WO2024067707A1

WO2024067707A1 - Communication method and communication apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2024067707A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/122066
Authority: WO
Inventors: 张莉莉; 戴喜增
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2022-09-30
Filing date: 2023-09-27
Publication date: 2024-04-04
Also published as: CN117812720A

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a communication method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: if a first time interval is less than or equal to a first threshold, a terminal device determining to switch from a first band to a second band after transmission of first uplink information ends; if the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device switching from the first band to a third band after the transmission of the first uplink information ends, and switching from the third band to the second band; and the terminal device transmitting second uplink information on the second band, wherein the first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, and the first moment and the second moment are respectively a start moment for transmitting the first uplink information on the first band and a start moment for transmitting the second uplink information on the second band. By determining, according to the magnitude relationship between the time interval of two uplink transmissions and the preset threshold, whether to switch from the third band to the band of the next uplink transmission after the current uplink transmission ends, the reliability of uplink transmission can be ensured.

Description

A communication method and a communication device

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on September 30, 2022, with application number 202211230894.4 and invention name “A communication method and communication device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device.

Background technique

In scenarios such as supplementary uplink (SUL), the terminal device needs to switch between multiple frequency bands to ensure data transmission performance. The flexible spectrum access (FSA) mechanism in release 18 (R18) of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) can increase the number of frequency bands supported by the terminal device to three or four. However, the radio frequency (RF) transmission channels of the terminal device are usually two. Therefore, how to switch the limited RF transmission channel to the best frequency band for signal transmission and ensure the reliability of uplink transmission is a problem that needs to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device to ensure the reliability of uplink data transmission when a terminal device switches between frequency bands.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: if a first time interval is less than or equal to a first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the transmission of the first uplink information is completed; if the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band after the transmission of the first uplink information is completed, and then switch from the third frequency band to the second frequency band; the terminal device transmits the second uplink information on the second frequency band; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the starting moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band; or, the first moment is the ending moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band; or, the first time interval is the time interval between the first uplink information and the second uplink information.

Based on the above scheme, when the terminal device determines that the time interval for uplink information transmission on the first frequency band and the second frequency band is less than or equal to the preset threshold, the terminal device can switch from the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information to the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information next time after an uplink transmission is completed, without switching to the third frequency band (anchor frequency band), thereby avoiding the switching delay of switching between the frequency band of the two uplink transmissions and the anchor frequency band, thereby avoiding the interruption of information transmission caused by the switching delay and ensuring the reliability of the two uplink transmissions.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third frequency band.

Based on the above scheme, when the terminal device determines that the time interval for uplink information transmission on the first frequency band and the second frequency band is less than or equal to the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay, the terminal device can switch from the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information to the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information next time after an uplink transmission is completed, without switching to the anchor frequency band, thereby ensuring the reliability of the two uplink transmissions.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band before the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed.

In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third moment, and the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and the second duration, and the second duration is The sum of the third duration and the fourth duration, the third duration is the preparation duration of the second uplink information, the fourth duration is the duration required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band. The fourth duration can be understood as a state transition delay.

In this application, "replace" can also be understood as "update" or "replace".

Based on the above scheme, after an uplink transmission is completed, the terminal device can replace the configuration parameters of the anchor frequency band with the configuration parameters of the non-anchor frequency band (second frequency band) for the next uplink transmission within a suitable time to ensure the reliability of the two uplink transmissions.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can switch frequency band without using the third frequency band.

Among them, the terminal device "can not pass" the third frequency band to perform frequency band switching, which can be understood as the terminal device "does not need to pass" or "supports not passing" the third frequency band to perform frequency band switching.

Based on the above solution, by sending the capability information to the network device, the network device can schedule uplink data transmission according to the capability, thereby ensuring the reliability of subsequent uplink transmission of the terminal device.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling; or, the first scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.

In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third carrier and the first carrier, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third carrier and the second carrier, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third carrier.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: a terminal device sends capability information to a network device, the capability information indicating the capability of the terminal device when switching between two frequency bands, the capability information being used to schedule transmission of uplink information.

In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the capability information may indicate that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device may switch between the non-anchor frequency bands without using the anchor frequency band; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the start moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the start moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band; or, the first moment is the end moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the start moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band; or, the first time interval is the time interval between the first uplink information and the second uplink information. The non-anchor frequency band includes the first frequency band and the second frequency band, and the anchor frequency band includes the third frequency band.

Exemplarily, the capability information includes that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device may switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band. The capability information is specifically used to schedule the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in a first time unit and a second time unit, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third frequency band.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, the second scheduling information is DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the first scheduling information is different from the second scheduling information.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the terminal device may switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band. The capability information is specifically used to schedule the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in a first time unit and a second time unit when there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the capability information may indicate a state transition delay, the state transition The delay may be the additional processing time required for the terminal device to switch between different frequency bands, or the total processing time required for the terminal device to switch between different frequency bands, or the state transition delay may be the time required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band. The capability information is specifically used for the network device to schedule uplink data transmission based on the second uplink scheduling delay, and the uplink scheduling processing delay is K2 or K1 that satisfies the state transition delay and the first uplink scheduling processing delay, or the second uplink scheduling delay is the sum of the first uplink scheduling delay and the state transition delay.

In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device has/exists a common frequency band in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching; or, the capability information may indicate that the first frequency band group supported by the terminal device, the second frequency band group, and the third frequency band group have/exist a common frequency band;

Among them, the first frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the first uplink switching; the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the first uplink switching, or the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the second uplink switching; the third frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the second uplink switching. The scheduling information is specifically used to schedule the terminal device to transmit uplink data through the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group in the first time unit, the second time unit and the third time unit respectively, and there are common frequency bands between the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group. The first frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, the second frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, and the third frequency band group includes at least one frequency band.

Exemplarily, an uplink switching of a terminal device may be understood as a switching of a radio frequency chain Tx state of the terminal device in two consecutive time units.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the capability information indicates the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device supports switching within the first uplink scheduling delay; or, the capability information is specifically used to schedule the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay. The maximum number of frequency bands supported can also be understood as the number of RF chains that can support parallel transmission; or, the capability information can indicate the maximum number of carriers that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay; the scheduling information is specifically used to schedule the transmission of uplink data on the frequency band supported within the first uplink scheduling delay.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device supports the state transition delay when the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching is greater than or equal to the maximum number of frequency bands switched by the terminal device within the first uplink scheduling delay.

The number of frequency bands involved in an uplink switching of the terminal device can be understood as the sum of the number of frequency bands used to transmit uplink data before and after the uplink switching, or the sum of the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit before the uplink switching and the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit after the uplink switching. This capability information is specifically used by the network device to schedule uplink data transmission based on the second uplink scheduling delay.

In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the capability information indicates the minimum interval required for two consecutive switches expected by the terminal device when flexible spectrum access or dynamic carrier switching between multiple frequency bands is enabled, or the minimum interval required for two consecutive switches expected by the terminal device when memory sharing or RF parameter conversion occurs, or the minimum length of time the terminal device expects to reside on a third frequency band.

By reporting the minimum interval, the terminal device can reduce the frequency of radio frequency switching and ensure the minimum processing time required for radio frequency switching between different frequency bands.

According to a third aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving capability information from a terminal device, the capability information indicating the capability of the terminal device when switching between two frequency bands; and scheduling transmission of uplink information based on the capability information.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the capability information may indicate that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device may switch between non-anchor frequency bands without going through the anchor frequency band; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the starting moment for transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, the second moment is the starting moment for transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band, the non-anchor frequency band includes the first frequency band and the second frequency band, and the anchor frequency band includes the third frequency band.

Exemplarily, the capability information includes that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band; scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in a first time unit and a second time unit, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first value, and the first value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay, and the first duration; or, the first value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, The second switching delay is the switching delay of the terminal device switching between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside in the third frequency band.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, the second scheduling information is DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the first scheduling information is different from the second scheduling information.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the terminal device can switch between the first frequency band and the second frequency band without going through the third frequency band; scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in a first time unit and a second time unit, the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit being less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the terminal device can switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band; scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in a first time unit and a second time unit when there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the capability information may indicate a state transition delay, which is the additional processing time required for a terminal device to switch between different frequency bands. The state transition delay may also be the total processing time required for a terminal device to switch between different frequency bands. Scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling uplink data transmission within a second uplink scheduling delay, the uplink scheduling processing delay being K2 or K1 that satisfies the state transition delay and the first uplink scheduling processing delay, or the second uplink scheduling delay being the sum of the first uplink scheduling delay and the state transition delay.

In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device has/exists a common frequency band in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching; or, the capability information may indicate that the first frequency band group supported by the terminal device, the second frequency band group, and the third frequency band group have/exist a common frequency band;

Among them, the first frequency band group is the frequency band where the first uplink switch is located before switching; the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the first uplink switch is located after switching, or the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the second uplink switch is located before switching; the third frequency band group is the frequency band where the second uplink switch is located after switching; scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling the terminal device to transmit uplink data through the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group in the first time unit, the second time unit and the third time unit respectively, and there are common frequency bands between the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group; the first frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, the second frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, and the third frequency band group includes at least one frequency band.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the capability information indicates the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device supports switching within the first uplink scheduling delay; or, the capability information is specifically used to schedule the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay. The maximum number of frequency bands supported can also be understood as the number of RF chains that can support parallel transmission; or, the capability information can indicate the maximum number of carriers that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay; scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling the transmission of uplink data on the frequency band supported within the first uplink scheduling delay.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the capability information indicates that the terminal device supports the state transition delay when the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching is greater than or equal to the maximum number of frequency bands switched by the terminal device within the first uplink scheduling delay.

