WO2022179388A1

WO2022179388A1 - Reference signal availability indication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2022179388A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/075210
Authority: WO
Inventors: 薛祎凡; 薛丽霞
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-02-24
Filing date: 2022-01-30
Publication date: 2022-09-01
Also published as: CN114980318A

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a reference signal availability indication method and a communication device. The method comprises: a terminal device receives a system message sent by a network device, the system message being configured to configure an indication period for availability of a reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period being a time length corresponding to one or more paging periods, wherein the reference signal is configured by the network device by means of the system message; the terminal device receives first indication information sent by the network device on the basis of the indication period, the first indication information indicating availability of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period. On the basis of the method described in the present application, a network device does not need to send indication signaling for indicating availability of a reference signal at each paging period, so that the overhead of the indication signaling used for indicating the availability of the reference signal is reduced.

Description

A kind of indication method and communication device of reference signal availability

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202110206173.9 and the application name "A method of indicating a reference signal", which was filed with the China Patent Office on February 24, 2021, and is required to be filed in China on March 29, 2021 Patent Office, application No. 202110333533.1, and the title of the Chinese patent application entitled "A Method for Indicating the Availability of a Reference Signal and a Communication Device" is the priority of the Chinese patent application, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

technical field

The present application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a method and a communication device for indicating the availability of a reference signal.

Background technique

In long term evolution (LTE) and new radio (NR), a reference signal (RS) can be used for various purposes. For example, it is used for automatic gain control (automatic gain control, AGC) adjustment, time-frequency synchronization, and beam measurement for user equipment (UE). In LTE, a cell-level reference signal is a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), which exists in each downlink subframe. In NR, in order to reduce the resource overhead of the network, the introduction of too many cell-level reference signals is avoided from the beginning of the design. The finally determined cell-level reference signals are sent in a synchronization signal block (SSB). Wherein, each SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (primary synchronization signal, PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (secondary synchronization signal, SSS).

The UE is in the disconnected state (including the idle state and the inactive state), and will receive paging periodically. Before the UE receives paging, in order to ensure that the paging reception performance is good enough, it needs to perform AGC adjustment, time-frequency synchronization, etc. in advance. As mentioned earlier, these tasks require reference signals sent by network equipment. As shown in Figure 1, in LTE, there is a CRS for each subframe. Assuming that the UE needs to measure 2 CRSs to complete AGC adjustment, time-frequency synchronization, etc., the UE only needs to wake up a short time in advance (for example, 2ms). As shown in Figure 1, in NR, the SSB period is relatively large. It is assumed that the UE needs to measure 2 SSBs to complete AGC adjustment, time-frequency synchronization, etc. The UE needs to wake up a long time in advance (eg 30ms). At this time, the sleep time of the UE is shortened, which will lead to waste of power consumption of the UE.

In order to solve this problem, the configuration of some assistance reference signals (assistance RS) can be sent through the system information of the network device. If the positions of these auxiliary reference signals are close enough to the paging occasion (PO), the above-mentioned problems caused by the design of the SSB can be solved. In order to avoid increasing the burden on the network equipment, these auxiliary reference signals are not guaranteed to be sent all the time, so the network equipment needs to indicate the availability of the auxiliary reference signals. How to reduce the overhead of the indication signaling indicating the availability of the auxiliary reference signal is an urgent problem to be solved at present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application provides a method and a communication device for indicating availability of reference signals, which are beneficial to reduce the overhead of indication signaling indicating availability of reference signals.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for indicating availability of reference signals, the method comprising: a terminal device receiving a system message sent by a network device, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of reference signals (availability), the indication The time length corresponding to the cycle is the time length corresponding to one or more paging cycles, wherein the reference signal is configured by the network device through system messages; the terminal device receives the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication cycle, and the first indication information is sent by the network device based on the indication cycle. An indication message indicates the availability of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period.

Based on the method described in the first aspect, the network device does not need to send indication signaling for indicating the availability of reference signals in every paging cycle. It is beneficial to reduce the overhead of the indication signaling for indicating the availability of the reference signal.

In a possible implementation, the specific implementation of the terminal device receiving the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period is as follows: the terminal device receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, and the first DCI Including first indication information, the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The terminal device can also receive a second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; The number of bits included in the first DCI is greater than the number of bits included in the second DCI.

In this possible implementation manner, by making the number of bits of the first DCI larger than the number of bits of the second DCI, it is beneficial to save the signaling overhead of the second DCI.

The terminal device can also receive a second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bit in the second DCI is used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the bit position of the target bit in the second DCI It is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.

In this possible implementation, by using the target bits in the second DCI to indicate other information than the availability of the reference signal, the second DCI can be made to indicate more information.

In a possible implementation, the specific implementation of the terminal device receiving the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period is as follows: the terminal device receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, and the first DCI Including first indication information, the first DCI is located in the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the first PO;

The terminal device can also receive a second DCI sent by the network device, where the second DCI is located in the second PO, the second DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bit in the second DCI is used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the target bit is in the second DCI. The position is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.

In one possible implementation, other information than the availability of reference signals includes paging packet information.

In this possible implementation manner, by using the target bits in the second DCI to indicate the paging group information, the paging group can be more finely divided in the second DCI, and the paging group can be more finely indicated. The terminal equipment is used, which reduces the probability that the terminal equipment receives the paging DCI and/or the paging message, which is beneficial to save the power consumption of the terminal equipment.

In a possible implementation, the paging cycle is a cell-specific paging cycle. Since the reference signal is sent by the network device in a broadcast manner, the indication period for the availability of the reference signal should also be the same for all terminal devices in the cell. Therefore, it is simple, easy, and reasonable that the paging cycle is a cell-specific paging cycle.

In a possible implementation, the first indication information indicates the availability of all reference signals configured by the system message within a time length corresponding to an indication period; Availability of reference signals associated with the device's PO.

In this possible implementation, by making the first indication information only indicate the availability of the reference signal associated with the PO of the terminal device, it is beneficial to save the overhead of indication signaling.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a method for indicating the availability of reference signals. The method includes: a network device sends a system message, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of reference signals, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is one The time length corresponding to or multiple paging cycles, wherein the reference signal is configured by the network device through a system message; the network device sends first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication cycle, where the first indication information indicates the time corresponding to the indication cycle Availability of reference signals within the length.

In a possible implementation, the specific implementation of the network device sending the first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period is as follows: the network device sends the first downlink control information DCI to the terminal device based on the indication period, where the first DCI includes the first downlink control information DCI. an indication message, the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The network device may also send a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; wherein , the number of bits included in the first DCI is greater than the number of bits included in the second DCI.

The network device may also send a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; wherein , the number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bit in the second DCI is used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the bit position of the target bit in the second DCI is the same as that of the second DCI. The bit positions of the first indication information in the first DCI are the same.

In a possible implementation, the specific implementation of the network device sending the first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period is as follows: the network device sends the first downlink control information DCI to the terminal device based on the indication period, where the first DCI includes the first downlink control information DCI. an indication message, the first DCI is located in the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the first PO;

The network device may also send a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located in the second PO, the second DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; wherein , the number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the bit position of the target bits in the second DCI is the same as the number of bits included in the second DCI. The bit positions of the indication information in the first DCI are the same.

In a possible implementation, the paging cycle is a cell-specific paging cycle.

In a possible implementation, the first indication information indicates the availability of all reference signals configured within a time length corresponding to one indication period; Availability of reference signals associated with the PO.

The first aspect and the second aspect are based on the same inventive concept, and the beneficial effects of the second aspect can be found in the beneficial effects of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a method for indicating availability of reference signals, the method includes: a terminal device receives first signaling sent by a network device, the first signaling includes first indication information, and the first signaling is located in Before the first paging opportunity PO, the first signaling indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO; the terminal device receives the second signaling sent by the network device, the second signaling includes second indication information, and the first signaling The second signaling is DCI located in the second PO, the second signaling is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, the first PO and the second PO are the same or different; wherein, the first indication information and the second indication The information respectively indicates the availability of the first reference signal, where the first reference signal is configured by the network device through the system message.

Based on the method described in the third aspect, both the terminal equipment that does not support the first signaling and the terminal equipment that supports the first signaling can determine the availability of the reference signal, which improves the system compatibility.

