WO2023000268A1

WO2023000268A1 - Method for acquiring time in non-terrestrial network, and terminal device and storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2023000268A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/107917
Authority: WO
Inventors: 于新磊; 李海涛; 胡奕
Original assignee: Oppo广东移动通信有限公司
Priority date: 2021-07-22
Filing date: 2021-07-22
Publication date: 2023-01-26
Also published as: CN117280788A

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a method for acquiring a time in a non-terrestrial network, and a terminal device and a storage medium, which are used for performing time correction according to coordinated universal time (UTC) and a round trip time (RTT), so as to obtain UTC at the current moment, thereby guaranteeing the reliability and effectiveness of the time. The method in the embodiments of the present application may comprise: a terminal device receiving coordinated universal time (UTC) from a network device, wherein the UTC is carried in a system information block 9 (SIB9); the terminal device acquiring a round trip time (RTT); and the terminal device determining, according to the UTC and the RTT, UTC at the current moment.

Description

Method for obtaining time in non-terrestrial communication network, terminal equipment and storage medium

technical field

The present application relates to the communication field, and in particular to a method for acquiring time in a non-terrestrial communication network, a terminal device and a storage medium.

Background technique

In the 5G new radio (New radio, NR) ground system, the base station (gNB) provides the global positioning system (Global Positioning System, GPS) for the user equipment (User Equipment, UE) through the system information block 9 (System Information Block9, SIB9) Time and Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) information. The UE may use this time information for a variety of purposes, possibly involving upper layers, such as assisting with GPS initialization, synchronizing UE clocks, etc. In a non-terrestrial communication network (NTN, Non Terrestrial Network), since the satellite has a transmission delay much greater than that of the terrestrial cellular network, when the UE receives the SIB9 message from the gNB, the validity of the time information cannot be guaranteed.

Contents of the invention

The embodiment of the present application provides a method for obtaining time in a non-terrestrial communication network, a terminal device and a storage medium, which are used to perform time correction according to UTC and the round-trip transmission time RTT, so as to obtain the current universal time and ensure the accuracy of time. Reliability, effectiveness.

The first aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a method for obtaining time in a non-terrestrial communication network, which may include: a terminal device receives the universal time UTC from the network device, and the UTC is carried in the system information block SIB9; the terminal The device obtains the round-trip transmission time RTT; the terminal device determines the UTC at the current moment according to the UTC and the RTT.

The second aspect of the embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal device, which has the function of performing time correction according to UTC and round-trip transmission time RTT, so as to obtain the current universal time and ensure the reliability and validity of time. This function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software on the hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

Another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a terminal device, including: a memory storing executable program codes; a processor coupled to the memory; method.

Still another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, including instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to execute the method described in the first aspect of the present invention.

Another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a chip, the chip is coupled with the memory in the terminal device, so that the chip calls the program instructions stored in the memory during operation, so that the terminal device executes the The method described in the first aspect of the invention.

In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device receives the universal time UTC from the network device, and the UTC is carried in the system information block SIB9; the terminal device obtains the round-trip transmission time RTT; the terminal device according to the UTC and the RTT, determine the current moment in Coordinated Universal Time. For the existing technology in NTN, since the satellite has a transmission delay much greater than that of the terrestrial cellular network, when the terminal device receives the SIB9 message from the network device, the validity of the UTC time information cannot be guaranteed, and the embodiment of the present application can be based on UTC and the round-trip transmission time RTT are time-corrected to obtain the current universal time, which ensures the reliability and validity of the time.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a satellite network architecture for transparent forwarding;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a satellite network architecture for regenerative forwarding;

FIG. 3 is a system architecture diagram of a communication system applied in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method for obtaining time in a non-terrestrial communication network in an embodiment of the present application;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a terminal device in the embodiment of the present application

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a terminal device in the embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the application with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the application. Apparently, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the application, not all of them. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of this application.

The following is a brief description of some of the terms involved in this application, as follows:

1. Background of NTN (Non Terrestrial Network)

Currently, the third generation partnership project (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP) is researching non-terrestrial communication network (NTN, Non Terrestrial Network) technology. NTN generally uses satellite communication to provide communication services to ground users. Compared with terrestrial cellular network communication, satellite communication has many unique advantages. First of all, satellite communication is not restricted by the user's region. For example, general land communication cannot cover areas such as oceans, mountains, deserts, etc. that cannot be equipped with communication equipment or are not covered by communication due to sparse population. For satellite communication, due to a Satellites can cover a large area of the ground, and satellites can orbit the earth, so theoretically every corner of the earth can be covered by satellite communications. Secondly, satellite communication has great social value. Satellite communication can be covered at a lower cost in remote mountainous areas, poor and backward countries or regions, so that people in these regions can enjoy advanced voice communication and mobile Internet technology, which is conducive to narrowing the digital gap with developed regions and promoting development of these areas. Thirdly, the distance of satellite communication is long, and the cost of communication does not increase significantly with the increase of communication distance; finally, the stability of satellite communication is high, and it is not limited by natural disasters.