The number of frequency bands involved in an uplink switch of the terminal device can be understood as the sum of the number of frequency bands used to transmit uplink data before and after the uplink switch, or the sum of the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit before the uplink switch and the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit after the uplink switch. Scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling uplink data transmission within the second uplink scheduling delay.

In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the capability information indicates the minimum interval required for two consecutive switches expected by the terminal device when flexible spectrum access or dynamic carrier switching between multiple frequency bands is enabled, or the minimum interval required for two consecutive switches expected by the terminal device when memory sharing or RF parameter conversion occurs, or the minimum length of time the terminal device expects to stay on the third frequency band.

By reporting the minimum interval, the terminal device can reduce the frequency of radio frequency switching and ensure that the radio frequency switches between different frequency bands. Minimum processing time required.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: a terminal device determines a target switching frequency band according to a relationship between a first time interval and a first threshold, the first time interval being the time interval between a first time unit and an Nth time unit, the first time unit being a time unit for transmitting first uplink information on a first frequency band, the Nth time unit being a time unit for transmitting second uplink information on a second frequency band, and N being an integer greater than or equal to 2; the terminal device switches to the target switching frequency band in a second time unit, the second time unit being the next time unit of the first time unit; the terminal device transmits the second uplink information through the second frequency band. Alternatively, the method includes: the terminal device determines the target switching frequency band according to the relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold, the first time interval is the time interval between the first uplink information and the second uplink information, the first uplink information is the uplink information transmitted on the first time unit and the first frequency band, the second uplink information is the uplink information transmitted on the Nth time unit and the second frequency band, N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; the terminal device switches to the target switching frequency band in the second time unit, the second time unit is the next time unit of the first time unit; the terminal device transmits the second uplink information through the second frequency band.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third carrier and the first carrier, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third carrier and the second carrier, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third carrier.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the first frequency band. The terminal device switches from the target switching frequency band to the second frequency band in any time unit between the second time unit and the Nth time unit.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the second frequency band. The terminal device switches to the second frequency band in the second time unit. This ensures that the replacement of the spectrum parameters is completed as soon as possible.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, when the first time interval is greater than the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the first frequency band or the third frequency band. If the target switching frequency band is the first frequency band, the terminal device switches from the target switching frequency band to the third frequency band in any time unit between the second time unit and the Nth time unit, and switches from the third frequency band to the second frequency band in the Nth time unit.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is 2, the target switching frequency band is the second frequency band. The terminal device switches from the first frequency band to the second frequency band.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, when the first time interval is greater than the first threshold and N is 2, the target switching frequency band is the third frequency band. The terminal device switches from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and switches from the third frequency band to the second frequency band.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, before the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third moment, the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and the second duration, the second moment is the start moment of the Nth time unit, the second duration is the sum of the third duration and the fourth duration, the third duration is the preparation duration of the second uplink information, and the fourth duration is the duration required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band. The fourth duration can be understood as a state transition delay.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can switch frequency band without using the third frequency band.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first time unit is determined according to first scheduling information, the Nth time unit is determined according to second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is Radio resource control RRC signaling; or, the first scheduling information is radio resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.

In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: if a first time interval is less than or equal to a first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first carrier to the second carrier after the first uplink data transmission ends; if the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first carrier to the third carrier after the first uplink data transmission ends, and then switches from the third carrier to the second carrier; the terminal device transmits the second uplink data on the second carrier; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between the first moment and the second moment, the first moment is the starting moment of transmitting the first uplink data on the first carrier, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink data on the second carrier; or, the first moment is the ending moment of transmitting the first uplink data on the first carrier, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink data on the second carrier; or, the first time interval is the time interval between the first uplink data and the second uplink data. wherein the first carrier is located in the first frequency band, the second carrier is located in the second frequency band, and the third carrier is located in the third frequency band.

In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third carrier and the first carrier, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third carrier and the second carrier, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third carrier.

Based on the above scheme, when the terminal device determines that the time interval for uplink information transmission on the first carrier and the second carrier is less than or equal to the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay, the terminal device can switch from the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information to the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information next time after an uplink transmission is completed, without switching to the anchor frequency band, thereby ensuring the reliability of the two uplink transmissions.

In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band before the terminal device determines that the first uplink data transmission is completed and before switching from the first carrier to the second carrier.

In conjunction with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third moment, the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and the second duration, the second duration is the sum of the third duration and the fourth duration, the third duration is the preparation duration of the second uplink data, and the fourth duration is the duration required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band. The fourth duration can be understood as a state transition delay.

In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can perform carrier switching without using the third carrier.

In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling; or, the first scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit: if a first time interval is less than or equal to a first threshold, the processing unit is used to determine to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed; if the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the processing unit is used to determine to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed, and then switch from the third frequency band to the second frequency band; the transceiver unit is used to transmit second uplink information on the second frequency band; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the starting moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band.

In conjunction with the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to the first value, and the first The numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third frequency band.

Based on the above scheme, when the terminal device determines that the time interval between two uplink information transmissions on non-anchor frequency bands is less than or equal to the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay, the terminal device can switch from the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information to the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information next time after an uplink transmission is completed, without switching to the anchor frequency band, thereby ensuring the reliability of the two uplink transmissions.

In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, before the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.

In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third moment, and the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and the second time length, the second time length is the sum of the third time length and the fourth time length, the third time length is the preparation time length of the second uplink information, and the fourth time length is the time length required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.

Based on the above scheme, after an uplink transmission is completed, the terminal device can replace the configuration parameters of the anchor frequency band with the configuration parameters of the non-anchor frequency band for the next uplink transmission within a suitable time to ensure the reliability of the two uplink transmissions.

In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can switch frequency band without using the third frequency band.

In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling; or, the first scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit, which is used to send capability information to a network device, wherein the capability information indicates the capability of a terminal device when switching between two frequency bands, and the capability information is used to schedule the transmission of uplink information.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the device also includes a processing unit, and the capability information can indicate that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the processing unit can switch between non-anchor frequency bands without going through the anchor frequency band; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the starting moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band, the non-anchor frequency band includes the first frequency band and the second frequency band, and the anchor frequency band includes a third frequency band.

Exemplarily, the capability information includes that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the processing unit can switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band; the capability information is specifically used to schedule the processing unit to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in the first time unit and the second time unit, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the processing unit to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the processing unit to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the processing unit to reside on the third frequency band.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, the second scheduling information is DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the first scheduling information is different from the second scheduling information.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the processing unit may not switch between the first frequency band and the second frequency band through the third frequency band; the capability information is specifically used to schedule the processing unit to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in a first time unit and a second time unit, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the processing unit can switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band; the capability information is specifically used to schedule the processing unit to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in the first time unit and the second time unit when there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the capability information may indicate a state transition delay, which may be an additional processing time required for a terminal device to switch between different frequency bands, or may be a total processing time required for a terminal device to switch between different frequency bands; the capability information is specifically used for a scheduling processing unit, which schedules uplink data transmission within a second uplink scheduling delay, and the uplink scheduling processing delay is K2 or K1 that satisfies the state transition delay and the first uplink scheduling processing delay, or the second uplink scheduling delay is the sum of the first uplink scheduling delay and the state transition delay.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the capability information is specifically used to schedule the processing unit to have/exist a common frequency band in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching; or, the capability information is specifically used to schedule the processing unit to have/exist a common frequency band between the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group, and the third frequency band group supported by the terminal device;

Among them, the first frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the first uplink switching; the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the first uplink switching, or the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the second uplink switching; the third frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the second uplink switching; the capability information is specifically used for the scheduling processing unit to transmit uplink data through the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group in the first time unit, the second time unit and the third time unit respectively, and there are common frequency bands between the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group; the first frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, the second frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, and the third frequency band group includes at least one frequency band.

In conjunction with the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the capability information indicates a maximum number of frequency bands that the processing unit supports switching within the first uplink scheduling delay; or, the capability information indicates a maximum number of frequency bands that the processing unit can support dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay. The capability information is specifically used to schedule transmission of uplink data on a frequency band supported within the first uplink scheduling delay.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the capability information may indicate that when the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching is greater than or equal to the maximum number of frequency bands switched by the terminal device within the first uplink scheduling delay, the terminal device supports the state transition delay; the capability information is specifically used to schedule the transmission of uplink information within the second uplink scheduling delay when the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching is greater than or equal to the maximum number of frequency bands switched by the terminal device within the first uplink scheduling delay.

In combination with the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the capability information indicates the minimum interval required for two consecutive switches expected by the processing unit when flexible spectrum access or dynamic carrier switching between multiple frequency bands is enabled, or the minimum interval required for two consecutive switches expected by the processing unit when memory sharing or RF parameter conversion occurs, or the minimum length of time the processing unit expects to reside on a third frequency band.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is used to receive capability information from a terminal device, and the capability information indicates the capability of the terminal device when switching between two frequency bands; the processing unit is used to schedule the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the capability information may indicate that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device may switch between non-anchor frequency bands without going through the anchor frequency band; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the starting moment for transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, the second moment is the starting moment for transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band, the non-anchor frequency band includes the first frequency band and the second frequency band, and the anchor frequency band includes a third frequency band.

