a bitmap field 2 (bitmap2) may also be set in SIB1, and bitmap2 is used to indicate the first type of downlink subframe for sending NRS. The following describes how to use bitmap2 to indicate the first type of downlink subframe for sending NRS. Optionally, the length of bitmap2 may be greater than or equal to the number of the first type of downlink subframes in all the first time units in the first period (1280ms). When the length of bitmap2 is equal to the number of the first type of downlink subframes in all the first time units in the first period (1280ms), for example, in the frame structure of NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 3, the first period includes There are 15 first time units, each of which includes 8 first type downlink subframes, and the length of bitmap2 may be equal to 120. In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 4, the first cycle includes 31 first time units, and each first time unit includes 4 first type downlink subframes, and the length of the bitmap2 can be equal to 124. . In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 5, the first period includes 63 first time units, and each first time unit includes 2 first-type downlink subframes, and the length of the bitmap2 may be equal to 126. In the case where the length of bitmap2 is greater than the number of downlink subframes of the first type in all first time units in the first period (1280ms), the length of bitmap2 may be greater than the first in all first time units in the first period (1280ms) The number of class-like downlink subframes is closest to the integer power of two. For example, in the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the length of bitmap2 is 128. Optionally, if the length of bitmap2 is greater than the number of first-type downlink subframes in all first time units in the first period (1280ms), bitmap2 includes the bits of all subframes in the first period (1280ms) .

Understandably, when the length of bitmap2 is equal to the number of first-type downlink subframes in all first time units in the first period (1280ms), one bit in bitmap2 may correspond to one first time unit in the first period. One of the first type of downlink subframes. For example, counting from the far left, the first bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first type 1 downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first period, and so on, the second bit in bitmap2 Corresponds to the second first type downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first period.

Optionally, the length of bitmap2 is greater than the number of downlink subframes of the first type in all first time units in the first period (1280ms) and the fields in bitmap2 do not include the indication of the first time unit in the first period (1280ms) The bit length of the uplink subframe, that is, the length of bitmap2 is 128. For the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U as shown in FIG. 3, from the leftmost number, a bit after ignoring the first 8 bits can correspond to a first type in a first time unit in the first cycle Downlink subframe. For example, counting from the left, the ninth bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first type 1 downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first cycle, and so on, the tenth bit in bitmap2 Corresponds to the second first type downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first period. For the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U as shown in Figure 4, from the leftmost number, one bit after ignoring the first four bits can correspond to a first type in a first time unit in the first cycle Downlink subframe. For example, counting from the far left, the fifth bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first type 1 downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first cycle, and so on, the sixth bit in bitmap2 Corresponds to the second first type downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first period. For the frame structure of NB-IoT-U as shown in Figure 5, from the leftmost number, one bit after ignoring the first two bits can correspond to a first type in a first time unit in the first cycle Downlink subframe. For example, counting from the left, the third bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first type 1 downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first cycle, and so on, the fourth bit in bitmap2 Corresponds to the second first type downlink subframe in the first first time unit in the first period.

In addition, optionally, if the length of bitmap2 is greater than the number of downlink subframes of the first type in all the first time units in the first period (1280ms), bitmap2 includes the number of all subframes in the first period (1280ms). Bits. That is, each bit in bitmap2 corresponds to a subframe in the first period. In actual configuration, the bits corresponding to the uplink subframes in the second time unit, the third time unit, and all the first time units are indicated as invalid downlink subframes or in a manner that the NRS is not sent.

In addition, the bit value in bitmap2 can be 1 or 0. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 1, it indicates that the first type of downlink subframe at the corresponding position in the first period is used to send NRS. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 0, it indicates that the first type of downlink subframe at the corresponding position in the first period does not send NRS. Of course, when the bit value in bitmap2 is 1, it may also indicate that the first type of downlink subframe at the corresponding position in the first period is used to not send NRS. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 0, it may also indicate that the first type of downlink subframe corresponding to the same position in the first cycle sends NRS. The embodiment of the present application illustrates the bit value value in the bitmap2 only by way of example, and is not limited thereto. For ease of description, hereinafter, when the bit value in bitmap2 is assumed to be 1, the first type of downlink subframe corresponding to the corresponding position in the first period is used to send NRS. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 0, it indicates that the first type of downlink subframe at the corresponding position in the first period does not send NRS.

