Communication method and related device

Abstract

A communication method and related apparatus, the method comprising: receiving first indication information, the first indication information indicating an index of a first geographic area to which first location information belongs, the first location information being location information of a terminal device; a first PO is determined based on the index of the first geographic area. Wherein the first geographic area is smaller than the space coverage range of the SSB beam. By adopting the embodiment of the invention, the success rate of paging can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and related devices. Background Art

[0002] Compared with terrestrial network communication (such as terrestrial cellular network communication), non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication (such as satellite communication) has the advantages of long communication distance, large coverage area, wide communication frequency band, and can provide users with communication services at any time and any place. In NTN communication, due to the limited satellite power and the long distance between the terminal device and the satellite, the link budget is limited, that is, the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal received by the terminal device is low, or even cannot be demodulated. Especially when the terminal device is in the radio resource control (RRC) idle state, the user usually puts the terminal device in a pocket or a briefcase, and the link budget will be further deteriorated. If the access network device needs to page the terminal device, the terminal device may not be able to correctly receive the paging message and thus miss the paging. Therefore, how to ensure the link budget of the paging channel and improve the success rate of paging has become a problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present application provides a communication method and related devices, which are beneficial to improving the success rate of paging.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is performed by a terminal device, which may be the terminal device itself, or a unit or module (such as a chip) in the terminal device with corresponding functions. In this method, the terminal device receives first indication information, the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is the location information of the terminal device; the terminal device determines a first paging opportunity PO based on the index of the first geographical area.

[0005] In one possible design, the first geographical area is smaller than the spatial coverage of the synchronization signal block SSB beam (or wide beam). It should be understood that the spatial coverage of the transmission beam used for paging on the network side in the present application is related to the area size of the first geographical area. Generally speaking, the area size of the first geographical area can be equal to the spatial coverage of the transmission beam (also called a narrow beam), or the area size of the first geographical area is roughly equal to the spatial coverage of the transmission beam, that is, the area difference between the area size of the first geographical area and the spatial coverage of the transmission beam is less than or equal to the preset area difference.

[0006] It should be noted that the prior art adopts a wide beam paging solution, in which the SSB index is associated with the paging opportunity (that is, there is a corresponding / associated relationship between the SSB index and the paging opportunity). Therefore, the terminal device needs to find the corresponding PO based on the SSB where it is located, and then use a wide beam for paging on the determined PO. However, the wide beam signal-to-noise ratio is relatively low. Therefore, the present application proposes a solution for paging using a narrow beam. In this application, the PO corresponding to the terminal device is no longer determined based on the association between the SSB where the terminal device is located and the SSB index and the paging opportunity. Instead, a correspondence between the index of the geographical area and the paging opportunity is established, so that the network side can use a narrow beam (that is, a beam narrower than the SSB beam) to page the terminal device, thereby improving the link budget and helping to improve the paging success rate.

[0007] In one possible design, determining the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area includes:

[0008] The first PO is determined based on an index of the first geographic area, and one or more of the following: a paging cycle, a number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, a number of POs included in the paging frame, or an offset value used to determine a paging frame.

[0009] In this implementation, the paging timing can be calculated based on the index of the first geographic area, which is conducive to unbinding SSBindex and PO, and a beam narrower than the SSB beam can be used to page the UE, and a narrower beam can have a higher antenna gain, thereby improving the link budget of the paging channel and the success rate of paging. When the index of a geographic area corresponds to a narrow beam, it can be understood that the paging timing of different terminal devices in a narrow beam is the same.

[0010] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0011] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0012] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the T is the paging cycle, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0013] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0014] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0015] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0016] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates a first offset value and / or a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the first offset value is used to determine a paging frame corresponding to the terminal device, and the second offset value is used to determine a paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device;

[0017] The determining a first PO based on the index of the first geographical area comprises:

[0018] The first PO is determined based on the first offset value and / or the second offset value, and the index of the first geographical area, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, or the number of POs included in the paging frame.

[0019] In this implementation, since the index of a geographical area corresponds to a narrow beam, the paging timings of different terminal devices within a narrow beam are the same. When the number of terminal devices within a narrow beam is too large, the problem of being unable to page simultaneously may occur. Therefore, the present application also proposes that the terminal devices under the same narrow beam can be grouped. Specifically, this can be achieved by allocating / configuring a user-level offset value (i.e., a first offset value) for determining a paging frame and / or a user-level offset value (i.e., a second offset value) for determining a paging timing for the terminal device through an access network device. The scheme has strong operability.