Exemplarily, the capability information includes that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band; the processing unit is specifically used to schedule the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in the first time unit and the second time unit, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In conjunction with the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to the first value, and the first The numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third frequency band.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, the second scheduling information is DCI or wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the first scheduling information is different from the second scheduling information.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the terminal device can switch between the first frequency band and the second frequency band without going through the third frequency band; the processing unit is specifically used to schedule the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in a first time unit and a second time unit, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the terminal device can switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band; the processing unit is specifically used to schedule the terminal device to transmit uplink information through the first frequency band and the second frequency band in the first time unit and the second time unit when there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, and the time interval between the first time unit and the second time unit is less than or equal to the first time interval.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the capability information may indicate a state transition delay, which may be an additional processing time required for a terminal device to switch between different frequency bands, or may be a total processing time required for a terminal device to switch between different frequency bands; the processing unit is specifically used to schedule the terminal device to schedule uplink data transmission within a second uplink scheduling delay, and the uplink scheduling processing delay is K2 or K1 that satisfies the state transition delay and the first uplink scheduling processing delay, or the second uplink scheduling delay is the sum of the first uplink scheduling delay and the state transition delay.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device has/exists a common frequency band in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching; or, the capability information may indicate that the first frequency band group supported by the terminal device, the second frequency band group, and the third frequency band group have/exist a common frequency band;

Among them, the first frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the first uplink switching; the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the first uplink switching, or the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the second uplink switching; the third frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the second uplink switching; scheduling the transmission of uplink information based on the capability information specifically includes: scheduling the terminal device to transmit uplink data through the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group in the first time unit, the second time unit and the third time unit respectively, and there are common frequency bands between the first frequency band group, the second frequency band group and the third frequency band group; the first frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, the second frequency band group includes at least one frequency band, and the third frequency band group includes at least one frequency band.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the capability information indicates the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device supports switching within the first uplink scheduling delay; or, the capability information is specifically used to schedule the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay. The maximum number of frequency bands supported can also be understood as the number of RF chains that can support parallel transmission; or, the capability information can indicate the maximum number of carriers that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay; the processing unit is specifically used to schedule the transmission of uplink data on the frequency band supported within the first uplink scheduling delay.

In combination with the eighth aspect, in certain implementations of the eighth aspect, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device supports the state transition delay when the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching is greater than or equal to the maximum number of frequency bands switched by the terminal device within the first uplink scheduling delay.

The number of frequency bands involved in an uplink switching of the terminal device can be understood as the sum of the number of frequency bands used to transmit uplink data before and after the uplink switching, or the sum of the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit before the uplink switching and the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit after the uplink switching; the processing unit is specifically used to schedule uplink data transmission within the second uplink scheduling delay.

In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, the device comprising a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit is used to determine the target switching frequency band according to the relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold, the first time interval is the time interval between the first time unit and the Nth time unit, the first time unit is the time unit for transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the Nth time unit is the time unit for transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band. A time unit for transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2; the processing unit is also used to switch to the target switching frequency band in the second time unit, the second time unit being the next time unit of the first time unit; the transceiver unit is used to transmit the second uplink information through the second frequency band. Alternatively, a communication device is provided, the device comprising a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit is used to determine the target switching frequency band according to the relationship between a first time interval and a first threshold, the first time interval being the time interval between the first uplink information and the second uplink information, the first uplink information being the uplink information transmitted on the first time unit and the first frequency band, the second uplink information being the uplink information transmitted on the Nth time unit and the second frequency band, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2; the processing unit is also used to switch to the target switching frequency band in the second time unit, the second time unit being the next time unit of the first time unit; the transceiver unit is used to transmit the second uplink information through the second frequency band.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in some implementations of the ninth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the first frequency band. The processing unit is specifically configured to switch from the target switching frequency band to the second frequency band in any time unit between the second time unit and the Nth time unit.

In conjunction with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the second frequency band. The processing unit is specifically configured to switch to the second frequency band in the second time unit. This ensures that the replacement of the spectrum parameters is completed as soon as possible.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the device to switch between the third carrier and the first carrier, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the device to switch between the third carrier and the second carrier, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the device to reside on the third carrier.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in some implementations of the ninth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the first frequency band. The device switches from the target switching frequency band to the second frequency band in any time unit between the second time unit and the Nth time unit.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the second frequency band. The device switches to the second frequency band in the second time unit. This ensures that the replacement of the spectrum parameters is completed as soon as possible.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, when the first time interval is greater than the first threshold and N is greater than 2, the target switching frequency band is the first frequency band or the third frequency band. If the target switching frequency band is the first frequency band, the terminal device switches from the target switching frequency band to the third frequency band in any time unit between the second time unit and the Nth time unit, and switches from the third frequency band to the second frequency band in the Nth time unit.

In conjunction with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and N is 2, the target switching frequency band is the second frequency band. The device switches from the first frequency band to the second frequency band.

In combination with the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, when the first time interval is greater than the first threshold and N is 2, the target switching frequency band is the third frequency band. The device switches from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and switches from the third frequency band to the second frequency band.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, before the device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed, the device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, the processing unit is specifically used to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third moment, the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and the second duration, the second moment is the start moment of the Nth time unit, the second duration is the sum of the third duration and the fourth duration, the third duration is the preparation duration of the second uplink information, and the fourth duration is the duration required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band. The fourth duration can be understood as a state transition delay.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in certain implementations of the ninth aspect, the transceiver unit is also used to send capability information to the network device, and the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can switch frequency band without using the third frequency band.

In combination with the ninth aspect, in some implementations of the ninth aspect, the first time unit is determined according to first scheduling information, the Nth time unit is determined according to second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is Radio resource control RRC signaling; or, the first scheduling information is radio resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, wherein the communication device has the function of implementing any aspect of the first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of these aspects. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory. Optionally, a transceiver may also be included. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, and control the transceiver to send and receive signals, so that the communication device performs the method in any of the first and fifth aspects, or any possible implementation of these aspects.

In the twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive data and/or information and transmit the received data and/or information to the processor, and the processor processes the data and/or information, and the communication interface is also used to output the data and/or information processed by the processor, so that the method in any aspect of the first aspect and the third aspect, or any possible implementation of these aspects, is executed.

In the thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the method as in any one of the first and fifth aspects, or any possible implementation of these aspects, is executed.

In a fourteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising a computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method as in any one of the first and fifth aspects, or any possible implementation of these aspects, to be executed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of another scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of frequency band switching provided in the present application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 400 provided in the present application.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 400 provided in the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 100 provided in the present application.

FIG8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 200 provided in the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solution in this application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system or new radio (NR). Among them, the 5G mobile communication system can be a non-standalone (NSA) or an independent network (SA).

The technical solution provided in the present application can also be applied to machine type communication (MTC), long term evolution-machine (LTE-M), device-to-device (D2D) network, machine-to-machine (M2M) network, Internet of Things (IoT) network or other networks. Among them, IoT network can include vehicle networking, for example. Among them, the communication mode in the vehicle networking system is collectively referred to as vehicle to other devices (vehicle to X, V2X, X can represent anything), for example, the V2X can include: vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle to pedestrian (V2P) communication or vehicle to network (V2N) communication, etc.

The technical solution provided by this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the sixth generation (6G) mobile communication System, etc. This application does not limit this.

In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as 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.

A terminal device can be a device that provides voice/data connectivity to users, such as a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. At present, some examples of terminals can be: mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions (such as laptops, PDAs, etc.), mobile Internet devices (mobile internet devices, MIDs), virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) devices, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control (industrial control), wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, etc. Wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes (for example, home appliances such as televisions, smart boxes, game consoles), cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication functions, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks, or terminal devices in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs), etc.

Among them, wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for the intelligent design and development of wearable devices for daily wear using wearable technology, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also realize powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, and independent of smartphones to achieve complete or partial functions, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

In addition, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in the Internet of Things (IoT) system. IoT is an important part of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and object-to-object interconnection. IoT technology can achieve massive connections, deep coverage, and terminal power saving through narrow band (NB) technology, for example.

In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a vehicle or a whole vehicle, which can achieve communication through the Internet of Vehicles, or it may be a component located in the vehicle (for example, placed in the vehicle or installed in the vehicle), that is, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a vehicle-mounted module or a vehicle-mounted unit (on-board unit, OBU).

In addition, terminal devices can also include sensors such as smart printers, train detectors, and gas stations. Their main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal equipment), receiving control information and downlink data from network devices, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit uplink data to network devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can be any device with wireless transceiver function. The device includes but is not limited to: evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved Node B, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), etc. i) The access point (AP), wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP) or transmission and reception point (TRP) in the system, and can also be a gNB in a 5G, such as NR, system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a distributed unit (DU), or a base station in a next generation communication 6G system, etc.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some functions of the gNB, and the DU implements some functions of the gNB. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, and implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and related functions of active antennas. Since the information at the RRC layer will eventually become the information at the PHY layer, or be converted from the information at the PHY layer, under this architecture, high-level signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by the DU and the CU. It can be understood that The network device may be a device including one or more of a CU node, a DU node, and an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be classified as a network device in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or the CU may be classified as a network device in a core network (core network, CN), which is not limited in this application.

The network equipment provides services for the cell, and the terminal equipment communicates with the cell through the transmission resources (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) allocated by the network equipment. The cell can belong to a macro base station (for example, macro eNB or macro gNB, etc.), or to a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cells here may include: metro cell, micro 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.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 applicable to a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1 , the communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as the network device 110 shown in FIG. 1 ; the communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 120 shown in FIG. 1 . The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may communicate via a wireless link. Each communication device, such as the network device 110 or the terminal device 120, may be configured with multiple antennas. For each communication device in the communication system, the configured multiple antennas may include at least one transmitting antenna for transmitting signals and at least one receiving antenna for receiving signals. Therefore, communication between the communication devices in the communication system and between the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may be performed via multiple antenna technology.