Communication satellites are divided into LEO (Low-Earth Orbit, Low Earth Orbit) satellites, MEO (Medium-Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit) satellites, GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit, Geosynchronous Orbit) satellites, HEO (High Elliptical Orbit, high elliptical orbit) satellites and so on. At present, the main researches are LEO and GEO.

For LEO satellites, the orbital altitude ranges from 500km to 1500km, and the corresponding orbital period is about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. The signal propagation delay of single-hop communication between terminals is generally less than 20ms. The maximum satellite visible time is 20 minutes. The signal propagation distance is short, the link loss is small, and the requirements for the transmission power of the terminal are not high.

For GEO satellites, the orbital altitude is 35786km, and the rotation period around the earth is 24 hours. The signal propagation delay of single-hop communication between users is generally 250ms.

In order to ensure satellite coverage and improve the system capacity of the entire satellite communication system, satellites use multiple beams to cover the ground. A satellite can form dozens or even hundreds of beams to cover the ground; a satellite beam can cover tens to hundreds of kilometers in diameter. the ground area.

2. Satellite network architecture

At present, there are two types of satellites considered by 3GPP, one is a satellite with transparent payload, and the other is a satellite with regenerative payload.

As shown in FIG. 1 , it is a schematic diagram of a satellite network architecture for transparent forwarding. As shown in FIG. 2 , it is a schematic diagram of a regenerative and forwarding satellite network architecture.

Among them, the feeder link (feeder link) refers to the wireless link between the satellite and the NTN gateway (gateway) (usually located on the ground).

3. System message

System Information (SI) consists of a Master Information Block (MIB) and one or more System Information Blocks (SIB), and is divided into Minimum System Information (Minimum SI) and other system information (Other SI):

Minimum SI: includes the basic information required for initial access and the information required to obtain any other SI, namely MIB and SIB1.

MIB (Master Information Block): Contains cell barred status information (cell barred status information) to determine whether to reside in the cell and the physical layer information necessary to receive further SI. Periodically broadcast on the Broadcast Channel (BCH).

SIB1 (System Information Block 1): Remaining Minimum SI (RMSI), which defines the scheduling information of other SIBs, and contains information required for cell selection, admission control, and initial access. Periodically broadcast on the downlink shared channel (Downlink Shared Channel, DL-SCH); or in the radio resource control connection (Radio Resource Control CONNECTED, RRC_CONNECTED) state, on the DL-SCH in a dedicated manner (dedicated manner) to the user sent by the device (User Equipment, UE).

Other SI: includes all SIBs that are not broadcast by the Minimum SI, namely SIB2-14, etc., including cell reselection control parameters, Public Warning Systems (PWS) messages, etc. These different SIBn can be combined into one RRC message at the radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) layer. In DL-SCH periodic broadcast; in RRC idle (RRC_IDLE) and RRC inactive (RRC_INACTIVE) states, on-demand broadcast on DL-SCH according to UE request; in RRC_CONNECTED state, DL-SCH sends dedicated signaling to UE send.

SIB2 contains cell reselection information, which is mainly related to the serving cell.

SIB3 includes the current serving frequency and the cell reselection information related to the adjacent cells of the same frequency (including frequency-common cell reselection parameters and cell-specific cell reselection parameters).

SIB4 contains other new radio (New radio, NR) frequencies and cell reselection information related to inter-frequency neighboring cells (including frequency common cell reselection parameters and cell-specific cell reselection parameters), and can also be used for NR idle state/ Inactive state measurement.

SIB5 contains Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (Network) (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (Network), E-UTRA) frequency and cell reselection information related to E-UTRA neighboring cells (including common frequency cell reselection parameters and cell-specific cell reselection parameters).

SIB6 contains the main Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) notifications.

SIB7 contains ETWS secondary notifications.

SIB8 includes Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) warning notifications.

SIB9 contains information related to Global Positioning System (GPS) time and Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Universal Time Coordinated (UTC).

The MIB and SIB1 broadcast periods are 80ms and 160ms respectively, and will be repeatedly transmitted within the period. The broadcast period of Other SI is 80ms, 160ms, 320ms, ..., to 5120ms. The scheduling information of Other SI is included in the system message scheduling information (si-SchedulingInfo) in SIB1. An Other SI can contain one or more SIBn; when the SIB is longer, it can also contain a segment of a SIBn. Such as ETWS/CMAS, etc. are usually relatively long, exceeding the maximum size of SI of 372 bytes.