In a possible implementation, if the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the first indication information and the second indication information. The availability of the first reference signal indicated by the two indication information is the same.

Based on this possible implementation, it is beneficial for the terminal device to accurately determine the availability of the first reference signal.

In a possible implementation, if the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the target indication information, where the target indication information is the first indication information and the second indication information. one of the instructions.

In a possible implementation, the target indication information is the one with the latest reception time among the first indication information and the second indication information. The availability of the first reference signal is determined by using the indication information sent by the network device at the latest, so that the network device can change the availability of the first reference signal at any time, which is beneficial for the network device to more flexibly indicate the availability of the first reference signal.

In a possible implementation, the target indication information is the one with the highest priority among the first indication information and the second indication information.

Based on this possible implementation, it is beneficial for the network device to more flexibly indicate the availability of the first reference signal.

In a possible implementation, the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the priorities of the first indication information and the second indication information.

In a possible implementation, the priorities of the first indication information and the second indication information are predetermined by the protocol.

In a possible implementation, if the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device determines the availability of the reference signal group based on the first indication information, and the reference signal group includes the first reference signal; If the signal group is unavailable, the terminal device determines the availability of each reference signal in the reference signal group based on the second indication information.

Based on this possible implementation, it is beneficial to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

In another possible implementation, if the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device determines the availability of the reference signal group based on the second indication information, where the reference signal group includes the first reference signal; if If the reference signal group is unavailable, the terminal device determines the availability of each reference signal in the reference signal group based on the first indication information.

In a possible implementation, if the terminal device does not receive the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device determines that the first reference signal is unavailable. Based on this possible implementation, even if the terminal device does not receive the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device can accurately determine that the first reference signal is unavailable.

In a possible implementation, if the terminal device receives the first indication information and does not receive the second indication information, the terminal device determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the first indication information; if the terminal device receives the second indication information indication information, and the first indication information is not received, the terminal device determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the second indication information. Based on this possible implementation, when the terminal device only receives one of the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device can also accurately determine the availability of the first reference signal.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, and the apparatus may be a terminal device, a device in a terminal device, or a device that can be matched and used with the terminal device. Wherein, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication device may perform the method described in the first aspect or the third aspect. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions. The unit or module may be software and/or hardware. For operations and beneficial effects performed by the communication device, reference may be made to the method and beneficial effects described in the first aspect or the third aspect, and repeated details will not be repeated.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, and the device may be a network device, a device in a network device, or a device that can be matched and used with the network device. Wherein, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication device can perform the method of the second aspect. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions. The unit or module may be software and/or hardware. For operations and beneficial effects performed by the communication device, reference may be made to the method and beneficial effects described in the second aspect above, and repeated details will not be repeated.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, the communication device includes a processor, when the processor calls a computer program in a memory, the method according to any one of the first to third aspects be executed.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory is configured to store computer-executed instructions; the processor is configured to execute the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory, to The communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of the first to third aspects.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, the communication device includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, the transceiver is used for receiving a signal or sending a signal; the memory is used for storing a program code; the The processor is configured to call the program code from the memory to execute the method according to any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit is configured to receive a code instruction and transmit it to the processor; the processor executes the code The instruction is used to execute the method according to any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium is used to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed, the instructions are as described in any one of the first to third aspects. The described method is implemented.

In an eleventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a computer program or computer program product, including codes or instructions, when the codes or instructions are run on a computer, the computer executes any one of the first to third aspects. The described method is implemented.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic diagram of an existing reference signal;

2 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

3a is a schematic diagram of another system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

3b is a schematic diagram of another system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

4 is a schematic diagram of a paging occasion and a paging cycle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

5 is a schematic flowchart of a method for indicating the availability of a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6a is a schematic diagram of a first indication information indicating the availability of a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6b is a schematic diagram of a first indication information indicating the availability of a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7a is a schematic diagram of another kind of first indication information indicating the availability of reference signals provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7b is a schematic diagram of another kind of first indication information indicating the availability of reference signals provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8a is a schematic diagram of yet another first indication information indicating reference signal availability provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8b is a schematic diagram of yet another first indication information indicating the availability of a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

9 is a schematic diagram of an exponential cycle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

10 is a schematic diagram of another exponential cycle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of another method for indicating availability of reference signals provided by an embodiment of the present application;

12 is a schematic diagram of a first DCI and a second DCI provided by an embodiment of the present application;

13 is a schematic diagram of another first DCI and a second DCI provided by an embodiment of the present application;

14 is a schematic diagram of yet another first DCI and a second DCI provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a schematic flowchart of another method for indicating availability of reference signals provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic flowchart of another method for indicating availability of reference signals provided by an embodiment of the present application;

17 is a schematic diagram of first indication information and second indication information respectively indicating availability of a first reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of another first indication information and second indication information respectively indicating the availability of the first reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

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

The terms "first" and "second" in the description, claims and drawings of the present application are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally also includes unlisted steps or units, or optionally also includes For other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

Reference herein to an "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearances of the phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor a separate or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

In this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "plurality" means two or more, "at least two (item)" means two or three and three In the above, "and/or" is used to describe the corresponding relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, "A and/or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and both A and B exist three A case where A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects are an "or" relationship. "At least one item(s) below" or similar expressions thereof refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (a) of a, b or c, can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c" ", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

The following describes the system architecture of the embodiments of the present application:

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. The system architecture may include one or more terminal devices and one or more network devices. Figure 2 takes two terminal devices and one network device as an example.

1. Terminal equipment

Terminal equipment, also known as user equipment (UE), includes equipment that provides voice and/or data connectivity to users, for example, may include handheld devices with wireless connectivity, or processing devices connected to wireless modems . The terminal equipment may communicate with the core network via a radio access network (RAN), and exchange voice and/or data with the RAN. The terminal equipment may include wireless terminal equipment, mobile terminal equipment, device-to-device communication (device-to-device, D2D) terminal equipment, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) terminal equipment, machine-to-machine/machine-type communication ( machine-to-machine/machine-type communications, M2M/MTC) terminal equipment, Internet of things (Internet of things, IoT) terminal equipment, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, access point (access point, AP) ), remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user equipment, etc. For example, these may include mobile telephones (or "cellular" telephones), computers with mobile terminal equipment, portable, pocket-sized, hand-held, computer-embedded mobile devices, and the like. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (personal digital assistants), PDA), etc. Also includes constrained devices, such as devices with lower power consumption, or devices with limited storage capacity, or devices with limited computing power, etc. For example, it includes information sensing devices such as barcodes, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning system (GPS), and laser scanners.

2. Network equipment

A network device is a node or device that connects a terminal device to a wireless network, and the network device may also be called a base station or an access network device. For example, network equipment includes but is not limited to: a new generation base station (generation Node B, gNB), evolved node B (evolved node B, eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC) in the 5G communication system, Node B (node B, NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station ((home evolved nodeB, HeNB) or (home node B, HNB)), baseband unit (baseBand unit, BBU), transmitting and receiving point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmitting point (transmitting point, TP), or mobile switching center.

The interface between the network device and the terminal device may be a Uu interface (or called an air interface). Of course, in future communications, the names of these interfaces may remain unchanged, or may be replaced with other names, which are not limited in this application. Exemplarily, the communication between the network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure may include an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and a radio link control layer. (radio link control, RLC) layer, media access control (mediu access control, MAC) layer and physical layer; user plane protocol layer structure may include PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and physical layer, in a possible implementation In the above, the PDCP layer may further include a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer.

A network device may implement the functions of protocol layers such as RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC by one node, or may implement the functions of these protocol layers by multiple nodes. For example, in an evolved structure, a network device may include one or more centralized units (centralized units, CUs) and one or more distributed units (distributed units, DUs), and multiple DUs may be centrally controlled by one CU. As an example, an interface between a CU and a DU may be referred to as an F1 interface, wherein a control plane (control panel, CP) interface may be an F1-C, and a user plane (user panel, UP) interface may be an F1-U. CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layer of the wireless network. For example, as shown in FIG. 3a, the functions of the PDCP layer and the above protocol layers are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (for example, the RLC layer and the MAC layer, etc.) are set in the DU.