In the 5G new radio (NR) system, the base station has a large transmission power and can transmit radio waves over long distances. However, the terminal device has a small transmission power and limited uplink coverage, so the received signal strength of the uplink transmission signal when it reaches the base station may not be sufficient to ensure its coverage performance. In addition, there is a problem of insufficient uplink spectrum, so the terminal device cannot rely on retransmission of data to ensure its uplink coverage performance.

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a scenario to which the technical solution of the present application is applicable. As shown in FIG2 , NR currently introduces supplementary uplink (SUL) as an alternative when uplink coverage is insufficient in the NR system. The so-called insufficient uplink coverage may refer to the terminal device reaching the maximum transmission power and still being insufficient to communicate with the network. The low frequency band of long term evolution (LTE) generally has better coverage performance. SUL considers using carriers from the lower frequency bands where LTE is located (e.g., 700MHz, 1.8GHz, or 2.1GHz) for NR uplink transmission. It has been determined that when using the LTE frequency band for NR transmission, the terminal device can reuse the frequency band with the LTE uplink time division duplex (TDD) when using the LTE frequency band. That is to say, when the terminal device is in the coverage of the TDD mid-band (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz or 4.9GHz), the UE uses the TDD mid-band; when the terminal device moves out of the coverage of the TDD mid-band (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz or 4.9GHz), the terminal device can use the frequency division duplex (FDD) low-band in the uplink, which supplements the uplink coverage shortcomings of the TDD mid-band and extends the uplink coverage. Of course, with the evolution of future communication systems, terminal devices can also use other TDD bands in the uplink as supplementary uplinks to further extend the uplink coverage.

That is, when the terminal device transmits uplink data on the NR band (e.g., 2.6GHz), it can use a carrier from the lower band where LTE is located (e.g., 700MHz/800MHz/900MHz, 1.8GHz or 2.1GHz) for NR uplink transmission, and this carrier can be understood as the SUL band (referred to as SUL 1band). In other words, in the SUL scenario, it is expected that the terminal device can dynamically switch between multiple bands such as 700M/800M/900M, 1.8G, 2.1G, 3.5G or 4.9GHz according to the channel status or the load condition of the band.

In addition, considering that the bandwidth of the high-frequency band is larger than that of the low-frequency band and has more resources, as well as the mobility of the terminal device, if the terminal device moves to a place closer to the base station, although the terminal device is within the coverage of NR, if there is a high-frequency band signal that can be used, the terminal device can use the resources of the high-frequency band for data transmission and other services to ensure the user service experience and alleviate the pressure on the use of bandwidth and frequency resources. That is, SUL can also be a high-frequency band. Among them, the high-frequency band can be a band higher than 6GHz, a band higher than the current NR uplink band, or a band higher than SUL 1band. The high-frequency band is recorded as SUL 2band. For example, the new 4.9GHz spectrum currently has the prospect of being used. This spectrum provides spectrum and frequency resources with higher bandwidth and more sufficient uplink time and frequency resources. Therefore, it is possible to consider expanding the uplink coverage on this spectrum.

This application selects SUL 2band, which is higher than the NR uplink frequency band, as an example, but is not limited to this. In the embodiment of this application, the high-frequency SUL 2band can be relative to NUL.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario applicable to the present application. Figure 3 (a) is a co-site scenario; Figure 3 (b) is a different site scenario. Co-site means: adding a new higher frequency band SUL 2band, such as 4.9GHz, to the macro base station; different site means: having SUL 1band and NUL on the macro base station and using the new higher frequency band SUL 2band on the small base station, for example, in the case of factory coverage. Different sites can also mean that there is NUL on the macro base station and a new higher frequency band SUL 2band on the small base station.

The embodiments of the present application can be applied to a communication system having a SUL link, for example, a communication system having a low-frequency SUL (SUL 1band) and/or a high-frequency SUL (SUL 2band) link. However, the application scenarios of the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto, for example, they can also be applied to uplink capacity expansion links, uplink spectrum expansion, uplink-dominated links, large uplinks or uplink scenarios.

In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief description of the terms that may be involved in the present application.

1. Transmitter ( _TX )

The transmission channel may be referred to as a "radio frequency (RF) transmission channel" or simply referred to as a "channel". In the present application, the transmission channel may work in the following manner: the transmission channel may receive a baseband signal from a baseband chip, perform RF processing (such as up-conversion, amplification, and filtering) on the baseband signal to obtain a RF signal, and finally radiate the RF signal into space through an antenna.

For example, the transmission channel may include electronic devices such as an antenna switch, an antenna tuner, a low noise amplifier (LNA), a power amplifier (PA), a mixer, a local oscillator (LO), and a filter, which may be integrated into one or more chips as needed. The antenna may also be considered as part of the transmission channel.

The "channel" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be understood as a "radio frequency chain". In the present application, the radio frequency chain can also be replaced by _TX , antenna, radio frequency, transmission channel, transmission port, receiving channel or any combination thereof, and the description of the same or similar situations is omitted below.

It should be understood that the "band" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be understood as "band", "frequency point" or "spectrum". The "band" in the present application can also be understood as a component carrier (CC) (which can be referred to as "carrier"), a subband or a partial bandwidth (bandwidth partial), that is, the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application is also fully applicable to "carrier", "subband" and "BWP". The following mainly takes the "band" as an example to describe the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application.

The “on a certain frequency band” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be understood as “on a carrier of a certain frequency band”, “on a certain subband” or “on a certain BWP”. A frequency band may include one or more carriers.

The time unit mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a time slot, or a symbol, or a subframe, or a frame, or a mini-subframe, or a mini-time slot.

The “resources” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be understood as time domain resources, frequency domain resources, physical resource blocks, resource blocks, and the like.

In this application, the transmitting RF chain can also be understood as "sending", "capable of transmitting", "transmitting" or "capable of transmitting". Accordingly, the number of transmitting RF chains can be understood as "the number of sending", "the number of capable of sending", "the number of transmitting" or "the number of capable of transmitting". The number of transmitting RF chains can also be understood as "the number of layers", "the number of antenna layers" or "the number of channels".

The "switch" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as "conversion (switch)"; "switching delay" can be understood as "carrier switching delay", "carrier conversion delay", "carrier conversion period (period or interval)" or "conversion interval (gap)", etc. "Switching delay" can also be understood as "switching period (switching period) in the carrier switching preparation time". When the network device performs uplink scheduling, it will perform corresponding scheduling processing according to the switching delay, which can be specifically understood as setting N2 (N2 can be understood as uplink processing delay or uplink preparation delay).

The terminal device "switching between frequency bands" and "switching from one frequency band to another frequency band" mentioned in this application may refer to: the terminal device switches the RF chain on these two frequency bands, or in other words, switches the RF chain on the carriers of these two frequency bands. The terminal device "switching between frequency bands" can also be understood as the switching of the RF chain state of the terminal device, where one RF chain state includes the RF chain of the terminal device on the frequency band before the switching, and the other RF chain state includes the RF chain of the terminal device on the frequency band after the switching. A RF chain of the terminal device switches between two carriers. If the two carriers belong to different frequency bands, the RF of the terminal device needs to be interrupted for the duration of the switching period to ensure switching to the target frequency band (carrier). The terminal device does not want to transmit signals on either of the two carriers during the switching interval.

The frequency bands and the number of frequency bands supported by each channel of the terminal device may not be exactly the same. For example, channel #1 of the terminal device can support frequency band #A and frequency band #C, and channel #2 can support frequency band #B. When the terminal device switches between frequency bands, the following scenarios may occur: the terminal device sends the state of the RF chain in time slot #1 as state #1 (for example, state #1 is the use of frequency band #A on channel #1). The terminal device may receive scheduling information, which instructs the terminal device to switch to state #2 in time slot #2 (for example, state #2 is the use of frequency band #B on channel #2). The terminal device may also semi-statically configure to send uplink transmission information in time slot #3 through state #3 (for example, state #3 is the use of frequency band #C on channel #1). The terminal device needs to load the configuration parameters of the corresponding frequency band when switching to different states. Limited by the size of the storage space, the terminal device may support the storage of configuration parameters of two frequency bands. For example, the terminal device stores the configuration parameters of frequency band #A and frequency band #B. When the terminal device switches from state #1 to state #2, the required switching time is usually the switching period; When the terminal device needs to switch from state #2 to state #3, the configuration parameters of band #A or band #B can be replaced with the configuration parameters of band #C. If the terminal device switches between multiple bands, replacing the configuration parameters stored in the terminal device with the configuration parameters of any two bands may affect the reliability of the transmission of uplink signals (e.g., uplink control signals (e.g., PUCCH)) of the terminal device.

In the existing scheme, in order to ensure the reliability of uplink signal transmission when the terminal device switches between multiple frequency bands, the frequency band supported by a certain channel of the terminal device is designated as the anchor frequency band, and the configuration parameters of the anchor band are continuously placed in the memory. That is, when the terminal device switches to the anchor band, there is no need to load the configuration parameters of the anchor band. In addition, in this case, when the terminal device needs to switch between frequency bands, it is stipulated that the terminal device can only switch from the anchor band to the target band (also called the non-anchor band), or, switch from the non-anchor band to the anchor band. For example, as shown in (a) and (b) of Figure 4, it is stipulated that band#A supported by channel #1 of the terminal device is the anchor band. In the scenario where the terminal device described above may appear, the terminal device switches from band#A to band#B (denoted as non-anchor band B) in time slot #2. When the terminal device needs to switch from non-anchor band B to band#C (denoted as non-anchor band C) in time slot #3, according to regulations, the terminal device needs to first switch from non-anchor band B to anchor band, and then switch from anchor band to non-anchor C.