[0020] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the first offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0021] (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0022] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0023] In this implementation, for terminal devices allocated with different UE_specific_PF_offsets, the corresponding paging frames are different.

[0024] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0025] (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0026] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0027] In this implementation, for terminal devices that are assigned different UE_specific_PO_offsets, the PO positions of their corresponding POs in the paging frames are different. Specifically, when UE_specific_PF_offset is not assigned and UE_specific_PO_offset is assigned, for terminal devices that are assigned different UE_specific_PO_offsets, the paging frames corresponding to different terminal devices are the same, but the PO indexes of their POs in the paging frames are different. When UE_specific_PF_offset is assigned and UE_specific_PO_offset is not assigned, for terminal devices that are assigned different UE_specific_PF_offsets, the corresponding paging frames are different, but the PO positions of their POs in different paging frames are the same. When UE_specific_PF_offset is assigned and UE_specific_PO_offset is assigned, for terminal devices that are assigned different UE_specific_PF_offsets and UE_specific_PO_offsets, the corresponding paging frames are different, and the PO indexes of their POs in the paging frames are also different.

[0028] In the second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is executed by a terminal device, which can be the terminal device itself, or a unit or module (such as a chip) with corresponding functions in the terminal device. In this method, the terminal device receives the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and the third offset value and / or fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage of the synchronization signal block SSB beam (that is, the beam in this application is a narrow beam); the terminal device determines the first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point position information of each of the beams; the first beam is included in the at least one beam; the terminal device determines the first paging opportunity PO based on the third offset value and / or fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

[0029] It should be understood that the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value are configurations at the narrow beam level. In the embodiment of the present application, by broadcasting the center point position information of each narrow beam and its corresponding PO_offset and / or PF_offset, the terminal device can determine the narrow beam in which it is located and the corresponding PO position, so that the paging timings of different narrow beams can be staggered. This can also unbind the association between the SSB index and PO in the prior art, so that the access network device can page the terminal device through the narrow beam, thereby improving the link budget and facilitating the improvement of the paging success rate.

[0030] In one possible design, determining the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam includes:

[0031] The first PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the grouping index of the terminal device.

[0032] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0033] (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0034] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0035] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0036] (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns;

[0037] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0038] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is performed by a network device, which may be the network device itself, or a unit or module (such as a chip) in the network device with corresponding functions. In the method, the network device determines second indication information; the network device sends the second indication information, the second indication information indicates a terminal identifier assigned to the terminal device, the terminal identifier is determined based on first location information, and the first location information is the location information of the terminal device.

[0039] In the scheme involved in the third aspect, the network device may be a core network element, or an access network device, or operation administration and maintenance (OAM), etc., which is not limited here. The following describes the network devices as core network elements and access network devices respectively. When the network device is a core network element, the core network element may determine the terminal identifier (e.g., a temporary mobile subscription identifier (TMSI)) assigned to the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device, and send a second indication information indicating the TMSI to the access network device, and then the access network device truncates the received TMSI, generates a fifth generation short temporary mobile subscription identifier (5G S-temporary mobile subscription identifier, 5G-S-TMSI), and sends it to the terminal device. When the network device is an access network device, the access network device may determine the terminal identifier (e.g., 5G-S-TMSI) assigned to the terminal device based on the TMSI received from the core network element, and then send a second indication information indicating the 5G-S-TMSI to the terminal device.

[0040] In one possible design, when the network device is an access network device, the terminal identifier is 5G-S-TMSI.

[0041] In one possible design, the method further includes:

[0042] The access network device determines a first paging occasion PO based on the terminal identifier.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present application, the network side allocates 5G-s-TMSI to the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device, so that POs of different narrow beams can be staggered in configuration. It can also be achieved that the access network device can use a narrow beam to page the terminal device, thereby improving the link budget and facilitating improving the paging success rate.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is performed by a network device, which may be the network device itself, or a unit or module (such as a chip) in the network device with corresponding functions. In the method, the network device determines first indication information, the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is location information of a terminal device; the network device sends the first indication information.