It can be understood that the above division of the processing functions of the CU and DU according to the protocol layer is only an example, and can also be divided in other ways, for example, the functions of the protocol layer above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the RLC layer and the following protocol layers. The function of the CU is set in the DU. For example, the CU or DU can be divided into functions with more protocol layers. For example, the CU or DU can also be divided into partial processing functions with protocol layers. In one design, some functions of the RLC layer and functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are placed in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are placed in the DU. In another design, the functions of the CU or DU can also be divided according to the service type or other system requirements, for example, by the delay, the functions whose processing time needs to meet the delay requirements are set in the DU, and do not need to meet the delay. The required functionality is set in the CU. In another design, the CU may also have one or more functions of the core network. Exemplarily, the CU can be set on the network side to facilitate centralized management; the DU can have multiple radio functions, or the radio functions can be set remotely. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

Exemplarily, the functions of the CU may be implemented by one entity, or may also be implemented by different entities. For example, as shown in Figure 3b, the functions of the CU can be further divided, that is, the control plane and the user plane can be separated and implemented by different entities, namely the control plane CU entity (ie the CU-CP entity) and the user plane CU entity. (ie the CU-UP entity), the CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity can be coupled with the DU to jointly complete the functions of the network device. The interface between the CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity may be the E1 interface, the interface between the CU-CP entity and the DU may be the F1-C interface, and the interface between the CU-UP entity and the DU may be the F1-U interface interface. Among them, one DU and one CU-UP can be connected to one CU-CP. Under the control of the same CU-CP, one DU can be connected to multiple CU-UPs, and one CU-UP can be connected to multiple DUs.

It should be noted that: in the architectures shown in the foregoing Figures 3a and 3b, the signaling generated by the CU may be sent to the terminal device through the DU, or the signaling generated by the terminal device may be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU may not parse the signaling, but directly encapsulate it through the protocol layer and transparently transmit it to the terminal device or CU. In the following embodiments, if the transmission of such signaling between the DU and the terminal device is involved, at this time, the sending or receiving of the signaling by the DU includes this scenario. For example, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer will eventually be processed as the data of the physical layer and sent to the terminal device, or converted from the received data of the physical layer. Under this architecture, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or sent by the DU and the radio frequency device.

In order to better understand the solution provided by this application, the following is an introduction to the technical terms involved in this application:

1. Radio resource control idle (RRC idle) state: In the RRC idle state, the terminal device does not have a dedicated RRC connection with the access network device.

2. Radio resource control inactive (radio resource control inactive, RRC inactive) state: In the RRC inactive state, the dedicated RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device is suspended (suspended). In the RRC inactive state and the RRC idle state, the terminal device can only receive the content of the public search space (paging, broadcast), and can perform cell reselection, and the cell reselection in the RRC inactive state is the same as the RRC idle state.

3. Paging: Paging technology is an important technology in a wireless communication system. A network device can find a terminal device through paging and initiate services to the terminal device. When the UE is in a disconnected state (such as RRC idle state or RRC inactive state), the network device only knows the paging area where the terminal device is located. Therefore, when a network device wants to find a terminal device, it needs to first check the paging area to which the terminal device belongs, and then send a paging message to all cells in the paging area.

4. Paging occasion (paging occasion, PO): The location where the paging downlink control information (paging downlink control information, paging DCI) and/or the paging message is located is called PO. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a PO of a terminal device. As shown in FIG. 4 , a paging occasion includes the location of the paging DCI and the time domain location of the paging message. The terminal device can calculate its corresponding PO by itself based on relevant parameters (such as its own identification number information and parameters related to paging provided by system messages, etc.). In order to receive the paging DCI and paging message at the corresponding PO.

The paging DCI is used for scheduling paging messages, that is, the paging DCI indicates the time-frequency resources of the paging message. After receiving the paging DCI, the terminal device may receive the paging message based on the time-frequency resources of the paging message indicated by the paging DCI.

The paging message is carried in the paging physical downlink shared channel (paging physical downlink shared channel, paging PDSCH), which is used for paging terminal equipment, and the paging message includes the identifier of the paging terminal equipment. That is, if the identification of a certain terminal device is included in the paging message, it means that the terminal device is paged by the network device.

5. Paging cycle: In order to save the power consumption of the terminal device, the terminal device in the disconnected state periodically receives paging messages. The paging cycle refers to the cycle in which the paging occasion occurs. As shown in FIG. 4 , for a terminal device, each paging cycle includes one paging occasion. The paging cycle may also be referred to as a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. For a terminal device, the radio resource control (RRC) layer or the upper layer can configure the terminal device-specific paging cycle for the terminal device, and the network device will broadcast the default paging cycle (also known as cell-specific paging cycle). cycle). When a terminal device is configured with a terminal-specific paging cycle, the terminal device will use the terminal device-specific paging cycle to receive pages, otherwise, it will use the default paging cycle (ie, cell-specific paging cycle) to receive pages.

6. System messages: System messages are cell-level control information. Terminal devices (such as mobile phones and computers) can successfully access the cell and work correctly only after obtaining system messages. The system information can include three types, namely master information block (MIB), system information block 1 (system information block 1, SIB1) and system information (system information, SI), wherein, the system information includes all except SIB1 other system information blocks, such as SIB2, SIB3, etc.

In order to solve this problem, the configuration of some assistance reference signals (assistance RS) can be sent through the system information of the network device. If the positions of these auxiliary reference signals are close enough to the paging occasion (PO), the above-mentioned problems caused by the design of the SSB can be solved. However, from the perspective of network equipment, there are multiple POs. If auxiliary reference signals are configured before each PO, the network equipment needs to configure a large number of auxiliary reference signals. To avoid increasing the burden on network equipment, these auxiliary reference signals are not guaranteed to be sent all the time. For example, after the network device broadcasts the configuration information of several reference signals, these corresponding reference signals may be sent for a while and not sent for a while, and the changes may be frequent. However, in general, the system information does not change very frequently. If the UE is notified of "whether reference signals are sent" by changing the system information (that is, by not configuring some reference signals, it means that these reference signals are no longer sent), the UE may not be notified in time. In order to be able to inform the UE of the availability of the reference signal more dynamically, the availability of the reference signal may be indicated through dynamic signaling of each paging cycle. However, if the network device indicates the availability of the reference signal in each paging cycle, it will cause a problem that the signaling overhead is relatively large.

The communication method and communication device provided by the present application are described in detail below:

Referring to FIG. 5 , FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method for indicating availability of a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5 , the method for indicating the availability of the reference signal includes the following steps 501 and 502 . The method execution subject shown in FIG. 5 may be a network device and a terminal device. Alternatively, the execution body of the method shown in FIG. 5 may be a chip in a network device and a chip in a terminal device. FIG. 5 takes a network device and a terminal device as an example for description. The execution subject of the subsequent flow chart is the same, and will not be repeated hereafter. in:

501. The network device sends a system message, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of the reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to one or more paging cycles, wherein the reference signal is the network equipment Configured via system messages.

In this embodiment of the present application, the system message for configuring the indication period may be the same as or different from the system message for configuring the reference signal. The reference signal may be a tracking reference signal (tracking reference signal, TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS) or the like. Hereinafter, the reference signal is used as the tracking reference signal TRS for exemplary introduction.

In this embodiment of the present application, the indication period refers to a period in which the network device sends the first indication information. For example, it is assumed that the time length corresponding to one paging cycle is 1280ms (milliseconds). If the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to two paging periods, the network device sends a first indication message every 2560 ms. If the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to three paging periods, the network device sends a first indication message every 3840 ms.

The first indication information is used to indicate the availability (availability) of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period. In this embodiment of the present application, the availability of the reference signal is used to indicate the assumption of the terminal device on whether the reference signal is sent. When the first indication information indicates that the reference signal is available, the terminal device considers that the reference signal will be sent; when the first indication information indicates that the reference signal is unavailable, the terminal device considers that the reference signal will not be sent. Alternatively, the availability of the reference signal is used to indicate whether the network device transmits the reference signal. When the first indication information indicates that the reference signal is available, the network device is instructed to send the reference signal; when the first indication information indicates that the reference signal is unavailable, the network device is instructed not to send the reference signal.