It should be noted that when the bits in bitmap2 indicate that the first type of downlink subframes of the corresponding position in the first period do not send NRS, it can also be understood as whether the first type of downlink subframes of the corresponding position in the first period send NRS. It is determined according to whether to send the NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH, that is, when the NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH are transmitted in the first type of downlink subframes at corresponding positions in the first period, the NRS in the first type of downlink subframes at the corresponding positions in the first period are transmitted. When the NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH are not transmitted in the first type of downlink subframes at the corresponding positions in the first period, the NRS are not transmitted in the first type of downlink subframes at the corresponding positions in the first period.

In addition, the first type of downlink subframes for sending NRS corresponding to a value of 1 in the bitmap2 field may be the same or partially the same as the first type of downlink subframes for sending NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH corresponding to bitmap1; or, in the bitmap2 field The first type of downlink subframes for sending NRS corresponding to the value 1 is a subset of the first type of downlink subframes corresponding to the value 1 in the bitmap1 field.

The following uses the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 as an example to describe in detail how to use bitmap2 to instruct the first type of downlink subframes to send NRS.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 3, there are 15 first time units in 1280ms, and each first time unit includes 8 downlink subframes, that is, there are 120 first types in 1280ms. Downlink subframe. For the sake of simplicity, if the length of bitmap2 is 120, it means that the period indicated by bitmap2 is 1280ms, and one bit corresponds to a first-type downlink subframe in a first time unit within 1280ms. Further, for the convenience of base station and terminal equipment processing, the bitmap2 length can be configured as 128 bits. According to the frame number index coding method shown in FIG. 3, from the leftmost number, the terminal device ignores the first bit to the eighth bit in bitmap2, and the ninth bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the frame number satisfying nFrame% 16 The first downlink subframe of the first type in the first time unit of = 1, and so on. The 128th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the 8th bit in the first time unit of the first time unit that satisfies nFrame% 16 = 15. A type of downlink subframe. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of 0 from the first 8 bits of the leftmost digit is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation. Or, as shown in FIG. 3, from the leftmost number, the first to eighth bits in bitmap2 are ignored, and the ninth bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first in the first first time unit The first type of downlink subframe, and so on, and so on. The 128th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the 8th type of downlink subframe in the 15th first time unit. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of 0 from the first 8 bits of the leftmost digit is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation.

In the following, for simple description, the first bit of bitmap2 refers to the first bit from the left. For example, if bitmap2 is 10000, the first bit of bitmap2 is 1.