[0045] In the scheme involved in the fourth aspect, the network device may be a core network element, or an access network device, or an OAM, etc., which is not limited here. The network devices are described below as core network elements and access network devices respectively. When the network device is a core network element, the core network element can determine the index of the first geographical area to which the terminal device belongs based on the acquired location information of the terminal device, and send first indication information indicating the index of the first geographical area to the terminal device through the access network device. When the network device is an access network device, if the access network device implements the division rules of the physical areas that have been acquired, the access network device can determine the index of the first geographical area to which the terminal device belongs based on the acquired location information of the terminal device, and directly indicate the first indication information of the index of the first geographical area to the terminal device.

[0046] In one possible design, when the network device is an access network device, the method further includes:

[0047] The access network device determines a first paging occasion PO based on the index of the first geographical area.

[0048] In one possible design, the access network device determines a first PO based on an index of the first geographical area, including:

[0049] The access network device determines the first PO based on an index of the first geographic area and one or more of the following: a paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or an offset value used to determine a paging frame.

[0050] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0051] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0052] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the T is the paging cycle, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0053] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0054] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0055] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0056] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates a first offset value and / or a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the first offset value is used to determine a paging frame corresponding to the terminal device, and the second offset value is used to determine a paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device;

[0057] The access network device determines a first PO based on the index of the first geographical area, including:

[0058] The access network device determines the first PO based on the first offset value and / or the second offset value, the index of the first geographical area, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, or the number of POs included in the paging frame.

[0059] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the first offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0060] (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0061] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0062] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0063] (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0064] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0065] In one possible design, the first geographic area is smaller than the spatial coverage of a synchronization signal block SSB beam.

[0066] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is executed by a network device, which may be the network device itself, or a unit or module (such as a chip) in the network device with corresponding functions. In this method, the network device sends the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and the third offset value and / or fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage of the synchronization signal block SSB beam; the network device determines the first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point position information of each of the beams; the first beam is included in the at least one beam; the network device determines the first paging opportunity PO based on the third offset value and / or fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

[0067] In the solution involved in the fifth aspect, the network device may specifically be an access network device.

[0068] In one possible design, determining the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam includes:

[0069] The first PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the grouping index of the terminal device.

[0070] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0071] (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0072] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0073] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0074] (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns;

[0075] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0076] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be the communication device itself, or a module, chip or unit in the communication device. Exemplarily, the communication device may be a terminal device. The communication device includes:

[0077] A transceiver unit, configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is location information of a terminal device;

[0078] A processing unit is used to determine a first paging occasion PO based on the index of the first geographical area.

[0079] In a possible design, when determining the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area, the processing unit is configured to:

[0080] The first PO is determined based on an index of the first geographic area, and one or more of the following: a paging cycle, a number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, a number of POs included in the paging frame, or an offset value used to determine a paging frame.

[0081] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0082] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0083] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the T is the paging cycle, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0084] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0085] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0086] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0087] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates a first offset value and / or a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the first offset value is used to determine a paging frame corresponding to the terminal device, and the second offset value is used to determine a paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device;

[0088] When determining the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area, the processing unit is used to:

[0089] The first PO is determined based on the first offset value and / or the second offset value, and the index of the first geographical area, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, or the number of POs included in the paging frame.

[0090] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the first offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0091] (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0092] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0093] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0094] (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0095] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0096] In one possible design, the first geographic area is smaller than the spatial coverage of a synchronization signal block SSB beam.

[0097] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be the communication device itself, or a module, chip or unit in the communication device. Exemplarily, the communication device may be a terminal device. The communication device includes:

[0098] A transceiver unit, configured to receive the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and a third offset value and / or a fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage range of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage range of the synchronization signal block SSB beam;

[0099] A processing unit, configured to determine a first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each of the beams; the first beam is included in the at least one beam;

[0100] The processing unit is used to determine a first paging occasion PO based on a third offset value and / or a fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

[0101] In a possible design, when determining the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the processing unit is used to:

[0102] The first PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the grouping index of the terminal device.

[0103] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0104] (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0105] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0106] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0107] (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns;

[0108] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0109] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be the communication device itself, or a module, chip, or unit in the communication device. Exemplarily, the network device may be a core network element, or an access network device, or an OAM, etc. The communication device includes:

[0110] A processing unit, configured to determine second indication information;

[0111] The transceiver unit is used to send the second indication information, where the second indication information indicates a terminal identifier assigned to the terminal device, and the terminal identifier is determined based on the first location information, and the first location information is the location information of the terminal device.

[0112] In one possible design, the terminal is identified as 5G-S-TMSI.