Except for the UTC of SIB9, when there is no notification of SI modification (Modification), the UE will not actively read the SI. The NR update SI will notify the UE through a paging (Paging) message, and the UE that receives the Paging message generally obtains a new SI (except ETWS/CMAS, namely SIB6, SIB7, SIB8) in the next update cycle. An update cycle is an integer multiple of the default paging cycle. For PWS messages such as ETWS/CMAS, the base station will broadcast them immediately after receiving them, so the base station will send SIB6, SIB7, and SIB8 in the current update cycle after sending the Paging message. Different from Long Term Evolution (LTE), the Paging message that triggers SI Modification is carried on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), called a Short Message (Short Message), and currently uses 2 bits ( bit), where systemModification indicates updates other than SIB6, SIB7, SIB8, and etwsAndCmasIndication indicates updates of SIB6, SIB7, SIB8.

4. SIB9 message

SIB9 contains GPS time and UTC time related information. UE can use the parameters provided in SIB9 to obtain UTC time, GPS time and local time. The UE may use the time information for various purposes, possibly involving upper layers, such as assisting with GPS initialization, synchronizing UE clocks.

The change of the UTC time information (timeInfoUTC) in SIB9 will neither cause the SI update notification nor the change of the value tag (valueTag) in SIB1. The time of the UTC time information corresponds to the system frame number (System Frame Number, SFN) boundary at or immediately after the end boundary of the SI window sending SIB9, and this field is calculated in units of 10 milliseconds from January 1, 1900 UTC seconds since 00:00:00 GMT. The UE can obtain the GPS time through the timeInfoUTC field.

In the current NR system, except for the reference time information (referenceTimeInfo) related to the Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) service, the behavior of the UE after receiving SIB9 is not regulated.

In the 5G NR ground system, the base station (gNB) provides the UE with GPS time and UTC time information through the system message SIB9. The UE may use this time information for a variety of purposes, possibly involving upper layers, such as assisting with GPS initialization, synchronizing UE clocks, etc. In NTN, since the satellite has a transmission delay much greater than that of the terrestrial cellular network, when the UE receives the SIB9 message from the gNB, the validity of the time information cannot be guaranteed.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System of Mobile communication (Global System of Mobile communication, GSM) system, code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA) system, broadband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) system , New Radio (NR) system, evolution system of NR system, LTE (LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum, LTE-U) system on unlicensed spectrum, NR (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum) on unlicensed spectrum unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) system, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, WiFi), fifth-generation communication (5th-Generation, 5G) system or other communication systems, etc.

Generally speaking, the number of connections supported by traditional communication systems is limited and easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, mobile communication systems will not only support traditional communication, but also support, for example, Device to Device (Device to Device, D2D) communication, Machine to Machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communication, or Vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, etc. , the embodiments of the present application may also be applied to these communication systems.

Optionally, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a carrier aggregation (Carrier Aggregation, CA) scenario, may also be applied to a dual connectivity (Dual Connectivity, DC) scenario, and may also be applied to an independent (Standalone, SA) deployment Web scene.

Optionally, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, where the unlicensed spectrum may also be considered as a shared spectrum; or, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to a licensed spectrum, where, Licensed spectrum can also be considered as non-shared spectrum.

The embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in conjunction with network equipment and terminal equipment, wherein the terminal equipment may also be referred to as user equipment (User Equipment, UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc.

The terminal device can be a station (STAION, ST) in the WLAN, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) station, a personal digital processing (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA) devices, handheld devices with wireless communication functions, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, next-generation communication systems such as terminal devices in NR networks, or future Terminal equipment in the evolved public land mobile network (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN) network, etc.

In the embodiment of this application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as aircraft, balloons and satellites) superior).

In this embodiment of the application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone (Mobile Phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (Virtual Reality, VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (Augmented Reality, AR) terminal Equipment, wireless terminal equipment in industrial control, wireless terminal equipment in self driving, wireless terminal equipment in remote medical, wireless terminal equipment in smart grid , wireless terminal equipment in transportation safety, wireless terminal equipment in smart city, or wireless terminal equipment in smart home.

As an example but not a limitation, in this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which is a general term for the application of wearable technology to intelligently design daily wear and develop wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not only a hardware device, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Generalized wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, complete or partial functions without relying on smart phones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to cooperate with other devices such as smart phones Use, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for physical sign monitoring.

In the embodiment of the present application, the network device may be a device for communicating with the mobile device, and the network device may be an access point (Access Point, AP) in WLAN, a base station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in GSM or CDMA , or a base station (NodeB, NB) in WCDMA, or an evolved base station (Evolutional Node B, eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and an NR network The network equipment (gNB) in the network or the network equipment in the future evolved PLMN network or the network equipment in the NTN network, etc.

As an example but not a limitation, in this embodiment of the present application, the network device may have a mobile feature, for example, the network device may be a mobile device. Optionally, the network equipment may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite can be a low earth orbit (low earth orbit, LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (medium earth orbit, MEO) satellite, a geosynchronous earth orbit (geosynchronous earth orbit, GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (High Elliptical Orbit, HEO) satellite. ) Satellite etc. Optionally, the network device may also be a base station installed on land, water, and other locations.