In addition, when explaining the period indicated by bitmap2, the default boundary of the 1280ms period is aligned with the left boundary of the fixed segment, and when the period indicated by bitmap2 is 640ms, the 1280ms contains two 640ms, of which the first 640ms boundary and the fixed segment The left border is aligned. When the period indicated by bitmap2 is 320ms, four 320ms are included in 1280ms, and the first 320ms boundary is aligned with the left boundary of the fixed segment. When the period indicated by bitmap2 is 160ms, eight 320ms are included in 1280ms, of which the first The 160ms boundary is aligned with the left boundary of the fixed segment, and so on, and it will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the length of bitmap2 can also be 64, which indicates that the period indicated by bitmap2 is 640ms. The corresponding value of bitmap2 in each 640ms is the same, but for the first 640ms, the terminal device can ignore the first bit to the first. 8 bits. Obviously, the bitmap2 bit length can also be 32, 16, or 8, or even 2. If the length of bitmap2 is 8, it is equivalent to dividing the 1280ms period into 16 parts, each with a length of 80ms. The indication period of bitmap2 is 80ms, and the value of corresponding bitmap2 in each 80ms is the same, but for the first 80ms, the terminal device can ignore the first bit to the eighth bit.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 4, there are 31 first time units in 1280ms, and each first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes, that is, there are 124 first types in 1280ms. Downlink subframe. For simplicity, if the length of bitmap2 is 124, it means that the period indicated by bitmap2 is 1280ms, and one bit corresponds to a first-type downlink subframe in a first time unit within 1280ms. Further, for the convenience of processing by the base station and the terminal device, the length of the bitmap2 can also be configured as 128 bits. According to the frame number index coding method shown in FIG. 4, from the leftmost number, the terminal device ignores the first bit to the fourth bit in bitmap2, and the corresponding frame number of the fifth bit in bitmap2 satisfies nFrame% 32 The first downlink subframe of the first type in the first time unit of = 1, and so on. The 128th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the fourth frame in the first time unit of the nframe% 32 = 31. A type of downlink subframe. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of 0 from the first 4 bits of the leftmost digit is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, from the leftmost number, the first bit to the fourth bit in bitmap2 are ignored, and the fifth bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first in the first first time unit The first type of downlink subframe, and so on, and so on. The 128th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the fourth first type of downlink subframe in the 31st first time unit. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of 0 from the first 4 bits of the leftmost digit is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation.

Optionally, the length of bitmap2 can also be 64, which indicates that the period indicated by bitmap2 is 640ms. The corresponding value of bitmap2 in each 640ms is the same, but for the first 640ms, the terminal device can ignore the first bit to the first. 4 bits.

Obviously, the bitmap2 bit length can also be 32, 16, or 8, or even 2. If the length of bitmap2 is 8, it is equivalent to dividing the 1280ms period into 16 parts, each with a length of 80ms. The indication period of bitmap2 is 80ms, and the corresponding value of bitmap2 in each 80ms is the same, but for the first 80ms, the terminal device can ignore the first bit to the fourth bit.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 5, there are 63 first time units in 1280ms, and each first time unit includes 2 downlink subframes, that is, there are 126 first types in 1280ms. Downlink subframe. For simplicity, if the length of bitmap2 is 126, it means that the period indicated by bitmap2 is 1280ms, and one bit corresponds to a first-type downlink subframe in a first time unit within 1280ms. Further, for the convenience of processing by the base station and the terminal device, the length of the bitmap2 can also be configured as 128 bits. According to the frame number index coding method shown in FIG. 5, from the leftmost number, the terminal device ignores the first bit to the second bit in bitmap2, and the corresponding bit number of the third bit in bitmap2 satisfies nFrame% 64 The first first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit of = 1, and so on, and the 128th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the frame number that satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63. A type of downlink subframe. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of the first two bits from the leftmost number is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation. Or, as shown in FIG. 5, from the leftmost number, the first bit to the second bit in bitmap2 are ignored, and the third bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first in the first first time unit The first type of downlink subframe, and so on, and so on. The 128th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the second first type of downlink subframe in the 63rd first time unit. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of the first two bits from the leftmost number is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation.