In the above scheme, when the time interval between the terminal device transmitting uplink information on non-anchor band B and non-anchor band C is short, the reliability of information transmission on the non-anchor band may be affected.

In view of this, the present application provides a communication method and apparatus that can ensure the reliability of information transmission when a terminal device switches between multiple frequency bands.

The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The communication method provided by the present application can be applied to the network architecture shown in FIG1 above, without limitation.

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are explained:

(1) In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and/or descriptions between the different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in the different embodiments can be combined to form a new embodiment according to their internal logical relationships.

(2) In this application, "first" and "second" are only used for convenience of description and to distinguish objects, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. They are not used to describe the order or precedence of features. It should be understood that the objects described in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so as to be able to describe solutions other than the embodiments of this application.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method 500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method 500 may include the following steps.

S510, the terminal device determines a target switching frequency band according to a relationship between a first time interval and a first threshold.

The first time interval may be the time interval between a first moment T1 and a second moment T2. The first moment is the start moment when the terminal device transmits the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the start moment when the terminal device transmits the second uplink information on the second frequency band.

Alternatively, the first moment may be the end moment of the terminal device transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment may be the start moment of the terminal device transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band.

Alternatively, the first time interval may be the time interval between the first uplink information and the second uplink information. Specifically, the time interval between the first uplink information and the second uplink information is the time interval between the first time unit and the Nth time unit, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The first time unit is a time unit in which the terminal device transmits the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the Nth time unit is a time unit in which the terminal device transmits the second uplink information on the second frequency band.

The first time unit may be the first time slot, and the Nth time unit may be the Nth time slot; or, the first time unit is the symbol of the first time slot, and the Nth time unit is the symbol of the Nth time slot. The first time unit is the time domain position at which the terminal device transmits the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the Nth time unit is the time domain position at which the terminal device transmits the second uplink information on the second frequency band. Specifically, the time domain position at which the first uplink information is transmitted on the first frequency band may be the starting position or the ending position at which the first uplink information is transmitted, and the time domain position at which the second uplink information is transmitted on the second frequency band may be the starting position or the ending position at which the second uplink information is transmitted.

In the present application, the start time or the end time may be a start time slot or an end time slot, respectively, or a start symbol or an end symbol, respectively.

The first uplink information may be the uplink information that the terminal device is about to transmit or is transmitting; the second uplink information is the uplink information to be transmitted by the terminal device. It can be understood that when the value of N is 2, the next time unit of the first time unit is the time unit for transmitting the second uplink information; when the value of N is greater than 2, the first time unit and the time unit for transmitting the second uplink information may be separated by at least one time unit.

The first frequency band and the second frequency band are any two frequency bands among the frequency bands for uplink information transmission supported by the terminal device, and the first frequency band and the second frequency band may be non-anchor frequency bands. The frequency band for uplink information transmission is a frequency band that can be flexibly switched/dynamically switched.

The terminal device can also configure an anchor frequency band (recorded as a third frequency band). The configuration parameters of the third frequency band are continuously loaded into the memory of the terminal device. The configuration parameters of the third frequency band are continuously loaded into the memory of the terminal device, which can be understood as a channel of the terminal device being configured with parameters for uplink transmission using the third frequency band. During the process of uplink information transmission by the terminal device, the parameters can be continuously retained in the memory of the terminal device.

Exemplarily, channel #1 of the terminal device supports the third frequency band, and the channel #1 can be configured with parameters for uplink transmission using the third frequency band, and the parameters are continuously loaded in the memory of the terminal device.

In the case where the memory of the terminal device is limited, for example, the memory of the terminal device does not support loading configuration parameters for more than two frequency bands, the configuration parameters of the frequency band to be transmitted uplink information can be dynamically loaded into the memory of the terminal device. For example, in the case where it is determined that uplink information needs to be transmitted through the second frequency band, the channel of the terminal device (for example, channel #1 or channel #2) can load parameters for uplink transmission using the second frequency band.

This application does not limit the number of channels supported by the terminal device and the number of frequency bands supported by each channel. For example, the terminal device may support two or more channels, and each channel may support transmission on two or more frequency bands.

Specifically, if the terminal device is (about to) transmit the first uplink information through a non-anchor frequency band (e.g., the first frequency band) in the first time unit, and the terminal device determines that the second uplink information needs to be transmitted through a non-anchor frequency band in the Nth time unit, the terminal device determines the target switching frequency band in the next time unit of the first time unit (recorded as the second time unit). In other words, the target switching frequency band may be the frequency band where the next time unit of the time unit in which the terminal device currently transmits uplink information is located. On this frequency band, the terminal device may or may not transmit uplink information.

The present application does not limit the names of the anchor frequency band and the non-anchor frequency band. For example, the anchor frequency band can also be called the main frequency band, and the non-anchor frequency band can be called the non-main frequency band, etc. The non-anchor frequency band can be understood as the first frequency band or the second frequency band. The two non-anchor frequency bands can be understood as the first frequency band and the second frequency band. The anchor frequency band can be understood as the third frequency band.

According to different values of N, there are two cases in which the terminal device determines the target switching frequency band according to the relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold.

Case 1: The value of N is greater than 2.

In this case, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, and the terminal device determines that the frequency band for transmitting uplink information in the time unit between the first time unit and the Nth time unit is the first frequency band, then the terminal device determines that after the first uplink information transmission is completed, it can stay in the current first frequency band without switching. Alternatively, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, and the terminal device determines that the uplink information is not transmitted in the first frequency band in the time unit between the first time unit and the Nth time unit, then the terminal device determines that after the first uplink information transmission is completed, it can stay in the current first frequency band without switching. That is, the terminal device determines that the target switching frequency band for switching is the first frequency band based on the size relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold. Among them, the time unit between the first time unit and the Nth time unit is the second time unit to the N-1th time unit, N is greater than 3; or there is only the second time unit.

If the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and then from the third frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed. That is, the terminal device determines that the target switching frequency band to be switched is the third frequency band according to the relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold.

Alternatively, if the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and from the third frequency band to the second frequency band, at any time unit between the first time unit and the Nth time unit. At this time, the terminal device determines that the target switching frequency band for switching can be the first frequency band or the third frequency band based on the relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold.

Among them, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and from the third frequency band to the second frequency band at any time unit between the first time unit and the Nth time unit, and the terminal device may determine to switch to the third frequency band at the second time unit. That is, the terminal device switches to the third frequency band after completing the uplink information transmission of the first frequency band at the first time unit. The terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and from the third frequency band to the second frequency band at any time unit between the first time unit and the Nth time unit, and the terminal device may switch to the third frequency band only at the N-1th time unit, where N is greater than 3. That is, after completing the uplink information transmission of the first frequency band at the first time unit, the terminal device still resides on the first frequency band, and only switches to the second frequency band when it is necessary to complete the preparation before switching at the N-1th time unit, thereby realizing the conversion between the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

Case 2, the value of N is 2.

In this case, assuming that the frequency band currently located by the terminal device is the first frequency band, the terminal device determines to switch to the second frequency band in the second time unit.

If the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed. That is, the terminal device determines the target switching frequency band to be the second frequency band according to the relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold.

If the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and then switches from the third frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed. That is, the terminal device determines that the target switching frequency band to be switched is the third frequency band according to the relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold.

That is to say, when the terminal device determines that the time interval between two uplink information transmissions on non-anchor frequency bands is less than or equal to a preset threshold, the terminal device can switch from the frequency band for transmitting the uplink information to the frequency band for transmitting the next uplink information after the end of an uplink transmission, without switching to the anchor frequency band, thereby avoiding the switching delay of switching between the frequency bands of the two uplink transmissions and the anchor frequency band, thereby avoiding the interruption of information transmission caused by the switching delay and ensuring the reliability of the two uplink transmissions.

It should be noted that the uplink information in the embodiment of the present application may be any one or more of uplink control information (e.g., PUCCH), uplink data (e.g., PUSCH), and uplink signal (e.g., SRS). For example, the first uplink information is PUSCH, and the second uplink information is SRS; or the first uplink information is SRS, and the second uplink information is PUSCH, etc.

In the present application, the switching of a terminal device from one frequency band to another frequency band may refer to the switching of the RF chain of the terminal device between two frequency bands. For example, the terminal device supports the transmission of a maximum of 1 RF chain on frequency band #1 and a maximum of 2 RF chains on frequency band #2. The terminal device transmits single (1Tx) uplink information #1 through frequency band #1 in time slot #1. If the terminal device determines that concurrent (2Tx) uplink information #2 needs to be transmitted through frequency band #2 in the next time slot of time slot #1, the terminal device can switch 1 RF chain between the two frequency bands.

Furthermore, in the above two cases, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band. This can be when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band.

If the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band. This can be when the first time interval is greater than the first threshold and there is higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and then switches from the third frequency band to the second frequency band.

If the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band. The terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and then switches from the third frequency band to the second frequency band when the first time interval is greater than the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the third frequency band. In this case, switching to the third frequency band can ensure that the subsequent switching is initiated from the third frequency band.

The higher priority uplink information may be relative to the priority of the first uplink information or the second uplink information. For example, the first uplink information and the second uplink information are PUSCH, and the higher priority uplink information may be PUCCH. The priority of the uplink information may be predefined according to actual conditions, and this application does not limit the priority of the specific uplink information.