In this embodiment of the present application, the network device may provide services for a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) used by the cell, and the cell may be a network device ( For example, a cell corresponding to a base station), the cell may belong to a macro base station, or may belong to a base station corresponding to a small cell (Small cell), and the small cell here may include: a metro cell (Metro cell), a micro cell (Micro cell), a pico cell ( Pico cell), Femto cell, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

As shown in FIG. 3 , it is a system architecture diagram of a communication system applied in an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system may include a network device, and the network device may be a device for communicating with a terminal device (or called a communication terminal, terminal). A network device can provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area, and can communicate with terminal devices located within the coverage area. Figure 3 exemplarily shows one network device and two terminal devices. Optionally, the communication system may include multiple network devices and each network device may include other numbers of terminal devices within the coverage area. Examples are not limited to this. Optionally, the communication system may further include other network entities such as a network controller and a mobility management entity, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Wherein, the network equipment may further include access network equipment and core network equipment. That is, the wireless communication system also includes multiple core networks for communicating with access network devices. The access network device may be a long-term evolution (long-term evolution, LTE) system, a next-generation (mobile communication system) (next radio, NR) system or an authorized auxiliary access long-term evolution (LAA- Evolved base station (evolutional node B, abbreviated as eNB or e-NodeB) macro base station, micro base station (also called "small base station"), pico base station, access point (access point, AP), Transmission point (transmission point, TP) or new generation base station (new generation Node B, gNodeB), etc.

It should be understood that a device with a communication function in the network/system in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system shown in Figure 3 as an example, the communication equipment may include network equipment and terminal equipment with communication functions, and the network equipment and terminal equipment may be the specific equipment described in the embodiments of the present invention, which will not be described in detail here; communication The device may also include other devices in the communication system, such as network controllers, mobility management entities and other network entities, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The following is a further description of the technical solution of the present application in the form of an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, it is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method for obtaining time in a non-terrestrial communication network in the embodiment of the present application, which may include:

401. The terminal device receives the universal time UTC from the network device.

It can be understood that the terminal device receives the UTC broadcast by the network device, and the UTC here may also be referred to as UTC time information (timeInfoUTC). Wherein, the UTC is carried in the system information block SIB9.

Optionally, the terminal device currently resides in an NTN cell.

402. The terminal device acquires a round-trip transmission time RTT.

(1) Optionally, when the terminal device does not have Global Navigation Satellite System (Global Navigation Satellite System, GNSS) capability, the RTT is the first RTT, and the first RTT is used to indicate the network The round-trip transmission time from the device to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell. The first RTT can be understood as a public RTT.

Optionally, the first ground reference point is any reference point in the NTN cell. Preferably, the first ground reference point is a central reference point within the NTN cell.

Optionally, the RTT is the first RTT, and the acquisition of the round-trip transmission time RTT by the terminal device may include:

1) The terminal device receives the round-trip transmission time RTT sent by the network device; or,

2) The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell and the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information; or,

3) The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell, as well as the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and the delay information of the feeder line.

It can be understood that, regardless of the regenerative and forwarding satellite network architecture scenario or the transparent forwarding satellite network architecture scenario, the terminal device can receive the public RTT sent by the network device. In the regenerative and forwarding satellite network architecture scenario, there is no feeder link delay information, so the terminal device can determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device and the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information. For the transparent forwarding satellite network architecture scenario, there is the delay information of the feeder link, so the terminal device can determine the round-trip transmission according to the position of the terminal device, as well as the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and the delay information of the feeder line Time RTT.

Exemplarily, for a UE without GNSS capability, the UE residing in the NTN cell receives the cell common RTT (common RTT) broadcast by the gNB, and the common RTT is used to indicate the round-trip transmission from the gNB to a certain ground reference point in the NTN cell time. The common RTT (common RTT) information of the cell can be directly indicated by the network device; it can also be based on a certain ground reference point in the NTN cell by the terminal device, and broadcast satellite ephemeris information (also known as two-line orbit data (Two-Line Orbital Data) Element, TLE)) can be obtained; it can also be obtained based on a certain ground reference point in the NTN cell, as well as the broadcasted satellite ephemeris information and the delay information of the feeder link.

Optionally, the method further includes: the terminal device notifying the UTC of the current moment to an upper layer, so that the upper layer acquires first time information and performs corresponding data processing.

Exemplarily, the UE notifies the upper layer (such as the application layer) of the corrected UTC time at the current moment (currentTimeInfoUTC), as well as uncertainty information (if it includes uncertainty), which is used to obtain GPS time, local time, etc., and the upper layer can according to GPS time protocol GPS initialization, which can synchronize the UE clock according to the local time, etc.