Optionally, the length of bitmap2 can also be 64, which indicates that the period indicated by bitmap2 is 640ms. The corresponding value of bitmap2 in each 640ms is the same, but for the first 640ms, the terminal device can ignore the first bit to the first. It is obvious that 2 bits, the bitmap2 bit length can also be 32, 16, or 8, or even 2. If the length of bitmap2 is 8, it is equivalent to dividing the 1280ms period into 16 parts, each with a length of 80ms. The indication period of bitmap2 is 80ms, and the value of corresponding bitmap2 in each 80ms is the same, but for the first 80ms, the terminal device can ignore the first bit to the second bit.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 6, there are 63 first time units in 1280ms, and each first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes, that is, 252 first types in 1280ms. Downlink subframe. For simplicity, if the length of bitmap2 is 252, it means that the period indicated by bitmap2 is 1280ms, and one bit corresponds to a first-type downlink subframe in a first time unit within 1280ms. Further, for the convenience of processing by the base station and the terminal device, the length of the bitmap2 can also be configured as 256 bits. According to the frame number index coding method shown in FIG. 5, from the leftmost number, the terminal device ignores the first bit to the fourth bit in bitmap2, and the corresponding frame number of the fifth bit in bitmap2 satisfies nFrame% 64 The first downlink subframe of the first type in the first time unit of = 1, and so on. The 256th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the frame number of the first time unit that satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63. A type of downlink subframe. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of 0 from the first two bits of the leftmost number is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, from the leftmost number, the first bit to the fourth bit in bitmap2 are ignored, and the fifth bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first in the first first time unit The first type of downlink subframe, and so on, and so on. The 256th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the fourth first type of downlink subframe in the 63rd first time unit. Among the bits of bitmap2, the value of 0 from the first 4 bits of the leftmost digit is 0, and the value of the bit corresponding to the first type of downlink subframe in the first time unit may be determined according to the actual situation.

In addition, if 2D + 8U + 2D + 8U is applied to multiple carriers, referring to the first implementation, the number of downlink subframes actually used to send downlinks on different carriers is the same as 2D + 18U, so the use of bitmap2 For different carriers, it is sufficient to directly ignore the downlink subframes disabled by this carrier. At this time, for the downlink subframes disabled by this carrier, bitmap2 does not need to be separately indicated, that is, the bit in the bitmap2 field does not instruct to disable. Capable subframes.

Manner 2: The length of the bitmap2 may be greater than or equal to the number of the first time unit in the first period (1280ms). When the length of bitmap2 is equal to the number of first time units in the first period (1280ms), for example, in the frame structure of NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 3, the first period includes 15 first time units, The length of bitmap2 can be equal to 15. In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 4, the first cycle includes 31 first time units, and the length of the bitmap2 may be equal to 31. In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 5, the first period includes 63 first time units, and the length of the bitmap 2 may be equal to 63. Understandably, a bit in bitmap2 may correspond to a first time unit in a first period. For example, the first bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first first time unit in the first cycle, and so on, and the second bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the second first time unit in the first cycle.

When the length of bitmap2 is greater than the number of all first time units in the first period (1280ms), for example, in the frame structure of NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 3, the length of bitmap2 may be equal to 16. In the frame structure of NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 4, the length of bitmap2 may be equal to 32. In the frame structure of NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 5, the length of bitmap2 may be equal to 64.

Understandably, a bit in bitmap2 may correspond to a first time unit in a first period. For example, in the frame structure of NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, the terminal ignores the first bit of bitmap2, and the second bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first first time unit in the first cycle , And so on, the third bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the second first time unit in the first period.

In addition, the bit value in bitmap2 can be 1 or 0. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 1, it indicates that all first-type downlink subframes included in the corresponding first time unit in the first cycle are used to send NRS. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 0, it indicates that whether all the first type downlink subframes included in the corresponding first time unit in the first period sends NRS depends on whether the downlink subframe sends NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH. If NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH are transmitted, NRS is transmitted, and if NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH are not transmitted, NRS is not transmitted. Of course, when the bit value in bitmap2 is 1, it can also indicate that whether all the first type downlink subframes included in the corresponding first time unit in the first cycle sends NRS depends on whether the downlink subframe sends NPDCCH and / Or NPDSCH. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 0, it may also indicate that all first-type downlink subframes included in the corresponding first time unit in the first cycle are used to send NRS. The embodiment of the present application illustrates the bit value value in the bitmap2 only by way of example, and is not limited thereto. For ease of description, in the following, when the bit value in bitmap2 is set to 1, it means that all first-type downlink subframes included in the corresponding first time unit in the first cycle are used to send NRS. When the bit value in bitmap2 is 0, it indicates that whether all the first type downlink subframes included in the corresponding first time unit in the first cycle sends NRS depends on whether the downlink subframe sends NPDCCH and / or NPDSCH.