The first threshold may be preconfigured in the terminal device, or the terminal device may receive configuration information from a network device, the configuration information may carry the value of the first threshold; or the terminal device may determine the first threshold by itself; or the first threshold is predefined by a protocol.

Exemplarily, the value of the first threshold may be set to be greater than or equal to a first value T ₀ . The first value may be the sum of the first switching delay t _offset1 and the second switching delay t _offset2 , that is, T ₀ =t _offset1 +t _offset2 ; or, the first value may be the sum of the first switching delay t _offset1 , the second switching delay t _offset2 and the first duration t ₁ , that is, T ₀ =t _offset1 +t _offset2 +t ₁ . Among them, t _offset1 may also be referred to as t _delay1 or t _switch1 ; t _offset2 may also be referred to as t _delay2 or t _switch2 .

The first switching delay is the switching delay of the terminal device switching between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, and the second switching delay is the switching delay of the terminal device switching between the third frequency band and the second frequency band; the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to stay on the third frequency band, that is, when the terminal device switches from a non-anchor frequency band to another non-anchor frequency band through the anchor frequency band, the duration for staying on the anchor frequency band is specified to be at least t ₁ . The minimum duration can also be understood as the required duration.

For example, the first switching delay and the second switching delay may be any one of 38 microseconds, 140 microseconds, 210 microseconds, or 280 microseconds, respectively; the first switching delay and the second switching delay may also be 400 microseconds, 500 microseconds, or 1 millisecond; the A time length may be 14 OFDM symbols, and the corresponding subcarrier spacing (SCS) may be 15KH or 30KHz.

It can be understood that when the first value can be the sum of the first switching delay t _offset1 and the second switching delay t _offset2 , the minimum duration of staying on the third frequency band may not be specified. In other words, the terminal device can switch from the third frequency band to the second frequency band without staying on the third frequency band for a duration of t.

Optionally, before S510, the method further includes S501, where the terminal device determines the first time interval.

Exemplarily, the terminal device may determine the first moment and the second moment, and determine the first time interval, by receiving scheduling information from the network device.

For example, the terminal device can determine the transmission start time or end time of the first uplink information by receiving the first scheduling information from the network device, and determine the transmission start time of the second uplink information by the second scheduling information. The first scheduling information may be downlink control information (DCI), and the second scheduling information may be radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or, the first scheduling information is RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is DCI; or, the first scheduling information is RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is RRC signaling. Optionally, the first scheduling information may be RRC signaling, MAC signaling, or DCI signaling; the second scheduling information may also be RRC signaling, MAC signaling, or DCI signaling. The first scheduling information and the second scheduling information may be a combination of any two of RRC signaling, MAC signaling, or DCI signaling.

When the first time interval is less than the first threshold, the terminal device switching from the first frequency band to the second frequency band may include: the terminal device replacing the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band, and switching from the first frequency band to the second frequency band.

The terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band, which can be understood as the terminal device canceling the configuration parameters of the third frequency band loaded in the memory and loading the configuration parameters of the second frequency band into the memory of the terminal device. In other words, the terminal device replaces the parameters configured for uplink transmission using the third frequency band with the parameters for uplink transmission using the second frequency band.

Exemplarily, as described above, channel #1 of the terminal device is configured as a parameter for uplink transmission using the third frequency band, and the parameter is continuously loaded in the memory of the terminal device. When it is determined that the first time interval is less than the first threshold, the terminal device can replace the parameter of channel #1 with a parameter for uplink transmission using the second frequency band.

Specifically, the terminal device may replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third time T _3. The third time T ₃ is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second time T ₂ and the second duration t ₂ , and the second duration t ₂ is the sum of the third duration t ₃ and the fourth duration t ₄ .

Wherein, _t3 is the preparation time of the second uplink information (also known as data processing time or data preparation time), and _t3 can refer to the description in 3GPP TS 38.214; _t4 is the time required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band. Exemplarily, the value of _t4 can be N times of 500 microseconds, where N is a positive integer. Optionally, _t4 can also be converted into an OFDM number, for example, 14 OFDM symbols (corresponding to SCS of 30KHz), or 28 OFDM symbols (corresponding to SCS of 60KHz).

By replacing the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at the third moment, it can be ensured that the loading of the second frequency band parameters is completed when or before the second uplink information is transmitted, thereby ensuring the reliability of the second uplink information transmission.

It can be understood that in this application, only the first frequency band and the second frequency band are used as examples to illustrate the switching of the terminal device between two non-anchor frequency bands, but this does not limit the number of non-anchor frequency bands supported by the terminal device for uplink information transmission in this application to 2. In other words, the frequency bands supported by the terminal device for uplink information transmission can be greater than 3, and the switching of the terminal device between any two non-anchor frequency bands is similar to the switching of the terminal device between the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

In this case, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the Xth frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band, which can be understood as the terminal device canceling the configuration parameters of the Xth frequency band loaded in the memory, and loading the configuration parameters of the second frequency band into the memory of the terminal device. In other words, the terminal device replaces the parameters configured for uplink transmission using the Xth frequency band with parameters for uplink transmission using the second frequency band. Among them, the Xth frequency band can be a frequency band that can be flexibly switched except the second frequency band. For example, the Xth frequency band can be the third frequency band.

S520, the terminal device sends the second uplink information to the network device via the second frequency band.

Correspondingly, the network device receives the second uplink information from the terminal device.

Exemplarily, the terminal device replaces the parameters of the channel #1 with parameters for uplink transmission using the second frequency band. The terminal device can transmit the second uplink information using the second frequency band on the channel #1.

The terminal device sending the second uplink information to the network device through the second frequency band can also be understood as the terminal device sending the second uplink information to the network device through the carrier to which the second frequency band belongs.

Optionally, the method 500 further includes:

S530: The terminal device sends capability information to the network device.

Accordingly, the network device receives capability information from the terminal device.

The capability information may be any one of the capability information or a combination of multiple capability information in the following examples.

Example #1, the capability information may indicate that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device may switch between non-anchor frequency bands without passing through the anchor frequency band. Exemplarily, the capability information may include that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device may switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band.

Example #2, the capability information may indicate that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the anchor frequency band, the terminal device may switch between non-anchor frequency bands without passing through the anchor frequency band. Exemplarily, the capability information may include that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold and there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the anchor frequency band, the terminal device may switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band without passing through the third frequency band.

Example #3, the capability information may indicate a state transition delay. The state transition delay may be the additional processing time t5 required when the terminal device switches between different frequency bands, t5 being the processing time required to replace the parameters of the frequency band. The state transition delay may also be the total processing time required when the terminal device switches between different frequency bands. As mentioned above, generally, the switching delay required when the terminal device switches between two frequency bands is switching period, and the state transition delay may be the sum of switching period and t5.

For example, the state transition delay can be the product of N and the first state transition value (recorded as Tstate_transfer_1), where Tstate_transfer_1 can be 300us, 400us or 500us, etc., and N is a positive integer. The state transition delay can also be the second state transition value (recorded as Tstate_transfer_2), where Tstate_transfer_2 is 500us, 1000us or 1500us, etc. The state transition delay can also be measured in time slot units, for example, the state transition delay is 1 time unit (such as slot) or 2 time units, or the state transition delay is 14 OFDM symbols. The subcarrier spacing corresponding to the time unit or OFDM symbol is, for example, 15KHz, 30KHz.

In the present application, the scheduling delay may be understood as the time from receiving or detecting downlink control information DCI to sending uplink data.

Example #4, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device has/exists a common frequency band in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching; or, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device supports a first frequency band group, a second frequency band group, and a third frequency band group.

Among them, the first frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the first uplink switching; the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the first uplink switching, or the second frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located before the second uplink switching; the third frequency band group is the frequency band where the terminal device is located after the second uplink switching. For example, the terminal device transmits uplink data #1 through one or more frequency bands in frequency band group #1 in time unit #1, and the terminal device switches from one or more frequency bands in the frequency band group #1 to one or more frequency bands in frequency band group #2 in time unit #2, and transmits uplink data #2 through at least one frequency band in the frequency band group #2, then the first frequency band group may be the frequency band group #1, and the second frequency band group may be the frequency band group #2. Similarly, the terminal device can also switch from one or more frequency bands in the frequency band group #2 to one or more frequency bands in the frequency band group #3 in time unit #3, and transmit uplink data #3 through at least one frequency band in the frequency band group #3, and the third frequency band group may be the frequency band group #3. The time unit #1, the time unit #2 and the time unit #3 are three consecutive time units. The time unit #1 is earlier than the time unit #2, and the time unit #2 is earlier than the time unit #3.

An uplink switching of a terminal device can be understood as the switching of the RF chain Tx state of the terminal device in two consecutive time units. The Tx state of the terminal device in a time unit can be the correspondence between the RF chain Tx and the frequency band in which the terminal device sends uplink information in the time unit. For example, assuming that there are three possible Tx states of the terminal device, respectively recorded as Tx state 1 to Tx state 3. The three states can be:

Tx state 1: 2Tx on the carrier of band A;

Tx state 2: 1Tx is available on the carrier of band A and the carrier of band B respectively;

Tx state 3: There is 1 Tx on each of the carrier of band A and the carrier of band C.

Assuming that the Tx states corresponding to the terminal device sending uplink information in time slot #1 and time slot #2 are Tx state 1 and Tx state 3 respectively, then the switching of the terminal device from Tx state 1 to Tx state 3 is an uplink switching.