Optionally, the SIB9 further includes the uncertainty information of the UTC, and the uncertainty information of the UTC is used to indicate the maximum difference between the RTT between the network device and the terminal device and the public RTT. error.

Exemplarily, a UE residing in an NTN cell receives a system message SIB9 broadcast by the gNB, and the SIB9 includes UTC time information (timeInfoUTC). SIB9 may also include uncertainty information (uncertainty) of timeInfoUTC, which is used to indicate the maximum error of RTT and common RTT between the UE and the gNB in the NTN cell.

Optionally, the method further includes: the terminal device notifying the UTC of the current moment and the uncertainty information of the UTC to the upper layer, so that the upper layer can obtain the second time information and perform corresponding data deal with.

(2) Optionally, when the terminal device has GNSS capability, the RTT is the second RTT, or, the first RTT; the second RTT is used to indicate the network device A round-trip transmission time to the location of the terminal device; the first RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time from the network device to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell. The second RTT may be understood as the RTT corresponding to the terminal device itself.

It should be noted that, for the acquisition of the first RTT, reference may be made to the above description, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the RTT is the second RTT, and the acquisition of the round-trip transmission time RTT by the terminal device may include:

1) The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device and satellite ephemeris information obtained in advance; or,

2) The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device, as well as pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.

It can be understood that in the regenerative and forwarding satellite network architecture scenario, there is no feeder link delay information, so the terminal device can determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the position of the terminal device and the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information . For the transparent forwarding satellite network architecture scenario, there is the delay information of the feeder link, so the terminal device can determine the round-trip transmission according to the position of the terminal device, as well as the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and the delay information of the feeder line Time RTT.

Optionally, the position of the terminal device is obtained through the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

Exemplarily, for a UE with a Global Navigation Satellite System (Global Navigation Satellite System, GNSS) capability. The UE residing in the NTN cell receives the system message SIB9 broadcast by the gNB, and the SIB9 includes UTC time information (timeInfoUTC). The round trip transmission time (Round Trip Time, RTT) can be obtained based on the position of the UE (obtained by GNSS), broadcast satellite ephemeris information and feeder link delay information.

Generally speaking, if the terminal device does not have GNSS capability, the terminal device uses the public RTT to correct the UTC time information; in the case of GNSS capability, although the public RTT can also be used to correct the UTC time information, but In most cases, the terminal device uses the RTT between itself and the network device to correct the URC time information, and the reliability of the URC time information correction through the RTT between itself and the network device is also higher. However, the scenario where the terminal device has GNSS capability can include: the GNSS signal strength is less than the threshold, and the positioning cannot be obtained, which can be called low GNSS capability. At this time, the terminal device cannot determine the RTT between itself and the network device, so the RTT A public RTT that can be broadcast for said network device. Optionally, the GNSS signal strength here may also be an average value of the GNSS signal strength.

Exemplarily, for a UE with low GNSS capability, the UE residing in the NTN cell receives the cell common RTT (common RTT) broadcast by the gNB, and the common RTT is used to indicate the round-trip transmission from the gNB to a certain ground reference point in the NTN cell time. The common RTT (common RTT) information of the cell can be directly indicated by the network equipment; it can also be based on a certain ground reference point in the NTN cell, and broadcast satellite ephemeris information (also known as two-line orbit data (Two-Line Orbital Element, TLE )) can be obtained; it can also be obtained based on a certain ground reference point in the NTN cell, as well as the broadcasted satellite ephemeris information and the delay information of the feeder link.

Optionally, in the above (1) or (2), the satellite ephemeris information is carried in a system message, and/or, in a broadcast message; the delay information of the feeder line is carried in a system message, and/or , in the broadcast message.

It can be understood that the timing of

steps

401 and 402 is not limited.

403. The terminal device determines the UTC at the current moment according to the UTC and the RTT.

Optionally, the terminal device determines the current universal time according to the UTC and the RTT, which may include:

The terminal device determines the UTC at the current moment according to the first formula;

The first formula is: T=UTC-0.5×RTT.

Exemplarily, when receiving SIB9, the UE should calculate the UTC time at the current moment, and the universal time at the current moment (currentTimeInfoUTC)=timeInfoUTC-0.5×RTT. It can be understood that because RTT is the round-trip transmission time here, when correcting UTC time information, it needs to be multiplied by 0.5 or 1/2 to obtain a single transmission time.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device determines the UTC at the current moment according to the pre-acquired UTC and the round-trip transmission time RTT. For the existing technology in NTN, since the satellite has a transmission delay much greater than that of the terrestrial cellular network, when the terminal device receives the SIB9 message from the network device, the validity of the UTC time information cannot be guaranteed, and the embodiment of the present application can be based on UTC and the round-trip transmission time RTT are time-corrected to obtain the current universal time, which ensures the reliability and validity of the time.