[0113] In a possible design, when the communication device is an access network device, the processing unit is further used to:

[0114] A first paging occasion PO is determined based on the terminal identifier.

[0115] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be the communication device itself, or a module, chip, or unit in the communication device. Exemplarily, the network device may be a core network element, or an access network device, or an OAM, etc. The communication device includes:

[0116] A processing unit, configured to determine first indication information, where the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is location information of a terminal device;

[0117] A transceiver unit is used to send the first indication information.

[0118] In a possible design, when the communication device is an access network device, the processing unit is further used to:

[0119] A first paging occasion PO is determined based on an index of the first geographical area.

[0120] In one possible design, the determining the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area, the processing unit of the access network device is configured to:

[0121] The first PO is determined based on an index of the first geographic area, and one or more of the following: a paging cycle, a number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, a number of POs included in the paging frame, or an offset value used to determine a paging frame.

[0122] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0123] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0124] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the T is the paging cycle, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0125] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0126] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0127] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0128] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates a first offset value and / or a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the first offset value is used to determine a paging frame corresponding to the terminal device, and the second offset value is used to determine a paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device;

[0129] The first PO is determined based on the index of the first geographical area, and the processing unit of the access network device is used to:

[0130] The first PO is determined based on the first offset value and / or the second offset value, and the index of the first geographical area, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, or the number of POs included in the paging frame.

[0131] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the first offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0132] (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0133] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0134] In a possible design, the first indication information further indicates the second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; and the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0135] (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns;

[0136] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0137] In one possible design, the first geographic area is smaller than the spatial coverage of a synchronization signal block SSB beam.

[0138] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be the communication device itself, or a module, chip or unit in the communication device. Exemplarily, the network device may be an access network device, etc. The communication device includes:

[0139] A transceiver unit, configured to send the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and a third offset value and / or a fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage range of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage range of the synchronization signal block SSB beam;

[0140] A processing unit, configured to determine a first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each of the beams; the first beam is included in the at least one beam;

[0141] The processing unit is used to determine a first paging occasion PO based on a third offset value and / or a fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

[0142] In a possible design, when determining the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the processing unit is used to:

[0143] The first PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the grouping index of the terminal device.

[0144] In one possible design, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0145] (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0146] Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0147] In one possible design, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0148] (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns;

[0149] Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0150] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor, and the processor is used to execute a computer program so that the communication device executes any method described in any one of the first aspect to the fifth aspect.

[0151] In one possible design, the communication device may be a chip that implements the method of any one of the first to fifth aspects or a device including a chip.

[0152] In one possible design, the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the processor is coupled to the transceiver.

[0153] In a possible design, the communication device further includes a memory. The processor is coupled to the memory, a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is further used to call the computer program in the memory. Exemplarily, the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

[0154] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor, and the processor is used to implement any method as described in any one of the first to fifth aspects through a logic circuit or execution code instructions.

[0155] Optionally, the communication device further includes an interface circuit, which is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device.

[0156] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects is implemented.

[0157] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes any method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects.

[0158] In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a communication device for implementing the method described in any one of the first aspect or the second aspect, and a communication device for implementing the method described in any one of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, or the fifth aspect.

[0159] The beneficial effects of the fifth to fifteenth aspects can be referred to the beneficial effects of the first to third aspects, and will not be elaborated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0160] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system applied in an embodiment of the present application;

[0161] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system architecture applied in an embodiment of the present application;

[0162] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of paging occasion and paging cycle;

[0163] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of an interaction process of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0164] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of geographical area division provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0165] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a wide beam and a narrow beam provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0166] Figure 7 is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0167] Figure 8 It is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0168] Fig. 9 It is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0169] Fig.10 is another schematic diagram of a wide beam and a narrow beam provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0170] Fig.11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0171] Fig.12 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0172] The specific embodiments of the present application are further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0173] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification, claims and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0174] Reference to "embodiments" herein means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of the phrase in various locations in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0175] In the present application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "more than one" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three and more than three, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0176] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application is first introduced below:

[0177] The technical solution of the present application can be applied to non-terrestrial networks (NTN) or scenarios where NTN is integrated with terrestrial networks (TN). NTN systems can be, for example, satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), etc. TN systems can be, for example, fourth-generation (4G) communication systems (e.g., long-term evolution (LTE) systems), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) communication systems (e.g., new radio (NR) systems), sixth-generation mobile communication (6G) systems, and future mobile communication systems.