The location of the first indication information can be in the following two cases:

Case 1: The first indication information is located in the PO. If the first indication information is located in the PO, the first indication information may be carried in the paging DCI. When the first indication information is carried in the paging DCI, the first indication information indicates the availability of reference signals starting before the next PO. The next PO refers to the PO that the terminal device needs to receive paging in the next paging cycle.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6a, when the time length corresponding to the indication cycle is the time length corresponding to one paging cycle, the first indication information indicates the availability of TRS before PO2.

For another example, as shown in FIG. 6b , when the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to two paging periods, the first indication information may indicate the TRS before PO3 in addition to the availability of the TRS before PO2. availability, that is, the first indication information indicates the availability of the TRS in the next paging cycle and indicates the availability of the TRS in the next paging cycle.

Case 2: The first indication information is located before the PO. If the first indication information is located before the PO, the first indication information may be located in the DCI or sequence, where the DCI or the sequence is used to indicate whether a paging message is sent in the PO. For ease of description, the DCI or sequence used to indicate whether a paging message is sent in the PO will be referred to as paging early indication (PEI) hereinafter. Of course, the DCI or sequence may also be referred to as other names. Alternatively, when the first indication information is located before the PO, the first indication information may also be carried in other DCIs or sequences other than PEI, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

When the first indication information is carried on the PEI, the first indication information may indicate the availability of reference signals starting before the next PO. The next PO refers to the PO that the terminal device needs to receive paging in the next paging cycle.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7a, the PEI before PO1 is used to indicate whether there is a paging message sent in PO1. When the time length corresponding to the indication cycle is the time length corresponding to one paging cycle, the first indication information indicates the availability of the TRS before PO2.

For another example, as shown in FIG. 7b, when the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to 2 paging periods, the first indication information can not only indicate the availability of the TRS before PO2, but also indicate the TRS before PO3. availability, that is, the first indication information indicates the availability of the TRS in the next paging cycle and indicates the availability of the TRS in the next paging cycle.

Alternatively, when the first indication information is carried on the PEI, the first indication information may indicate the availability of reference signals starting before the current PO. The current PO refers to the PO for which the terminal device needs to receive paging within the paging cycle in which the first indication information is located.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8a, the PEI before PO1 is used to indicate whether there is a paging message sent in PO1. When the time length corresponding to the indication cycle is the time length corresponding to one paging cycle, the first indication information indicates the availability of the TRS before PO1.

For another example, as shown in FIG. 8b , when the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to two paging periods, the first indication information may indicate the TRS before PO2 in addition to the availability of the TRS before PO1. availability, that is, the first indication information indicates the availability of the TRS in the current paging cycle and the availability of the TRS in the next paging cycle.

The following will further introduce the indication period and the situation in which the first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal with a specific example:

For example, it is assumed that the time length corresponding to the indication cycle is the time length corresponding to two paging cycles, the first indication information is carried in the paging DCI, and the reference signal is TRS as an example. As shown in FIG. 9 , the first indication information 1 is sent in the 0th paging cycle, and the first indication information is not sent in the first paging cycle. The first indication information 2 is sent in the second paging cycle, the first indication information is not sent in the third paging cycle, and so on, a first indication message is sent every 2 paging cycles corresponding to the length of time .

Referring to FIG. 6a and FIG. 6b in combination, since the first indication information is carried in the paging DCI, the first indication information indicates the availability of the TRS starting before the next PO. Therefore, the first indication information 1 indicates the availability of the TRS in the first to second paging cycles. The first indication information 2 indicates the availability of the TRS in the third to fourth paging cycles. That is to say, the availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 1 is valid in the first to second paging cycles. The availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 2 is valid in the third to fourth paging cycles. The availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 1 and the first indication information 2 may be the same or different. For example, the first indication information 1 indicates that TRS1 is available and TRS2 is available in the first to second paging cycles. The first indication information 2 indicates that TRS1 is unavailable and TRS2 is available in the third to fourth paging cycles.

For another example, it is assumed that the time length corresponding to the indication cycle is the time length corresponding to two paging cycles, the first indication information is carried in the PEI, and the reference signal is TRS as an example. As shown in FIG. 10 , the first indication information 1 is sent in the 0th paging cycle, and the first indication information is not sent in the first paging cycle. The first indication information 2 is sent in the second paging cycle, the first indication information is not sent in the third paging cycle, and so on, a first indication message is sent every 2 paging cycles corresponding to the length of time .

Referring to FIG. 7a and FIG. 7b in combination, it is assumed that when the first indication information is carried on the PEI, the first indication information indicates the availability of the TRS starting before the next PO. Then, the first indication information 1 indicates the availability of the TRS in the first to second paging cycles. The first indication information 2 indicates the availability of the TRS in the third to fourth paging cycles. That is to say, the availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 1 is valid in the first to second paging cycles. The availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 2 is valid in the third to fourth paging cycles. Exemplarily, the availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 1 and the first indication information 2 may be the same or different.

Referring to FIG. 8a and FIG. 8b in combination, it is assumed that when the first indication information is carried on the PEI, the first indication information indicates the availability of TRS starting from before the current PO. Then, the first indication information 1 indicates the availability of the TRS in the 0th to the 1st paging cycle. The first indication information 2 indicates the availability of the TRS in the second to third paging cycles. That is, the availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 1 is valid in the 0th to the 1st paging cycle. The availability of the TRS indicated by the first indication information 2 is valid in the second to third paging cycles.

In a possible implementation, the first indication information indicates the availability of all reference signals configured within a time length corresponding to one indication period; Availability of reference signals associated with the PO. The PO of the terminal device refers to the PO that the terminal device needs to receive the paging message calculated based on the identifier of the terminal device. The reference signal associated with the PO of the terminal device refers to the reference signal that the terminal device needs to measure before the PO. The relationship between these reference signals and POs can be determined by network device configuration.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 , it is assumed that the network device configures a total of two reference signals through system messages, which are TRS1 and TRS2 respectively. The first indication information may include 2 bits, each bit corresponds to a TRS, and each bit is used to indicate the availability of its corresponding TRS within a time length corresponding to one indication period. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 , assuming that only TRS2 is associated with the PO of the terminal device, the first indication information may include 1 bit, which is used to indicate the availability of TRS2 within a time length corresponding to one indication period. The first indication information only indicates the availability of the reference signal associated with the PO of the terminal device, which is beneficial to save the overhead of indication signaling.

502. The network device sends first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period, where the first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period.

In this embodiment of the present application, after sending the system message, the network device may send the first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period. For example, it is assumed that the time length corresponding to one paging cycle is 1280ms. If the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to two paging periods, the network device sends a first indication message every 2560 ms. If the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to three paging periods, the network device sends a first indication message every 3840 ms.

Correspondingly, the terminal device can receive the system message sent by the network device. After receiving the system message sent by the network device, the terminal device may receive the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period. For example, it is assumed that the time length corresponding to one paging cycle is 1280ms. If the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to 2 paging periods, the terminal device receives one piece of first indication information every 2560 ms. If the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to 3 paging periods, the terminal device receives one piece of first indication information every 3840ms.

It can be seen that, by implementing the method described in FIG. 5 , the network device does not need to send the indication signaling for indicating the availability of the reference signal in each paging cycle. It is beneficial to reduce the overhead of the indication signaling for indicating the availability of the reference signal.

As described above, the first indication information occurs once in each indication period, and at this time, the first indication information may indicate the availability of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period. For example, it is assumed that the availability of the reference signal is indicated by the PEI, and the time length corresponding to the indication cycle is the time length corresponding to 5 paging cycles. At this time, the 0th PEI indicates the availability of the reference signal, and the first to fourth PEIs do not indicate the availability of the reference signal. Then the fifth PEI indicates the availability of the reference signal again, and the sixth to ninth PEIs do not indicate the availability of the reference signal. At this time, the availability of reference signals in the first 5 paging cycles is determined based on the indication of the 0th PEI, or the availability/unavailability of reference signals in these 5 paging cycles is considered to be the same. Alternatively, the availability of reference signals in the first to fifth paging cycles is determined based on the indication of the 0th PEI, or the availability/unavailability of reference signals in the first to fifth paging cycles is considered to be the same. of.

Based on the above scheme, there are further designs as follows:

Manner 1, the first indication information is in the PEI, and the PEI is a DCI.