As shown in Figure 5, it is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, which may include:

The transceiver module 501 is configured to receive the universal time UTC from the network device, and the UTC is carried in the system information block SIB9;

The processing module 502 is configured to obtain a round-trip transmission time RTT; and determine the current universal time according to the UTC and the RTT.

Optionally, the terminal device currently resides in an NTN cell.

Optionally, when the terminal device does not have the GNSS capability, the RTT is the first RTT, and the first RTT is used to instruct the network device to go to the first ground in the NTN cell The round-trip transfer time to the reference point.

Optionally, when the terminal device has a GNSS capability, the RTT is the second RTT, or the first RTT;

The second RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time between the network device and the location of the terminal device;

The first RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time from the network device to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell.

Optionally, the first ground reference point is a central reference point in the NTN cell.

Optionally, the RTT is the first RTT,

The transceiver module 501 is further configured to receive the round-trip transmission time RTT sent by the network device; or,

The processing module 502 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell and the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information; or,

The processing module 502 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell, as well as pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.

Optionally, the RTT is the second RTT,

The processing module 502 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device and satellite ephemeris information obtained in advance; or,

The processing module 502 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device, as well as pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.

Optionally, the satellite ephemeris information is carried in a system message and/or in a broadcast message;

The delay information of the feeder line is carried in a system message and/or in a broadcast message.

Optionally, the processing module 502 is specifically configured to determine the current universal time according to the first formula;

The first formula is: T=UTC-0.5×RTT.

Optionally, the transceiver module 501 is further configured to notify the upper layer of the current universal time, so that the upper layer acquires the first time information and performs corresponding data processing.

Optionally, the transceiver module 502 is further configured to notify the upper layer of the current universal time and the uncertainty information of the UTC, so that the upper layer acquires the second time information and performs corresponding data processing.

Corresponding to at least one method in the foregoing embodiment that is applied to a terminal device, this embodiment of the present application further provides one or more types of terminal devices. The terminal device in this embodiment of the present application may implement any implementation manner in the foregoing methods. As shown in FIG. 6, it is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the terminal device in the embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device is described by taking a mobile phone as an example, and may include: a radio frequency (radio frequency, RF) circuit 610, a memory 620, an input unit 630, Display unit 640, sensor 650, audio circuit 660, wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, WiFi) module 670, processor 680, power supply 690 and other components. Wherein, the radio frequency circuit 610 includes a receiver 66 and a transmitter 612 . Those skilled in the art can understand that the structure of the mobile phone shown in FIG. 6 does not constitute a limitation to the mobile phone, and may include more or less components than shown in the figure, or combine some components, or arrange different components.

The following is a specific introduction to each component of the mobile phone in conjunction with Figure 6:

The RF circuit 610 can be used for sending and receiving information or receiving and sending signals during a call. In particular, after receiving the downlink information from the base station, it is processed by the processor 680; in addition, the designed uplink data is sent to the base station. Generally, the RF circuit 610 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier (low noise amplifier, LNA), a duplexer, and the like. In addition, RF circuitry 610 may also communicate with networks and other devices via wireless communications. The above wireless communication can use any communication standard or protocol, including but not limited to global system of mobile communication (global system of mobile communication, GSM), general packet radio service (general packet radio service, GPRS), code division multiple access (code division multiple access) multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), long term evolution (LTE), e-mail, short message service (short messaging service, SMS), etc.

The memory 620 can be used to store software programs and modules, and the processor 680 executes various functional applications and data processing of the mobile phone by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory 620 . The memory 620 can mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area can store an operating system, at least one application program required by a function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.); Data created by the use of mobile phones (such as audio data, phonebook, etc.), etc. In addition, the memory 620 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage devices.

The input unit 630 can be used to receive input numbers or character information, and generate key signal input related to user settings and function control of the mobile phone. Specifically, the input unit 630 may include a touch panel 631 and other input devices 632 . The touch panel 631, also referred to as a touch screen, can collect the user's touch operations on or near it (for example, the user uses any suitable object or accessory such as a finger or a stylus on the touch panel 631 or near the touch panel 631). operation), and drive the corresponding connection device according to the preset program. Optionally, the touch panel 631 may include two parts, a touch detection device and a touch controller. Among them, the touch detection device detects the user's touch orientation, and detects the signal brought by the touch operation, and transmits the signal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives the touch information from the touch detection device, converts it into contact coordinates, and sends it to the to the processor 680, and can receive and execute commands sent by the processor 680. In addition, the touch panel 631 can be implemented in various types such as resistive, capacitive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave. In addition to the touch panel 631 , the input unit 630 may also include other input devices 632 . Specifically, other input devices 632 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of physical keyboards, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), trackballs, mice, joysticks, and the like.