For example, the terminal device transmits uplink information through frequency band A and frequency band B in time slot #1, transmits uplink information through frequency band A in time slot #2, and transmits uplink information through frequency band A and frequency band C in time slot #3. The terminal device uses the carrier of frequency band A for data transmission in time slot #1, time slot #2, and time slot #3.

Example #5: The capability information may indicate the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device supports switching within the first uplink scheduling delay. Or, Indicates the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay. The maximum number of frequency bands supported can also be understood as the number of RF chains that can support parallel transmission.

In the present application, as an embodiment, the number of frequency bands can be understood as the number of carriers.

Alternatively, the capability information may indicate the maximum number of carriers that the terminal device can support for dynamic switching within the first uplink scheduling delay. When two carriers are continuous carriers within a frequency band, the number of radio frequency chains required for the two carriers can be understood as sharing one radio frequency chain. That is, the two carriers can be counted as 1 in the above summation.

Example #6, the capability information may indicate that the terminal device supports the state transition delay when the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching is greater than or equal to the maximum number of frequency bands that the terminal device switches within the first uplink scheduling delay. The state transition delay refers to the description in Example #3. That is, the capability information can be used to instruct the network device to schedule the second uplink switching according to the second uplink scheduling delay. The maximum number of frequency bands switched within the first uplink scheduling delay can also be understood as the maximum number of frequency bands that can be switched within the first uplink scheduling delay.

The number of frequency bands involved in an uplink switching of a terminal device can be understood as the sum of the number of frequency bands used to transmit uplink data before and after the uplink switching, or the sum of the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit before the uplink switching and the number of frequency bands scheduled in the time unit after the uplink switching.

For example, the terminal device transmits uplink information through frequency band A and frequency band B in time slot #1, and transmits uplink information through frequency band B in time slot #2. Time slot #1 and time slot #2 are two consecutive time slots. The number of frequency bands involved in an uplink switching of the terminal device from time slot #1 to time slot #2 is 3.

For another example, the terminal device transmits uplink information through frequency band A and frequency band B in time slot #1, transmits uplink information through frequency band B in time slot #2, and transmits uplink information through frequency band B and frequency band C in time slot #3. Time slot #1, time slot #2, and time slot #3 are three consecutive time slots. Then, the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching of the terminal device from time slot #1 to time slot #2 is 3, and the number of frequency bands involved in the second uplink switching of the terminal device from time slot #2 to time slot #3 is 3. The number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching of the terminal device from time slot #1 to time slot #2 and then to time slot #3 is still 3. That is, when calculating the number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching, the shared frequency band should be calculated as 1. From time slot #1 to time slot #2 and then to time slot #3, the frequency bands involved are only frequency band A, frequency band B and frequency band C, so the total number of frequency bands involved in the first uplink switching and the second uplink switching is 3.

The above examples may be for switched UL, dual UL or multiple UL. switched UL means that the number of frequency bands before switching is 1, and the number of frequency bands after switching is 1. Multiple uplink transmissions not exceeding the maximum transmission capacity can be performed on the frequency band before switching or the frequency band after switching. dual UL means that there can be two frequency bands before switching, and there can also be two frequency bands after switching. Two parallel uplink transmissions not exceeding the maximum transmission capacity can be performed on the frequency band group before switching. Two parallel uplink transmissions not exceeding the maximum transmission capacity can also be performed on the frequency band combination after switching. multiple UL means that there can be multiple frequency bands before switching, and there can also be multiple frequency bands after switching. Multiple parallel uplink transmissions not exceeding the maximum transmission capacity can be performed on the frequency band group before switching. Multiple parallel uplink transmissions not exceeding the maximum transmission capacity can also be performed on the frequency band combination after switching.

Optionally, the method 500 further includes:

S540: The network device schedules transmission of uplink information according to the capability information.

Exemplarily, if the capability information includes the capability information in Example #1 in S530, the network device may schedule the transmission of uplink information on two non-anchor frequency bands in two time units with smaller time intervals based on the capability information, and the time interval between the two time units is less than or equal to the first time interval. Optionally, if the capability information is not indicated, the network device may schedule the transmission of uplink information on two non-anchor frequency bands in two time units with larger time intervals. The time interval between the two time units is greater than or equal to the first time interval.

If the capability information includes the capability information in Example #2 in S530, the network device can determine, based on the capability information, that when there is no higher priority uplink information to be transmitted on the anchor frequency band, schedule the transmission of uplink information on two non-anchor frequency bands in two time units with smaller time intervals, and the time interval between the two time units is less than or equal to the first time interval.

If the capability information includes the capability information in Example #3 in S530, the network device may determine the uplink scheduling processing delay according to the capability information, and schedule the transmission of the uplink information according to the uplink scheduling processing delay.

Exemplarily, the network device may determine, based on the state transition delay, K2 or K1 that can satisfy the state transition delay and the uplink scheduling processing delay.

Optionally, after receiving the state transition delay, the network device may determine a second uplink scheduling delay according to the state transition delay, and the second uplink scheduling delay may be the sum of the first uplink scheduling delay and the state transition delay. Second uplink scheduling delay.

The first uplink scheduling delay is the scheduling delay specified in the existing 3gpp release 17 standard, such as K2 and/or K1. K2 is the delay for scheduling uplink data transmission (also known as: data processing time or data preparation time), and K1 is the delay from PDSCH to feedback PUCCH. Specifically, the description of K2 can refer to 3GPP TS 38.215, and the description of K1 can refer to 3GPP TS 38.213. The second uplink scheduling delay can be the scheduling delay required in release 18 and later versions.

If the capability information includes the capability information in Example #4 in S530, the network device performs scheduling on the corresponding frequency band according to the capability information when scheduling transmission of uplink information. For example, among the uplink carriers scheduled by the network device on time unit #1, time unit #2, and time unit #3 in Example #4, at least one carrier belongs to a common frequency band on these three time units.

If the capability information includes the capability information in Example #5 in S530, the network device performs scheduling on the corresponding frequency band according to the capability information when scheduling transmission of uplink information.

Exemplarily, the network device can only schedule transmission of uplink information within the number of frequency bands indicated by the capability information, thereby achieving flexible switching of uplink frequency bands.

Alternatively, the network device can only schedule and transmit uplink information within the number of carriers indicated by the capability information to achieve flexible switching of uplink frequency bands. That is, when two carriers belong to one frequency band, the two carriers can be considered to occupy two separate radio frequency chains.

Alternatively, the network device can only schedule the transmission of uplink information within the number of carriers indicated by the capability information to achieve flexible switching of uplink frequency bands. When multiple carriers belong to the same frequency band and share a common RF chain, the number of carriers allowed to schedule uplink transmission is greater than the number of frequency bands indicated by the capability information. For example, when two carriers belong to the same frequency band and share a common RF chain, if the capability information indicates that two RF chains are allowed to transmit simultaneously, the network device can schedule the transmission of uplink information on another frequency band in addition to scheduling the transmission of uplink information on the two carriers.

If the capability information includes the capability information in Example #6 in S530, the network device performs scheduling on the corresponding frequency band according to the capability information when scheduling transmission of uplink information.

Exemplarily, when the network device determines that the number of frequency bands for uplink information to be scheduled is greater than the maximum number of frequency bands allowed/accepted/expected by the terminal device to switch within the first uplink scheduling delay, the network device determines the second uplink scheduling delay based on the state transition delay, and schedules the transmission of uplink information for the corresponding frequency bands according to the second uplink scheduling delay.

It should be understood that the sizes of the various numerical numbers in the embodiments of the present application do not mean the order of execution, but are only distinguished for the convenience of description and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. For example, step 530 can be executed before step 520 or before S501.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of another communication method 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method 600 may include the following steps.

S610, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device.

Accordingly, the network device receives the capability information from the terminal device.

The capability information may refer to Example #1 to Example #6 in S530. Specifically, the capability information may be any combination of the capability information in Example #1 to Example #6.

S620: The network device schedules transmission of uplink information according to the capability information.

Exemplarily, if the capability information includes the capability information in Example #1 in S530, the network device may schedule the transmission of uplink information on two non-anchor frequency bands in two time units with smaller time intervals when there is no uplink information with higher priority to be transmitted on the anchor frequency band based on the capability information, and the time interval between the two time units is less than or equal to the first time interval. Optionally, if the capability information is not indicated, the network device may schedule the transmission of uplink information on two non-anchor frequency bands in two time units with larger time intervals. The time interval between the two time units is greater than or equal to the first time interval.

The first uplink scheduling delay is the scheduling delay specified in the existing 3gpp release 17 standard, such as K2 and/or K1. K2 is the delay for scheduling uplink data transmission (also known as: data processing time or data preparation time), and K1 is the delay from PDSCH to feedback PUCCH. Specifically, the description of K2 can refer to 3GPP TS 38.214, and the description of K1 can refer to 3GPP TS 38.213. The second uplink scheduling delay can be the scheduling delay required in release 18 and later versions.

It is understood that the examples in method 500 and method 600 in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of those skilled in the art to understand the embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application to the specific scenarios illustrated. Those skilled in the art can obviously make various equivalent modifications or changes based on the examples in method 500 and method 600, and such modifications or changes also fall within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

It can also be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may not depend on other features in some scenarios, or may be combined with other features in some scenarios, without limitation. For example, the capability information described in the embodiments may be used in combination.

Optionally, the method further includes S630, the terminal device determines the first time interval.

For this step, please refer to the description of S501 and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the method further includes S640, where the terminal device determines a target switching frequency band according to a relationship between the first time interval and the first threshold.

For this step, please refer to the description of S510 and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the method further includes S650, the terminal device sends second uplink information to the network device.