In a possible embodiment, the PEI including the first indication information and the PEI not including the first indication information may have different lengths. It can be understood that the length of the PEI including the first indication information is longer than that of the PEI not including the first indication information.

In another possible embodiment, the PEI including the first indication information and the PEI not including the first indication information have the same length, but the content interpretation thereof may be different. For example, the first indication information occupies 5 bits. When the PEI includes the first indication information, the 5 bits are used to indicate the availability of the reference signal; when the PEI does not include the first indication information, the 5 bits are used to indicate other information , for example, to indicate whether terminal devices of more sub-groups need to receive paging messages at the following POs.

For the first manner, for example, please refer to FIG. 11 , which is a schematic flowchart of another method for indicating availability of a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 11 , the method for indicating the availability of the reference signal includes the following steps 1101 to 1103 .

1101. The network device sends a system message, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of the reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to one or more paging cycles, wherein the reference signal is the network equipment Configured via system messages.

Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the system message sent by the network device.

For the specific implementation manner of step 1101, reference may be made to the specific implementation manner of the foregoing step 501, and details are not described herein.

1102. The network device sends a first DCI to the terminal device based on the indication period, where the first DCI includes first indication information, the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI indicates whether there is a paging opportunity in the first PO. The call message is sent; the first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period.

Correspondingly, after receiving the system message, the terminal device receives the first DCI sent by the network device based on the indicated period.

1103. The network device sends a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information.

Correspondingly, the terminal device can receive the second DCI sent by the network device.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first DCI and the second DCI may be understood as the aforementioned PEI. The first DCI is a PEI bearing the first indication information. The second DCI is the PEI that does not carry the first indication information.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10 , for the first indication cycle, the PEI in the 0th paging cycle is the first DCI, and the PO in the 0th paging cycle is the first PO. The PEI in the first paging cycle is the second DCI, and the PO in the first paging cycle is the second PO.

For the second indication cycle, the PEI in the second paging cycle is the first DCI, and the PO in the second paging cycle is the first PO. The PEI in the third paging cycle is the second DCI, and the PO in the third paging cycle is the second PO.

In the embodiment of the present application, the number of bits of the first DCI and the second DCI has the following two situations:

Case 1: The number of bits included in the first DCI is greater than the number of bits included in the second DCI. By making the number of bits of the first DCI larger than the number of bits of the second DCI, it is beneficial to save the signaling overhead of the second DCI.

As shown in FIG. 12 , it is assumed that the first DCI has a total of 10 bits, and the second DCI has a total of 5 bits. The first indication information in the first DCI occupies 5 bits. The first DCI is 5 bits more than the second DCI.

Case 2: The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI. The target bit in the second DCI is used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the bit position of the target bit in the second DCI is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI. By using the target bits in the second DCI to indicate other information than the availability of reference signals, the second DCI can be made to indicate more information.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13 , it is assumed that the first DCI has a total of 10 bits, and the second DCI has a total of 10 bits. The first indication information in the first DCI occupies the lowest 5 bits of the first DCI. The lowest 5 bits of the second DCI are target bits, and the target bits are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal.

The paging group information is used to indicate whether each paging group in the multiple paging groups is paged, and each paging group includes one or more terminal devices. By using the target bit in the second DCI to indicate the paging group information, the paging group can be divided more finely in the second DCI, the terminal equipment to be paged can be indicated more finely, and the reception of the terminal equipment can be reduced. The probability of paging the DCI and/or the paging message is beneficial to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

One PO can correspond to multiple terminal devices. Multiple terminal devices can be divided into multiple paging groups, and each paging group includes one or more terminal devices. If a terminal device in a paging group is paged, it is necessary to indicate that the paging group is paged to before PO, so that all terminal devices in the paging group receive the paging message at PO. If all terminal devices in a paging group have not been paged, it can be indicated before PO that the paging group has not been paged, so that the terminal devices in the paging group will not receive paging messages at PO, saving terminal equipment power consumption.

For example, it is assumed that there are 10 terminal devices corresponding to the first PO and the second PO. The first DCI and the second DCI each have 10 bits. As shown in FIG. 14 , the highest 5 bits in the first DCI are paging grouping information, and the lowest 5 bits are the first indication information. For the first DCI, 10 terminal devices can be divided into 5 paging groups, each paging group has 2 terminal devices. Paging group 1 includes terminal equipment 1 and terminal equipment 2 , paging group 2 includes terminal equipment 3 and terminal equipment 4 , and so on, paging group 5 includes terminal equipment 9 and terminal equipment 10 . The first bit of the paging group information indicates whether paging group 1 is paged. The second bit of the paging group information indicates whether paging group 2 is paged. By analogy, the fifth bit of the paging group information indicates whether paging group 5 is paged. Assuming that only the terminal device 1 is paged, the bit value of the paging packet information is 10000. Wherein, a bit value of 1 indicates that the corresponding paging group is paged. A bit value of 0 indicates that the corresponding paging group is not paged. It can be seen that even if the terminal device 2 in the paging group 1 is not paged, all the terminal devices in the paging group 1 (ie, the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2) will receive the paging message at the first PO, which is not conducive to Save power consumption of terminal equipment.

As shown in FIG. 14 , all 10 bits in the second DCI are paging packet information. For the second DCI, 10 terminal devices may be divided into 10 paging groups, each paging group including 1 terminal device. Paging group 1 includes terminal equipment 1 , paging group 2 includes terminal equipment 2 , and so on, paging group 10 includes terminal equipment 10 . The first bit of the paging group information indicates whether paging group 1 is paged. The second bit of the paging group information indicates whether paging group 2 is paged. By analogy, the 10th bit of the paging group information indicates whether the paging group 10 is paged. Assuming that only terminal device 1 is paged, the value of 10 bits in the first DCI is 1000000000. Wherein, a bit value of 1 indicates that the corresponding paging group is paged. A bit value of 0 indicates that the corresponding paging group is not paged. Therefore, only the terminal device 1 needs to receive the paging message at the second PO, and other terminal devices do not need to receive the paging message at the second PO, which is beneficial to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

It can be seen that by using the target bit in the second DCI to indicate the paging group information, the paging group can be divided more finely in the second DCI, the terminal equipment to be paged can be indicated more finely, and the number of The probability that the device receives the paging DCI and/or the paging message is beneficial to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

In another possible implementation, when the number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI, the target bits in the second DCI may not indicate any information.

In a second manner, the first indication information is included in the paging DCI.

In a possible implementation manner, the paging DCI including the first indication information has the same length as the paging DCI not including the first indication information, but the content interpretation is different.

In another possible implementation, when the paging DCI does not include the first indication information, the spare bits are used to indicate other information, such as indicating whether the terminal devices of more sub-groups need to be received at the current PO paging message.

For the second manner, for example, please refer to FIG. 15 , which is a schematic flowchart of another method for indicating availability of reference signals provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 15 , the method for indicating the availability of the reference signal includes the following steps 1501 to 1503 .

1501. The network device sends a system message, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of the reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to one or more paging cycles, wherein the reference signal is the network equipment Configured via system messages.

For the specific implementation manner of step 1501, reference may be made to the specific implementation manner of the foregoing step 501, which is not repeated here.

1502. The network device sends a first DCI to the terminal device based on the indication period, where the first DCI includes first indication information, the first DCI is located in the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI is used to schedule the first DCI in the first PO. A paging message, where the first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period.

1503. The network device sends a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located in the second PO, the second DCI is used to schedule the paging message in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first DCI and the second DCI may be understood as paging DCIs. The first DCI is the paging DCI carrying the first indication information. The second DCI is a paging DCI that does not carry the first indication information.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the time length corresponding to the indication cycle is the time length corresponding to two paging cycles, the paging DCI in the 0th paging cycle is the first DCI1, and the 0th paging cycle is the first DCI1. The PO in is the first PO1; the paging DCI in the second paging cycle is the first DCI 2, and the PO in the second paging cycle is the first PO2. The paging DCI in the first paging cycle is the second DCI1, the PO in the first paging cycle is the second PO1; the paging DCI in the third paging cycle is the second DCI 2, the third The PO in the paging cycle is the second PO2.

The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bit in the second DCI is used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the bit position of the target bit in the second DCI It is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI. By using the target bits in the second DCI to indicate other information than the availability of reference signals, the second DCI can be made to indicate more information.