The display unit 640 may be used to display information input by or provided to the user and various menus of the mobile phone. The display unit 640 may include a display panel 641. Optionally, the display panel 641 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display (liquid crystal display, LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (organic light-Emitting diode, OLED), or the like. Further, the touch panel 631 may cover the display panel 641, and when the touch panel 631 detects a touch operation on or near it, it transmits to the processor 680 to determine the type of the touch event, and then the processor 680 determines the type of the touch event according to the The type provides a corresponding visual output on the display panel 641 . Although in FIG. 6, the touch panel 631 and the display panel 641 are used as two independent components to realize the input and input functions of the mobile phone, in some embodiments, the touch panel 631 and the display panel 641 can be integrated to form a mobile phone. Realize the input and output functions of the mobile phone.

The handset may also include at least one sensor 650, such as a light sensor, motion sensor, and other sensors. Specifically, the light sensor can include an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor, wherein the ambient light sensor can adjust the brightness of the display panel 641 according to the brightness of the ambient light, and the proximity sensor can turn off the display panel 641 and/or when the mobile phone is moved to the ear. or backlight. As a kind of motion sensor, the accelerometer sensor can detect the magnitude of acceleration in various directions (generally three axes), and can detect the magnitude and direction of gravity when it is stationary, and can be used to identify the application of mobile phone posture (such as horizontal and vertical screen switching, related Games, magnetometer attitude calibration), vibration recognition related functions (such as pedometer, tap), etc.; as for other sensors such as gyroscope, barometer, hygrometer, thermometer, infrared sensor, etc. repeat.

The audio circuit 660, the speaker 661 and the microphone 662 can provide an audio interface between the user and the mobile phone. The audio circuit 660 can transmit the electrical signal converted from the received audio data to the loudspeaker 661, and the loudspeaker 661 converts it into an audio signal output; After being received, it is converted into audio data, and then the audio data is processed by the output processor 680, and then sent to another mobile phone through the RF circuit 610, or the audio data is output to the memory 620 for further processing.

WiFi is a short-distance wireless transmission technology. The mobile phone can help users send and receive emails, browse web pages, and access streaming media through the WiFi module 670, which provides users with wireless broadband Internet access. Although FIG. 6 shows a WiFi module 670, it can be understood that it is not an essential component of the mobile phone, and can be completely omitted as required without changing the essence of the invention.

The processor 680 is the control center of the mobile phone. It uses various interfaces and lines to connect various parts of the entire mobile phone. By running or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 620, and calling data stored in the memory 620, execution Various functions and processing data of the mobile phone, so as to monitor the mobile phone as a whole. Optionally, the processor 680 may include one or more processing units; preferably, the processor 680 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes operating systems, user interfaces, and application programs, etc. , the modem processor mainly handles wireless communications. It can be understood that the foregoing modem processor may not be integrated into the processor 680 .

The mobile phone also includes a power supply 690 (such as a battery) for supplying power to various components. Preferably, the power supply can be logically connected to the processor 680 through the power management system, so as to realize functions such as managing charging, discharging, and power consumption management through the power management system. Although not shown, the mobile phone may also include a camera, a Bluetooth module, etc., which will not be repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present application, the radio frequency circuit 610 is configured to receive the universal time UTC from the network device, and the UTC is carried in the system information block SIB9;

The processor 680 is configured to acquire a round-trip transmission time RTT, and to determine the UTC at the current moment according to the UTC and the RTT.

Optionally, the terminal device currently resides in an NTN cell.

The second RTT is used to indicate the round-trip transmission time between the network device and the terminal device location;

Optionally, the RTT is the first RTT,

The radio frequency circuit 610 is further configured to receive the round-trip transmission time RTT sent by the network device; or,

The processor 680 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell and the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information; or,

The processor 680 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell, as well as pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.

Optionally, when the terminal device has a GNSS capability, the RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time between the network device and the terminal device.

Optionally, the RTT is the second RTT,

The processor 680 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device and pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information; or,

The processor 680 is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device, and pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.

Optionally, the processor 680 is specifically configured to determine the UTC at the current moment according to the first formula;

The first formula is: T=UTC-0.5×RTT.

Optionally, the radio frequency circuit 610 is further configured to notify the upper layer of the current universal time, so that the upper layer acquires the first time information and performs corresponding data processing.

Optionally, the radio frequency circuit 610 is further configured to notify the UTC of the current moment and the uncertainty information of the UTC to the upper layer, so that the upper layer can obtain the second time information and perform corresponding data processing.

In the above embodiments, all or part of them may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present invention will be generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. 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 transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (eg, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be stored by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or a data center integrated with one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a Solid State Disk (SSD)).

The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the specification and claims of the present application and the above drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and not necessarily Used to describe a specific sequence or sequence. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein can be practiced in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having", as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a sequence of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to the expressly listed instead, may include other steps or elements not explicitly listed or inherent to the process, method, product or apparatus.