For this step, please refer to the description of S520.

It is also understood that the various embodiments described in this application may be independent solutions or may be combined according to internal logic, and these solutions all fall within the scope of protection of this application. In addition, the explanations or descriptions of various terms appearing in the embodiments may be mutually referenced or explained in various embodiments, without limitation thereto.

It can also be understood that the sizes of the various digital numbers in the embodiments of the present application do not mean the order of execution, but are only distinguished for the convenience of description, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. For example, in method 500, step 530 can be performed before step 520 or before S501. Step S620 can be performed after S630 or S640.

It should be understood that the pre-defined in the present application can be understood as defined, pre-defined, stored, pre-stored, pre-negotiated, pre-configured, solidified, or pre-burned.

It is understood that in this application, "under the circumstances", "if" and "if" all mean that the device will make corresponding actions under certain objective circumstances. Processing does not limit time, nor does it require a judgment action to be made when the device is implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

It can be understood that the term "and/or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and/or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between each node. It is understandable that each node, such as a terminal device, a network device, includes a hardware structure and/or software module corresponding to each function in order to realize the above functions. Those skilled in the art should be aware that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present application.

The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the terminal device and the network device according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the device 100 may include: a transceiver unit 110 and a processing unit 120.

In a possible design, the apparatus 100 may be a terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a chip for implementing the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. It should be understood that the apparatus 100 may correspond to the terminal device in the method 500 and the method 600 according to the embodiment of the present application, and the apparatus 100 may perform the steps corresponding to the terminal device in the method 500 and the method 600 according to the embodiment of the present application.

In one possible implementation, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the processing unit 120 is used to determine to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed; if the first time interval is greater than the first threshold, the processing unit 120 is used to determine to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed, and then switch from the third frequency band to the second frequency band; the transceiver unit 110 is used to transmit the second uplink information on the second frequency band; wherein the first time interval is the time interval between the first moment and the second moment, the first moment is the starting moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band.

In one possible implementation, the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first numerical value, and the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or, the first numerical value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay; wherein the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third frequency band.

In one possible implementation, if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band before the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed.

In one possible implementation, the processing unit 120 replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third moment, and the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and a second duration, the second duration is the sum of the third duration and a fourth duration, the third duration is the preparation duration of the second uplink information, and the fourth duration is the duration required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.

In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 110 sends capability information to the network device, where the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can perform frequency band switching without using the third frequency band.

In one possible implementation, the first moment is determined based on first scheduling information, and the second moment is determined based on second scheduling information, the first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling; or, the first scheduling information is wireless resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.

It should also be understood that the device 100 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combined logic circuit and/or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art can understand that the device 100 can be specifically a terminal device or a network device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and/or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

The apparatus 100 of each of the above schemes has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the terminal device or the network device in the above method. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

In addition, the transceiver unit 110 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

It should be noted that the device in FIG. 7 may be a terminal device or a network device in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a chip or a chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit may be an input and output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip. This is not limited here.

FIG8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the device 200 includes: at least one processor 220. The processor 220 is coupled to the memory and is used to execute instructions stored in the memory to send signals and/or receive signals. Optionally, the device 200 also includes a memory 230 for storing instructions. Optionally, the device 200 also includes a transceiver 210, and the processor 220 controls the transceiver 210 to send signals and/or receive signals.

It should be understood that the processor 220 and the memory 230 can be combined into one processing device, and the processor 220 is used to execute the program code stored in the memory 230 to implement the above functions. In specific implementation, the memory 230 can also be integrated into the processor 220, or independent of the processor 220.

It should also be understood that the transceiver 210 may include a transceiver (or receiver) and a transmitter (or transmitter). The transceiver may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more. The transceiver 210 may also be a communication interface or an interface circuit.

Specifically, the transceiver 210 in the device 200 may correspond to the transceiver unit 110 in the device 100 , and the processor 220 in the device 200 may correspond to the processing unit 120 in the device 200 .

As a solution, the apparatus 200 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in each of the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 220 is used to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory 230 to implement the relevant operations of the wireless access network device in the above various method embodiments. For example, the method performed by the terminal device in any of the embodiments shown in method 500 and method 600.

As another solution, the apparatus 200 is used to implement the operations performed by the network device in each of the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 220 is used to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory 230 to implement the relevant operations of the network device in the above various method embodiments. For example, the method performed by the network device in any one of the embodiments shown in method 500 and method 600.

It should be understood that the specific process of each transceiver and processor executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor or an instruction in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware processor for execution, or a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor for execution. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit in the processor or the instructions in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (digital signal processor, DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (application-specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous-link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct ram-bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product having a computer program code stored thereon. When the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the method executed by a terminal device or a network device in any one of the embodiments of method 500 and method 600.

According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable medium, which stores a program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the method performed by the terminal device or the network device in the above embodiment.

According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device is used to execute the steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above method 500 and method 600, and the network device is used to execute the steps corresponding to the network device in the above method 500 and method 600.

The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by 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 instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. 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 a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disc (SSD)), etc.

In the above-mentioned various device embodiments, the corresponding modules or units perform the corresponding steps. For example, the transceiver unit (transceiver) performs the steps of receiving or sending in the method embodiment, and other steps except sending and receiving can be performed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific units can refer to the corresponding method embodiments. Among them, the processor can be one or more.

The terms "component", "module", "system", etc. used in this specification are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both applications running on a computing device and a computing device can be components. One or more components may reside in a process and/or an execution thread, and a component may be located on a computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components may be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components may, for example, be executed locally and/or remotely based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system and/or a network, such as the Internet that interacts with other systems via signals). Cheng Lai Communication.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

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

If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can essentially or in other words, the part that contributes or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage media include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program codes.

It should be understood that the "embodiment" mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments in the entire specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner.

It should also be understood that the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority or importance of the multiple objects. For example, the first PDSCH and the second PDSCH can be the same physical channel or different physical channels, and such a name does not indicate the difference in the amount of information, content, priority or importance of the two physical channels.

It should also be understood that in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one item" or similar expressions means one or more items, that is, any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one item of a, b, or c means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b and c.

It should also be understood that in each embodiment of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining B according to A does not mean determining B only according to A, and B can also be determined according to A and/or other information.

The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

If the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission ends;

If the first time interval is greater than a first threshold, the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and then switch from the third frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed;

The terminal device transmits second uplink information in the second frequency band;

The first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the starting moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first value, and the first value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or

The first value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay;

Among them, the first switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the first frequency band, the second switching delay is the switching delay for the terminal device to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is the minimum duration for the terminal device to reside on the third frequency band.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, before the terminal device determines to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission ends, the method further includes:

The terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.
The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band, comprising:

The terminal device replaces the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band at a third moment, the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and a second duration, the second duration is the sum of the third duration and a fourth duration, the third duration is the preparation duration of the second uplink information, and the fourth duration is the duration required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the method further comprises:

The terminal device sends capability information to the network device, where the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can perform frequency band switching without using the third frequency band.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the first time is determined according to first scheduling information, and the second time is determined according to second scheduling information,

The first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is radio resource control RRC signaling; or,

The first scheduling information is radio resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.
A communication device, comprising a transceiver unit and a processing unit,

If the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the processing unit is used to determine to switch from the first frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission ends;

If the first time interval is greater than a first threshold, the processing unit is used to determine to switch from the first frequency band to the third frequency band, and then switch from the third frequency band to the second frequency band after the first uplink information transmission is completed;

The transceiver unit is used to transmit second uplink information on the second frequency band;

The first time interval is the time interval between a first moment and a second moment, the first moment is the starting moment of transmitting the first uplink information on the first frequency band, and the second moment is the starting moment of transmitting the second uplink information on the second frequency band.
The device according to claim 7, characterized in that the value of the first threshold is greater than or equal to a first value, and the first value is the sum of the first switching delay, the second switching delay and the first duration; or

The first value is the sum of the first switching delay and the second switching delay;

The first switching delay is a switching delay of the processing unit switching between the third frequency band and the first frequency band. The second switching delay is a switching delay for the processing unit to switch between the third frequency band and the second frequency band, and the first duration is a minimum duration for the processing unit to reside in the third frequency band.
The device according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that if the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, after the processing unit determines that the first uplink information transmission is completed, the processing unit is further used to:

The configuration parameters of the third frequency band are replaced with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.
The device according to claim 9, characterized in that the processing unit is specifically used to:

At a third moment, the configuration parameters of the third frequency band are replaced with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band, the third moment is earlier than or equal to the difference between the second moment and a second duration, the second duration is the sum of the third duration and a fourth duration, the third duration is the preparation duration of the second uplink information, and the fourth duration is the duration required to replace the configuration parameters of the third frequency band with the configuration parameters of the second frequency band.
The device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the transceiver unit is further used for:

Capability information is sent to the network device, where the capability information indicates that when the first time interval is less than or equal to the first threshold, the processing unit can perform frequency band switching without using the third frequency band.
The device according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that the first time is determined according to first scheduling information, the second time is determined according to second scheduling information,

The first scheduling information is downlink control information DCI, and the second scheduling information is radio resource control RRC signaling; or,

The first scheduling information is radio resource control RRC signaling, and the second scheduling information is downlink control information DCI.
A communication device, comprising:

The method comprises a unit or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
A communication device, comprising:

At least one processor, the at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, so that the apparatus performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
The device according to claim 14, characterized in that the device further comprises the memory and/or the communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor,

The communication interface is used to input and/or output information.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that

The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
A computer program product, characterized in that

The computer program product comprises instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.