In one possible implementation, other information than the availability of reference signals includes paging packet information. The paging group information is used to indicate whether each paging group in a plurality of paging groups is paged, and each paging group includes one or more terminal devices. By using the target bit in the second DCI to indicate the paging group information, the paging group can be divided more finely in the second DCI, the terminal equipment to be paged can be indicated more finely, and the reception of the terminal equipment can be reduced. The probability of paging messages is beneficial to save the power consumption of terminal equipment.

PEI and the reference signal mentioned in this application are two independent functions, and not necessarily all terminal devices that support the above reference signal support PEI. If the availability of reference signals is indicated by PEI. As a result, terminal equipment that does not support PEI cannot determine the availability of reference signals. Therefore, in order to enable both the terminal equipment that does not support PEI and the terminal equipment that supports PEI to determine the availability of reference signals and improve system compatibility, the embodiment of the present application also provides another method for indicating the availability of reference signals.

Referring to FIG. 16 , FIG. 16 is a schematic flowchart of another method for indicating availability of a reference signal provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 16 , the method for indicating the availability of the reference signal includes the following steps 1601 to 1602 .

1601. The terminal device receives the first signaling sent by the network device, where the first signaling includes first indication information, the first signaling is located before the first paging opportunity PO, and the first signaling indicates whether the first PO is There are paging messages sent.

The first signaling is PEI. The first PO is the PO of the paging cycle in which the PEI is located.

1602. The terminal device receives second signaling sent by the network device, where the second signaling includes second indication information, the second signaling is DCI located in the second PO, and the second signaling is used to schedule the second PO In the paging message in , the first PO and the second PO are the same or different, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information respectively indicate the availability of the first reference signal, and the first reference signal is configured by the network device through the system message.

Correspondingly, the network device may send the first signaling and the second signaling.

Wherein, the second signaling is paging DCI. The first PO may be the same as the second PO, or the second PO may be a PO preceding the first PO.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first indication information indicates the availability of the first reference signal, and the second indication information also indicates the availability of the first reference signal. The first indication information and the second indication information indicate the availability of the same reference signal. Wherein, the first reference signal may be a tracking reference signal (tracking reference signal, TRS) or a channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS) or the like.

The first indication information and the second indication information respectively indicate that the availability of the first reference signal has the following two scenarios:

Scenario 1: The first signaling and the second signaling are in the same paging cycle, both indicate the availability of the first reference signal in the next paging cycle, and the first PO and the second PO are the same. As shown in FIG. 17 , the first signaling is PEI, and the second signaling is the first paging DCI. Both indicate the availability of the same TRS. Both the first PO and the second PO are the first PO in FIG. 17 . The first signaling includes first indication information, and the second signaling includes second indication information.

Scenario 2: The second signaling is in the previous paging cycle of the first signaling, the second signaling indicates the availability of the first reference signal in the next paging cycle, and the first signaling indicates the first paging cycle in which it is located. With reference to the availability of the signal, the second PO is the previous PO of the first PO. As shown in FIG. 18 , the first signaling is PEI, and the second signaling is the first paging DCI. Both indicate the availability of the same TRS. The first signaling includes first indication information, and the second signaling includes second indication information.

In a possible implementation, the first reference signal may be any reference signal configured in the system message, or the first reference signal may be a reference signal associated with the PO of the terminal device.

It can be seen that by implementing the method described in FIG. 16 , the availability of the same reference signal can be indicated by the first signaling and the second signaling. Since all terminal devices support the function of receiving the second signaling, by implementing FIG. 16 The described method is beneficial for both the terminal equipment that does not support the first signaling and the terminal equipment that supports the first signaling to determine the availability of the reference signal, thereby improving the system compatibility.

In the above scenario 1 or scenario 2, the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information in the following three situations:

Case 1: The terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information.

Because the first indication information and the second indication information indicate the availability of the same reference signal. If the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device cannot determine which indication information to use to determine the availability of the first reference signal, so that the terminal device cannot determine the availability of the first reference signal. In order to enable the terminal device to accurately determine the availability of the first reference signal after receiving the first indication information and the second indication information, the embodiments of the present application propose three ways for the terminal device to determine the availability of the first reference signal.

Manner 1: By restricting the network device, the availability of the first reference signal determined by the terminal device based on the first indication information and the second indication information is the same. The terminal device may further follow up the first indication information and/or the second indication information to determine the availability of the first reference signal.

Manner 2: The terminal device determines the availability of the first reference signal based on target indication information, where the target indication information is one of the first indication information and the second indication information.

That is to say, although the terminal device receives two indication information, it will select one indication information from the two indication information to determine the availability of the first reference signal.

In a possible implementation, the target indication information is the one with the latest reception time among the first indication information and the second indication information. That is to say, the terminal device uses the indication information sent by the network device at the latest to determine the availability of the first reference signal.

The availability of the first reference signal is determined by using the indication information sent by the network device at the latest, so that the network device can change the availability of the first reference signal at any time, which is beneficial for the network device to more flexibly indicate the availability of the first reference signal.

In another possible implementation, the target indication information is the one with the highest priority among the first indication information and the second indication information. That is to say, the terminal device uses the indication information with the highest priority among the first indication information and the second indication information to determine the availability of the first reference signal. Based on this possible implementation, it is beneficial for the network device to more flexibly indicate the availability of the first reference signal.

Optionally, the terminal device receives configuration information sent by the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the priorities of the first indication information and the second indication information. That is, the priority of the first indication information and the second indication information may be configured by the network device. The configuration information may also be carried in a system message for configuring the first reference signal. Alternatively, the configuration information may be carried in other system messages.

Optionally, the priorities of the first indication information and the second indication information are predetermined by the protocol.

Mode 3: The terminal device determines the availability of the reference signal group based on the first indication information, and the reference signal group includes the first reference signal; if the reference signal group is unavailable, the terminal device determines each of the reference signal groups based on the second indication information. Availability of reference signals. That is, the availability of the first reference signal is jointly indicated by the first indication information and the second indication information. In this possible implementation, the first indication information is located before the second indication information. For example, mode 3 may be used to determine the availability of the first reference signal in the scenario described in FIG. 17 .

Optionally, the reference signal group includes all reference signals configured by the system message. Alternatively, the reference signal group only includes reference signals associated with the PO of the terminal device, and the first reference signal is one of the reference signals associated with the PO of the terminal device.

For example, it is assumed that the reference signal group includes reference signal 1 to reference signal 10 . The first indication information includes 1 bit. When the bit of the first indication information is 1, it indicates that the corresponding reference signal group is available. The reference signal group available means that all reference signals in the reference signal group are available. When the bit of the first indication information is 0, it indicates that the corresponding reference signal group is unavailable. The reference signal group is unavailable means that not all reference signals in the reference signal group are available. The second indication information includes 10 bits, each bit corresponds to a reference signal, and the bit corresponding to each reference signal is used to indicate whether the reference signal is available. If the first indication information indicates that the reference signal group is unavailable, the terminal device needs to continue to interpret the second indication information, and determine the availability of each reference signal in the reference signal group based on the second indication information. If the first indication information indicates that the reference signal group is available, that is, each reference signal in the reference signal group is available, the terminal equipment does not need to continue to interpret the second indication information, which can reduce the number of signals received by the terminal equipment, which is conducive to saving the terminal equipment's time. power consumption. In other embodiments, when the bit of the first indication information is 0, it indicates that the reference signal group is available; when the bit of the first indication information is 1, it indicates that the reference signal group is unavailable, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

A first signaling can also indicate whether a paging message is sent in multiple POs. For example, if the positions of two POs are very close, a first signaling may be used to indicate whether there are paging messages to be sent in the two POs. Therefore, the reference signals may also be grouped by PO. It is assumed that the first signaling indicates whether a paging message is sent in PO1 and PO2. Reference signal 1 to reference signal 5 are associated with PO1. Reference signal 6 to reference signal 10 are associated with PO2. Then, the reference signal can be divided into two reference signal groups. Reference signal group 1 includes reference signal 1 to reference signal 5 . Reference signal group 2 includes reference signal 6 to reference signal 10 . The first indication information includes 2 bits. The first bit is used to indicate the availability of reference signal group 1. The second bit is used to indicate the availability of reference signal group 2. Assuming that reference signal 1 is unavailable, and reference signal 2 to reference signal 10 are available, the bit value of the first indication information is 01. When the bit of the first indication information is 0, it indicates that the corresponding reference signal group is unavailable. When the bit of the first indication information is 1, it indicates that the corresponding reference signal group is available. The second indication information in PO1 includes 5 bits, respectively indicating the availability of reference signal 1 to reference signal 5, and the second indication information in PO2 includes 5 bits, indicating the availability of reference signal 6 to reference signal 10 respectively. It is assumed that PO1 is the PO of the terminal device 1, and PO2 is the PO of the terminal device 2. Then the terminal device 1 will continue to interpret the second indication information in PO1 to determine the availability of each reference signal in the reference signal group 1 . The terminal device 2 does not need to continue to interpret the second indication information in PO2, which is conducive to saving the power consumption of the terminal device.