Claims

A method for acquiring time in a non-terrestrial communication network, comprising:

The terminal device receives the universal time UTC from the network device, and the UTC is carried in the system information block SIB9;

The terminal device acquires a round-trip transmission time RTT;

The terminal device determines the UTC at the current moment according to the UTC and the RTT.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the terminal equipment currently resides in an NTN cell.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the terminal device does not have GNSS capability, the RTT is the first RTT, and the first RTT is used to indicate the The round-trip transmission time from the network device to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, in the case that the terminal device has GNSS capability, the RTT is the second RTT, or, the first RTT;

The second RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time between the network device and the location of the terminal device;

The first RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time from the network device to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell.
The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the first ground reference point is a central reference point in an NTN cell.
The method according to any one of claims 3-5, wherein the RTT is the first RTT, and the terminal device obtains the round-trip transmission time RTT, comprising:

The terminal device receives the round-trip transmission time RTT sent by the network device; or,

The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell and the pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information; or,

The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell, as well as pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the RTT is the second RTT, and the terminal device obtains the round-trip transmission time RTT, comprising:

The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device and satellite ephemeris information obtained in advance; or,

The terminal device determines the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device, and pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the position of the terminal device is obtained through the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
The method according to claim 5 or 7, wherein the satellite ephemeris information is carried in a system message and/or in a broadcast message;

The delay information of the feeder line is carried in a system message and/or in a broadcast message.
The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the terminal device determines the current universal time according to the UTC and the RTT, including:

The terminal device determines the UTC at the current moment according to the first formula;

The first formula is: T=UTC-0.5×RTT.
The method according to any one of claims 1-10, further comprising:

The terminal device notifies the UTC of the current moment to the upper layer, so that the upper layer can obtain the first time information and perform corresponding data processing.
The method according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein the SIB9 further includes uncertainty information of the UTC, and the uncertainty information of the UTC is used to instruct the network device to The maximum error between the RTT between the terminal devices and the common RTT.
The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the method further comprises:

The terminal device notifies the UTC of the current moment and the uncertainty information of the UTC to an upper layer, so that the upper layer acquires second time information and performs corresponding data processing.
A terminal device, characterized in that it includes:

a memory storing executable program code;

a processor and a transceiver coupled to the memory;

The transceiver is configured to receive UTC from the network device, the UTC is carried in the system information block SIB9;

The processor is configured to obtain a round-trip transmission time RTT; and determine the current universal time according to the UTC and the RTT.
The terminal device according to claim 14, characterized in that, the terminal device currently resides in an NTN cell.
The terminal device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein when the terminal device does not have the GNSS capability, the RTT is the first RTT, and the first RTT is used to indicate the The round-trip transmission time from the network device to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell.
The terminal device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein, when the terminal device has a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) capability, the RTT is the second RTT, or, the first RTT;

The second RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time between the network device and the location of the terminal device;

The first RTT is used to indicate a round-trip transmission time from the network device to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell.
The terminal device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the first ground reference point is a central reference point in an NTN cell.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 16-18, wherein the RTT is the first RTT,

The transceiver is further configured to receive the round-trip transmission time RTT sent by the network device; or,

The processor is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell and pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information; or,

The processor is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the first ground reference point in the NTN cell, as well as pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.
The terminal device according to claim 17, wherein the RTT is the second RTT,

The processor is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device and satellite ephemeris information obtained in advance; or,

The processor is specifically configured to determine the round-trip transmission time RTT according to the location of the terminal device, and pre-acquired satellite ephemeris information and delay information of feeder lines.
The terminal device according to claim 20, wherein the position of the terminal device is obtained through the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
The terminal device according to claim 18 or 20, wherein the satellite ephemeris information is carried in a system message and/or in a broadcast message;

The delay information of the feeder line is carried in a system message and/or in a broadcast message.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 14-22, characterized in that,

The processor is specifically configured to determine the UTC at the current moment according to the first formula;

The first formula is: T=UTC-0.5×RTT.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 14-23, characterized in that,

The transceiver is further configured to notify the upper layer of the current universal time, so that the upper layer acquires first time information and performs corresponding data processing.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 14-24, wherein the SIB9 further includes the UTC uncertainty information, and the UTC uncertainty information is used to indicate that the network device The maximum error between the RTT to the terminal device and the common RTT.
The terminal device according to claim 25, characterized in that,

The transceiver is configured to notify the UTC of the current moment and the uncertainty information of the UTC to an upper layer, and is used for the upper layer to acquire second time information and perform corresponding data processing.
A terminal device, characterized in that it includes:

A transceiver module, configured to receive UTC from the network device, the UTC carried in the system information block SIB9;

The processing module is configured to obtain a round-trip transmission time RTT; and determine the current universal time according to the UTC and the RTT.
A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which, when run on a processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-13.