The following uses the NB-IoT-U frame structure shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 as an example to describe in detail how to use bitmap2 to indicate the first time unit for sending NRS.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 3, there are 15 first time units in 1280ms, and the length of bitmap2 is 15. In Figure 3, the first bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit where the frame number satisfies nFrame% 16 = 1, and so on, and the 15th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 16 = 15. Time unit. Of course, the length of bitmap2 can also be 16. The terminal ignores the first bit in bitmap2. The second bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 16 = 1, and so on. The 16th bit corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 16 = 15.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 4, there are 31 first time units in 1280 ms, and the length of the bitmap 2 is 31. In Figure 4, the first bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 32 = 1, and so on, and so on. The 31st bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 32 = 31. Time unit. Of course, the length of bitmap2 can also be 32. The terminal ignores the first bit in bitmap2. The second bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 32 = 1, and so on. The 32nd bit corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 32 = 31.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 5, there are 63 first time units in 1280 ms, and the length of the bitmap 2 is 63. In FIG. 5, the first bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit where the frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 1, and so on, and so on. The 63rd bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63. Time unit. Of course, the length of bitmap2 can also be 64. The terminal ignores the first bit in bitmap2. The second bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 1, and so on. The 64th bit corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63.

In the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 6, there are 63 first time units in 1280 ms, and the length of the bitmap 2 is 63. In Figure 6, the first bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit where the frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 1, and so on, and so on. The 63rd bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63. Time unit. Of course, the length of bitmap2 can also be 64. The terminal ignores the first bit in bitmap2. The second bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 1, and so on. The 64th bit corresponds to the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63.

Optionally, in the frame structure of the NB-IoT-U shown in FIG. 6, there are 126 fourth time units in 1280ms. The length of bitmap2 may be 126, and each first time unit includes two fourth time units. unit. In Figure 6, the first bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the frame number of nFrame% 64 = 1, the first fourth time unit in the first time unit, and the second bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the frame number of nFrame% 64. = 1 The second fourth time unit in the first time unit, and so on. The 126th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the second fourth time unit in the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63. . Of course, the length of bitmap2 can also be 128. The terminal ignores the first bit and the second bit in bitmap2, and the third bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the frame number of the first time unit that satisfies nFrame% 64 = 1. A fourth time unit, and so on, the 128th bit in bitmap2 corresponds to the second fourth time unit of the first time unit whose frame number satisfies nFrame% 64 = 63.

In the foregoing embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of a base station, a terminal device, and an interaction between the base station and the terminal device, respectively. It can be understood that, in order to implement each function in the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, each network element, such as a base station and a terminal device, includes a hardware structure and / or a software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is performed by hardware or computer software-driven hardware depends on the specific application of the technical solution and design constraints. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

In the embodiment of the present application, functional modules may be divided into base stations and terminal devices according to the foregoing method examples. For example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be another division manner.

In the case where each functional module is divided corresponding to each function, FIG. 18 shows a possible composition diagram of the communication device involved in the foregoing and embodiments. The communication device can execute any method in each method embodiment of the present application. Steps performed by the base station or terminal device in the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 18, the communication device is a terminal device or a communication device that supports the terminal device to implement the method provided in the embodiment. For example, the communication device may be a chip system, or the communication device is implemented by a base station or a base station. The communication device of the method provided in the example, for example, the communication device may be a chip system. The communication device may include a sending unit 1801 and a receiving unit 1802.

The sending unit 1801 is configured to support a communication device to execute the method described in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the sending unit 1801 is configured to execute or support a communication device to perform S701 in the communication method shown in FIG. 7 and S1301 in the communication method shown in FIG. 13.

The receiving unit 1802 is configured to execute or support a communication device to perform S702 in the communication method shown in FIG. 7 and S1302 in the communication method shown in FIG. 13.

In the embodiment of the present application, further, as shown in FIG. 18, the communication device may further include a processing unit 1803.

It should be noted that all relevant content of each step involved in the foregoing method embodiments can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and will not be repeated here.

The communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application is configured to execute the method in any of the foregoing embodiments, and thus can achieve the same effect as the method in the foregoing embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 19, a communication device 1900 provided by an embodiment of the present application is used to implement the function of a base station in the foregoing method. The communication device 1900 may be a base station or a device in the base station. The communication device 1900 may be a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices. Alternatively, the communication device 1900 is configured to implement a function of a terminal device in the foregoing method. The communication device 1900 may be a terminal device or a device in the terminal device. The communication device 1900 may be a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

The communication device 1900 includes at least one processor 1901, and is configured to implement a function of a base station or a terminal device in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the processor 1901 may be used to process downlink data and the like. For details, refer to the detailed description in the method example, and details are not described herein.

The communication device 1900 may further include at least one memory 1902 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1902 and the processor 1901 are coupled. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be electrical, mechanical or other forms for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 1901 may operate in cooperation with the memory 1902. The processor 1901 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1902. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in a processor.

The communication device 1900 may further include a communication interface 1903 for communicating with other devices through a transmission medium, so that the devices used in the communication device 1900 may communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, if the communication device is a base station, the other device is a terminal device. If the communication device is a terminal device, the other device is a base station. The processor 1901 uses the communication interface 1903 to send and receive data, and is used to implement the method performed by the base station or terminal device described in the embodiments corresponding to FIG. 7 and FIG. 13. For example, the communication interface 1903 is used to execute S701 in the communication method shown in FIG. 7 and S1301 in the communication method shown in FIG. 13. Alternatively, the communication interface 1903 is used to execute S702 in the communication method shown in FIG. 7 and S1302 in the communication method shown in FIG. 13.

The embodiment of the present application is not limited to a specific connection medium between the communication interface 1903, the processor 1901, and the memory 1902. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication interface 1903, the processor 1901, and the memory 1902 are connected by a bus 1904 in FIG. 19, and the bus is indicated by a thick line in FIG. 19. The connection modes between other components are only schematically illustrated. It is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 19, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, which may implement or The disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application are executed. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be performed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., and may also be a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as Random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data. The terminal device involved in the embodiment of the present application may be a smart phone shown in FIG. 8. The base station involved in this embodiment of the present application may be the base station shown in FIG. 9.

Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, only the division of the above functional modules is used as an example. In practical applications, the above functions can be allocated as required. Completed by different functional modules, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the modules or units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be another division manner. For example, multiple units or components may be divided. The combination can either be integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not implemented. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which may be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may be one physical unit or multiple physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple different places. . Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the objective of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist separately physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional unit.

The methods provided in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present invention are wholly or partially generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a terminal, or another programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be from a website site, computer, server, or data center Transmission by wire (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) to another website site, computer, server, or data center. 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, a data center, and the like that includes one or more available medium integration. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (for example, an SSD).

The above description is only a specific implementation of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited to this. Any changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall be covered by the scope of protection of this application. . Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A communication method, wherein the method is applied to a base station or a chip of a base station, and the method includes:

In a first period in the time domain, a narrowband physical downlink shared channel NPDSCH or / and a narrowband physical downlink control channel NPDCCH is sent on a downlink subframe, and the downlink subframe includes a first type of downlink subframe and a second type of downlink subframe. Frame, the first type of downlink subframe is a downlink subframe used for downlink transmission, and the second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe, wherein:
T 1 represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes where NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is transmitted, T 2 represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T total represents the total duration of the first period, and D presupposition represents A preset duty cycle, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
A communication method, wherein the method is applied to a terminal device or a chip of a terminal device, and the method includes:

In the first period in the time domain, a narrowband physical downlink shared channel NPDSCH or / and a narrowband physical downlink control channel NPDCCH is received on a downlink subframe, the downlink subframe includes a first type of downlink subframe and a second type of downlink subframe Frame, the first type of downlink subframe is a downlink subframe used for downlink transmission, and the second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe, wherein:
T 1 represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes where NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is transmitted, T 2 represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T total represents the total duration of the first period, and D presupposition represents A preset duty cycle, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second type of downlink subframes are discretely distributed in the first period.
The communication method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first period includes M first time units including the first type of downlink subframes and P number includes the second period In the first time unit of the downlink subframe, M is greater than 0 and less than N, and the sum of M and P is greater than or equal to N. N represents the total number of the first time units in the first period, and P is greater than 0 and less than N, N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.
The communication method according to claim 4, wherein the sum of M and P is equal to N, and P includes all of the first time units in the first time unit of the second type of downlink subframes. The downlink subframes are all disabled downlink subframes.
The communication method according to claim 4, wherein the sum of M and P is greater than N, and at least one of the P time units including the first type of downlink subframes of the second type includes the first time unit One type of downlink subframe and the second type of downlink subframe.
The communication method according to claim 5, wherein the duration of the first period is 1280 milliseconds, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit, and the second time unit The duration is 20ms, the duration of the first time unit is 40ms, the first time unit includes 4 downlink subframes and 36 uplink subframes, and the duration of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes is The frame number index nFrame satisfies nFrame% 40 = 7,14,21,28.
The communication method according to claim 5, wherein the duration of the first period is 1280ms, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit, and the duration of the second time unit 20 ms, the duration of the first time unit is 20 ms, the first time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 18 uplink subframes, and the frame number of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes The index satisfies nFrame% 20 = 7,14,21,28,35,42,49,56,63.
The communication method according to claim 5, wherein the duration of the first period is 1280ms, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit, and the duration of the second time unit 20 ms, the duration of the first time unit is 20 ms, the first time unit includes 2 downlink subframes and 18 uplink subframes, and the frame number of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes The index satisfies nFrame% 20 = 1,8,16,24,32,40,48,56,63.
The communication method according to claim 6, wherein the duration of the first period is 1280ms, and the starting position of 1280ms is the same as the starting position of the second time unit, and the duration of the second time unit 20 ms, the duration of the first time unit is 80 ms, the first time unit includes 8 downlink subframes and 72 uplink subframes, and the frame number of the first time unit including the second type of downlink subframes The index satisfies nFrame% 80 = 7,14.
The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein all first-type downlink subframes in the first period are used to send a narrowband reference signal NRS.
A communication method, wherein the method is applied to a base station or a chip of a base station, and the method includes:

In the first period in the time domain, a narrowband reference signal NRS is sent on Q first type downlink subframes, where the first type of downlink subframes are downlink subframes used for downlink transmission, where Q is greater than or A positive integer equal to 1, the ratio of the sum of the total duration of the Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to a preset duty cycle The third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
A communication method, wherein the method is applied to a terminal device or a chip of a terminal device, and the method includes:

In the first period in the time domain, narrowband reference signals NRS are received on Q first type downlink subframes, where the first type of downlink subframes are downlink subframes used for downlink transmission, where Q is greater than or A positive integer equal to 1, the ratio of the sum of the total duration of the Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to a preset duty cycle The third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
The communication method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the Q first-type downlink subframes are discretely distributed in the first period.
The communication method according to claim 14, wherein the first period includes N first time units, and the Q first type downlink subframes are discretely distributed in the first period, and specifically include:

The Q first-type downlink subframes are discretely distributed in the first time unit with an index number of 2-5, 16-19, 32-35, 48-51.
The communication method according to claim 14, wherein the first period includes N first time units, and the Q first type downlink subframes are evenly distributed in the first period, and specifically include:

The Q first-type downlink subframes are evenly distributed in the first time unit whose index number is an odd index number or an even index number.
The communication method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein before the sending the narrowband reference signal NRS on the Q first-type downlink subframes, the method further comprises:

Send system information, where the system information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first type of downlink subframe for transmitting an NRS.
The communication method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein before the sending the narrowband reference signal NRS on the Q first-type downlink subframes, the method further comprises:

Send system information, where the system information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first time unit for sending an NRS.
The communication method according to claim 17, wherein the first indication information is a bitmap indication, and the length of the bitmap is greater than or equal to the number of downlink subframes in all first time units in the period indicated by the bitmap, one in the bitmap The bits correspond to one downlink subframe of one of the first time units in a period indicated by the bitmap.
The communication method according to claim 18, wherein the first indication information is a bitmap indication, the length of the bitmap is greater than or equal to the number of first time units in a period indicated by the bitmap, and each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a bit One of the first time units in the cycle indicated by the graph.
The communication method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein a period indicated by the bitmap is equal to a first period length.
A communication device is characterized in that the communication device is a base station or a chip of a base station, and the communication device includes:

A sending unit, configured to send a narrowband physical downlink shared channel NPDSCH or / and a narrowband physical downlink control channel NPDCCH on a downlink subframe in a first period in the time domain, where the downlink subframe includes a first type of downlink subframe and A second type of downlink subframe, the first type of downlink subframe is a downlink subframe used for downlink transmission, and the second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe, where:
T 1 represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes where NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is transmitted, T 2 represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T total represents the total duration of the first period, and D presupposition represents A preset duty cycle, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
A communication device, wherein the communication device is a terminal device or a chip of a terminal device, and the communication device includes:

A receiving unit, configured to receive a narrowband physical downlink shared channel NPDSCH or / and a narrowband physical downlink control channel NPDCCH in a downlink subframe in a first period in the time domain, where the downlink subframe includes a first type of downlink subframe and A second type of downlink subframe, the first type of downlink subframe is a downlink subframe used for downlink transmission, and the second type of downlink subframe is an invalid downlink subframe, where:
T 1 represents the total duration of the first type of downlink subframes where NPDSCH or / and NPDCCH is transmitted, T 2 represents the total duration of the third type of downlink subframes, T total represents the total duration of the first period, and D presupposition represents A preset duty cycle, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
A communication device is characterized in that the communication device is a base station or a chip of a base station, and the communication device includes:

A sending unit, configured to send a narrowband reference signal NRS on Q first-type downlink subframes in a first period in the time domain, where the first-type downlink subframes are downlink subframes for downlink transmission, where , Q is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and the ratio of the sum of the total duration of the Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to A preset duty cycle, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
A communication device, wherein the communication device is a terminal device or a chip of a terminal device, and the communication device includes:

A receiving unit, configured to receive a narrowband reference signal NRS on Q first type downlink subframes in a first period in the time domain, where the first type downlink subframes are downlink subframes used for downlink transmission, where , Q is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and the ratio of the sum of the total duration of the Q first type downlink subframes and the total duration of the third type downlink subframes to the total duration of the first period is less than or equal to A preset duty cycle, the third type of downlink subframe is used to send a narrowband primary synchronization signal NPSS, a narrowband secondary synchronization signal NSSS, and a narrowband physical downlink broadcast channel NPBCH.
A base station, comprising: at least one processor and a memory,

The memory is configured to store a computer program, so that the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, implements the communication method according to any one of claims 1, 3-11, or, as claimed in claims 12, 14 The communication method according to any of -21.
A terminal device, comprising: at least one processor and a memory,

The memory is configured to store a computer program, so that the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, implements the communication method according to any one of claims 2, 3-11, or, as claimed in claims 13, 14 The communication method according to any of -21.
A computer storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that when the program is executed by a processor, the communication method according to any one of claims 1, 3-11 is implemented, or, as claimed in claim 12 The communication method according to any one of claims 14 to 21, or the communication method according to any one of claims 2, 3 to 11, or the communication method according to any one of claims 13, 14 to 21 Communication method.
A computer program product containing instructions, wherein when the computer program product is run in a base station or a chip built in the base station, the base station is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1, 3-11. A communication method according to any one of claims 12, 14-21, or a communication method according to any one of claims 2, 3-11, or The communication method according to any one of 14 and 21.