In another possible implementation, the availability of the reference signal group may also be indicated by the second indication information, and the first indication information indicates the availability of each reference signal in the reference signal group. That is, the terminal device can determine the availability of the reference signal group based on the second indication information, and the reference signal group includes the first reference signal; if the reference signal group is unavailable, the terminal device determines each reference signal group based on the first indication information. availability of signals. In this possible implementation, the second indication information is located before the first indication information. For example, this approach can be used to determine the availability of the first reference signal in the scenario described in FIG. 18 .

Case 2: The terminal device does not receive the first indication information and the second indication information.

Wherein, that the terminal device does not receive the first indication information may be because the network device does not send the first indication information at the sending position of the first indication information. It may also be that the network device sends the first indication information, but the terminal device fails to receive the first indication information successfully. The terminal device does not receive the second indication information, which may be because the network device does not send the second indication information. It may also be that the network device sends the second indication information, but the terminal device fails to receive the second indication information successfully.

Case 3: The terminal device receives one of the first indication information and the second indication information.

The case where the terminal device receives the first indication information but does not receive the second indication information includes 1) the first signaling indicates that no paging message is sent, and the terminal device naturally does not receive the second signaling; or 2) The first signaling indicates that a paging message is sent, but the terminal device fails to receive it successfully. The case where the terminal device receives the second signaling but does not receive the first signaling includes 1) the network device does not send the first signaling at the location where the first signaling is sent; or 2) the network device sends the first signaling But the terminal device failed to receive it successfully.

Referring to FIG. 19, FIG. 19 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 may be used to execute part or all of the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments described in the foregoing FIG. 5 , FIG. 11 , and FIG. 15 . The device may be a terminal device, or a device in the terminal device, or a device that can be used in combination with the terminal device. Wherein, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 may include a communication unit 1901 and a processing unit 1902 . Among them, the processing unit 1902 is used for data processing. The communication unit 1901 integrates a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The communication unit 1901 may also be referred to as a transceiving unit. Alternatively, the communication unit 1901 can also be divided into a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit 1902 and the communication unit 1901 described below are the same, and will not be repeated below. in:

A communication unit 1901, configured to receive a system message sent by a network device, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of the reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to one or more paging periods, wherein, The reference signal is configured by the network device through a system message; the communication unit 1901 is further configured to receive first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period, where the first indication information indicates the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period. availability.

In a possible implementation, the manner in which the communication unit 1901 receives the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period is specifically: the communication unit 1901 receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, the first The DCI includes first indication information, the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The communication unit 1901 is further configured to receive a second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first Indication information; wherein, the number of bits included in the first DCI is greater than the number of bits included in the second DCI.

In a possible implementation, the manner in which the communication unit 1901 is further configured to receive the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period is specifically: the terminal device receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, The first DCI includes first indication information, the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The communication unit 1901 is further configured to receive a second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first Indication information; wherein, the number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the target bits are in the second DCI The bit position of is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.

In a possible implementation, the manner in which the communication unit 1901 receives the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period is specifically: the communication unit 1901 receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, the first The DCI includes first indication information, the first DCI is located in the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the first PO;

The communication unit 1901 is further configured to receive a second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located in the second PO, the second DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first DCI Indication information; wherein, the number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the target bits are in the second DCI The bit position in is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.

In a possible implementation, the paging cycle is a cell-specific paging cycle.

Referring to FIG. 19, FIG. 19 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 may be used to perform part or all of the functions of the network device in the method embodiments described in the foregoing FIG. 5 , FIG. 11 , and FIG. 15 . The device may be a network device, or a device in a network device, or a device that can be matched and used with the network device. Wherein, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 may include a communication unit 1901 and a processing unit 1902 . in:

The communication unit 1901 is configured to send a system message, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of the reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to one or more paging periods, wherein the reference signal is the network The device is configured through a system message; the communication unit 1901 is further configured to send first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period, where the first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal within the time length corresponding to the indication period.

In a possible implementation, the manner in which the communication unit 1901 sends the first indication information to the terminal equipment based on the indication period is specifically: the communication unit 1901 sends the first downlink control information DCI to the terminal equipment based on the indication period, where the first DCI includes first indication information, the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The communication unit 1901 is further configured to send a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; wherein the number of bits included in the first DCI is greater than the number of bits included in the second DCI.

The communication unit 1901 is further configured to send a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; wherein, the number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the target bits in the second DCI are The bit position is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.

In a possible implementation, the manner in which the communication unit 1901 sends the first indication information to the terminal equipment based on the indication period is specifically: the communication unit 1901 sends the first downlink control information DCI to the terminal equipment based on the indication period, where the first DCI includes first indication information, the first DCI is located in the first paging occasion PO, and the first DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the first PO;

The communication unit 1901 is further configured to send a second DCI to the terminal device, where the second DCI is located in the second PO, the second DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, and the second DCI does not include the first indication information; wherein, the number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, and the target bits are in the second DCI. The position is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.

In a possible implementation, the paging cycle is a cell-specific paging cycle.

Referring to FIG. 19, FIG. 19 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 may be used to execute part or all of the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment described in FIG. 16 . The device may be a terminal device, or a device in the terminal device, or a device that can be used in combination with the terminal device. Wherein, the communication device may also be a chip system. The communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 may include a communication unit 1901 and a processing unit 1902 . in:

The communication unit 1901 is configured to receive first signaling sent by a network device, where the first signaling includes first indication information, the first signaling is located before the first paging occasion PO, and the first signaling indicates the first PO Whether there is a paging message to send; the communication unit 1901 is further configured to receive the second signaling sent by the network device, the second signaling includes second indication information, and the second signaling is the DCI located in the second PO, The second signaling is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, and the first PO is the same as or different from the second PO; wherein the first indication information and the second indication information respectively indicate the availability of the first reference signal, and the first PO is the same as or different from the second PO. A reference signal is configured for the network device through system messages.

In a possible implementation, if the communication unit 1901 receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the first indication information and the second indication information, and the first indication information It is the same as the availability of the first reference signal indicated by the second indication information.

In a possible implementation, if the communication unit 1901 receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the target indication information, where the target indication information is the first indication information and the second indication information. one of the second indication information.

In a possible implementation, the target indication information is the one with the latest reception time among the first indication information and the second indication information.

In a possible implementation, the communication unit 1901 is further configured to receive configuration information sent by the network device, where the configuration information is used to configure the priorities of the first indication information and the second indication information.

In a possible implementation, if the communication unit 1901 receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of the reference signal group based on the first indication information, where the reference signal group includes the first reference signal; If the reference signal group is unavailable, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of each reference signal in the reference signal group based on the second indication information.

In another possible implementation, if the communication unit 1901 receives the first indication information and the second indication information, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of the reference signal group based on the second indication information, where the reference signal group includes the first reference signal ; If the reference signal group is unavailable, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of each reference signal in the reference signal group based on the first indication information.

In a possible implementation, if the communication unit 1901 does not receive the first indication information and the second indication information, the processing unit 1902 determines that the first reference signal is unavailable.

In a possible implementation, if the communication unit 1901 receives the first indication information and does not receive the second indication information, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the first indication information; if the communication unit 1901 receives When the second indication information is received, and the first indication information is not received, the processing unit 1902 determines the availability of the first reference signal based on the second indication information.

As shown in FIG. 20 , a communication apparatus 200 provided by an embodiment of the present application is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the foregoing FIG. 5 , FIG. 11 , FIG. 15 , or FIG. 16 . The apparatus may be a terminal device or an apparatus for a terminal device. The means for the terminal device may be a system-on-a-chip or a chip within the terminal device. Wherein, the chip system may be composed of chips, and may also include chips and other discrete devices.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 200 is configured to implement the function of the network device in the above-mentioned FIG. 5 , FIG. 11 or FIG. 15 . The apparatus may be a network device or an apparatus for a network device. The means for the network device may be a system-on-a-chip or a chip within the network device.

The communication apparatus 200 includes at least one processor 2020, configured to implement the data processing function of the terminal device or the network device in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 200 may further include a communication interface 2010, which is used to implement the sending and receiving operations of the terminal device or the network device in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment of the present application, the communication interface may be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module or other types of communication interfaces, which are used to communicate with other devices through a transmission medium. For example, the communication interface 2010 is used for the apparatus in the communication apparatus 200 to communicate with other devices. The processor 2020 uses the communication interface 2010 to send and receive data, and is used to implement the method described in FIG. 5 , FIG. 11 , or FIG. 15 or FIG. 16 in the foregoing method embodiment.

Communication apparatus 200 may also include at least one memory 2030 for storing program instructions and/or data. Memory 2030 is coupled to processor 2020. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 2020 may cooperate with the memory 2030. Processor 2020 may execute program instructions stored in memory 2030 . At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

After the communication device 200 is powered on, the processor 2020 can read the software program in the memory 2030, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 2020 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent, and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit (not shown in the figure). Send out. When data is sent to the communication device 200, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 2020, and the processor 2020 converts the baseband signal into data and sends the data to the baseband signal. to be processed.

In another implementation, the radio frequency circuit and antenna can be set independently of the processor 2020 that performs baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuit and antenna can be remote-connected from the communication device. layout.

The specific connection medium between the communication interface 2010 , the processor 2020 , and the memory 2030 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 2030, the processor 2020, and the communication interface 2010 are connected through a bus 2040 in FIG. 20. The bus is represented by a thick line in FIG. 20. The connection between other components is only for schematic illustration. , is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of presentation, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 20, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

When the communication apparatus 200 is specifically an apparatus used for terminal equipment or network equipment, for example, when the communication apparatus 200 is specifically a chip or a chip system, the communication interface 2010 may output or receive baseband signals. When the communication apparatus 200 is specifically a terminal device or a network device, the output or reception of the communication interface 2010 may be a radio frequency signal. In this embodiment 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 can implement or The methods, operations, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application are executed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The operations of the methods disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer-readable storage medium is executed on a processor, the method flow of the foregoing method embodiment is implemented.

The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, when the computer program product runs on a processor, the method flow of the above method embodiments is realized.

It should be noted that, for the sake of simple description, the foregoing method embodiments are all expressed as a series of action combinations, but those skilled in the art should know that the present application is not limited by the described action sequence. Because in accordance with the present application, certain operations may be performed in other orders or concurrently. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also know that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required by the present application.

The descriptions of the embodiments provided in this application may refer to each other, and the descriptions of the various embodiments have their own emphasis. For the parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments. For the convenience and brevity of description, for example, regarding the functions and operations of each device and device provided in the embodiments of the present application, reference may be made to the related descriptions of the method embodiments of the present application, and also between the method embodiments and the device embodiments. There may be mutual reference, combination or reference.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can 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, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present invention are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be downloaded from a website site, computer, server or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center is by wire (eg, coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes an integration of one or more available media. The usable media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, DVD), or semiconductor media (eg, Solid State Drive (SSD)), and the like.

Claims

A method for indicating availability of reference signals, characterized in that the method comprises:

The terminal device receives a system message sent by the network device, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of the reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to one or more paging periods, wherein the The reference signal is configured by the network device through a system message;

The terminal device receives first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period, where the first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal within a time length corresponding to the indication period.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period, comprising:

The terminal device receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, the first DCI includes the first indication information, and the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO , the first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The method also includes:

The terminal device receives the second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI is does not include the first indication information;

The number of bits included in the first DCI is greater than the number of bits included in the second DCI.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period, comprising:

The terminal device receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, the first DCI includes the first indication information, and the first DCI is located before the first paging occasion PO , the first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The method also includes:

The terminal device receives the second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI is does not include the first indication information;

The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, the target The bit position of the bit in the second DCI is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives the first indication information sent by the network device based on the indication period, comprising:

The terminal device receives the first downlink control information DCI sent by the network device based on the indication period, the first DCI includes the first indication information, and the first DCI is located in the first paging occasion PO , the first DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the first PO;

The method also includes:

The terminal device receives the second DCI sent by the network device, the second DCI is located in the second PO, the second DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, the second DCI is does not include the first indication information;

The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, the target The bit position of the bit in the second DCI is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.
The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the other information than the availability of the reference signal comprises paging grouping information.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the paging cycle is a cell-specific paging cycle.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first indication information indicates the availability of all reference signals configured by a system message within a time length corresponding to one indication period; or, The first indication information indicates availability of a reference signal associated with the PO of the terminal device within a time length corresponding to the indication period.
A method for indicating availability of reference signals, characterized in that the method comprises:

The network device sends a system message, where the system message is used to configure an indication period of the availability of the reference signal, and the time length corresponding to the indication period is the time length corresponding to one or more paging periods, wherein the reference signal is the The network device is configured through system messages;

The network device sends first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period, where the first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal within a time length corresponding to the indication period.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period, comprising:

The network device sends the first downlink control information DCI to the terminal device based on the indication period, the first DCI includes the first indication information, the first DCI is located before the first paging opportunity PO, the The first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The method also includes:

The network device sends a second DCI to the terminal device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not including the first indication information;

The number of bits included in the first DCI is greater than the number of bits included in the second DCI.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period, comprising:

The network device sends the first downlink control information DCI to the terminal device based on the indication period, the first DCI includes the first indication information, the first DCI is located before the first paging opportunity PO, the The first DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the first PO;

The method also includes:

The network device sends a second DCI to the terminal device, the second DCI is located before the second PO, the second DCI indicates whether a paging message is sent in the second PO, and the second DCI does not including the first indication information;

The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, the target The bit position of the bit in the second DCI is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device based on the indication period, comprising:

The network device sends first downlink control information DCI to the terminal device based on the indication period, the first DCI includes the first indication information, the first DCI is located in the first paging occasion PO, and the the first DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the first PO;

The method also includes:

The network device sends a second DCI to the terminal device, the second DCI is located in the second PO, the second DCI is used to schedule paging messages in the second PO, and the second DCI is not including the first indication information;

The number of bits included in the first DCI is equal to the number of bits included in the second DCI; the target bits in the second DCI are used to indicate other information except the availability of the reference signal, the target The bit position of the bit in the second DCI is the same as the bit position of the first indication information in the first DCI.
The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the other information than the availability of the reference signal comprises paging grouping information.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the paging cycle is a cell-specific paging cycle.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the first indication information indicates the availability of all reference signals configured within a time length corresponding to the indication period; or, the The first indication information indicates the availability of the reference signal associated with the PO of the terminal device within a time length corresponding to the indication period.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-7, or comprising a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 8-14.
A communication device comprising a processor, when the processor executes a computer program in a memory, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is performed, or the method according to claim 8 to 14 is performed The method described in any of the above is performed.
A communication device, comprising a processor and a memory;

the memory is used to store computer-executable instructions;

The processor is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the communication device to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 7, or to cause the communication device to execute the method of claim 8 to The method of any of 14.
A communication device, comprising a processor, a memory and a transceiver;

the transceiver, for receiving signals or transmitting signals;

the memory for storing computer programs;

The processor, for calling the computer program from the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or for calling the computer program from the memory to execute the method according to claim 8 to The method of any of 14.
A communication device, comprising a processor and a communication interface;

The communication interface is used for communicating with other communication apparatuses; the processor is used for running a program, so that the communication apparatus implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or causes the communication apparatus to implement The method of any one of claims 8-14.
A computer-readable storage medium, wherein a computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, any one of claims 1 to 7 is implemented. The method of, or, implementing the method of any one of claims 8-14.