[0178] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system used in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g. Figure 1 110a and 110b, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (such as Figure 1 RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment ( Figure 1 The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network element in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 can be different physical devices, or can be the same physical device that integrates the core network logic function and the radio access network logic function.

[0179] RAN 100 may be a cellular system related to the third generation partnership project (3GPP), for example, a 4G, 5G mobile communication system, or a future evolution system (for example, a 6G mobile communication system). RAN 100 may also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, WiFi) system. RAN 100 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0180] The RAN node 110, which may also be sometimes referred to as an access network device, a RAN entity or an access node, constitutes a part of the communication system to help the terminal achieve wireless access. The multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 1000 may be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are relative, for example, Figure 1 The network element 120i may be a helicopter or a drone, which may be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminals 120j that access the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, for example Figure 1 The base stations 110a and 110b may be understood as communication devices having base station functions, and the terminals 120a-120j may be understood as communication devices having terminal functions.

[0181] In one possible scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (e.g. Figure 1 110a in), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 1110b in the description), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in the present application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The RAN node in the present application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0182] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence layer protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. For the specific description of the above-mentioned various protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as the baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0183] In another possible scenario, the RAN node may be a non-ground device, such as a device deployed on a high-altitude platform or a satellite, etc., which is not limited in this application. The satellite may be, for example, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a high altitude platform station (HAPS), etc. in a non-geostationary earth orbit (NGEO).

[0184] Optionally, the RAN node may also be expressed in different ways, such as access network equipment. Unless otherwise specified in this application, access network equipment is used for expression.

[0185] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are described as examples in this application. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0186] The terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, mobile equipment (ME), etc. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0187] The core network may include one or more functional entities (or core network elements, logical network elements, network elements, entities, etc.), such as network slice selection function (NSSF), network exposure function (NEF), network storage function (NRF), policy control function (PCF), unified data management (UDM), application function (AF), access and mobility management function (AMF), authentication server function (AUSF), session management function (SMF), user plane function (UPF), etc.

[0188] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 Schematic diagram of another communication system architecture used in the embodiment of the present application. The communication system is a system architecture in a 5G non-roaming scenario. Figure 2 As shown, the communication system includes NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, AF, AMF, AUSF, SMF, UE, (radio) access network ((radio) access network, (R)AN), UPF and data network (data network, DN).

[0189] in:

[0190] 1. User plane network element: As the interface with the data network, it completes functions such as user plane data forwarding, session / flow-level billing statistics, bandwidth limitation, etc. That is, packet routing and forwarding, and user plane data quality of service (QoS) processing.

[0191] In a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a UPF network element.

[0192] 2. Authentication server: performs security authentication of users. In the 5G communication system, the authentication server can be an AUSF network element.

[0193] 3. Mobility management network element: mainly used for mobility management and access management. In the 5G communication system, the access management network element can be an AMF network element, which mainly performs functions such as mobility management and access authentication / authorization. In addition, it is also responsible for transmitting user policies between the terminal and the PCF network element.

[0194] 4. Session management network element: mainly used for session management, allocation and management of Internet protocol (IP) addresses of user equipment, selection of endpoints of manageable user plane functions, policy control and charging function interfaces, and downlink data notification.

[0195] In the 5G communication system, the session management network element can be an SMF network element, which completes terminal IP address allocation, UPF selection, and billing and QoS policy control.

[0196] 5. Application network element: In the 5G communication system, the application network element can be an AF network element, which represents the application function of a third party or operator. It is the interface for the 5G network to obtain external application data and is mainly used to convey the requirements of the application side to the network side.

[0197] 6. Unified data management network element: responsible for the management of user identification, contract data, authentication data, and user service network element registration management. In the 5G communication system, the unified data management network element can be a UDM network element.

[0198] 7. Policy control network element: including user contract data management function, policy control function, billing policy control function, quality of service (QoS) control, etc., a unified policy framework used to guide network behavior, and provide policy rule information for control plane functional network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements, etc.).

[0199] In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a PCF.

[0200] 8. Network Function Repository Functional Network Element: Provides storage and selection functions for network function entity information for other core network elements. In the 5G communication system, this network element can be an NRF network element.

[0201] 9. Network open network element: In the 5G communication system, the network open network element can be a NEF network element, which is mainly used to expose the services and capabilities of 3GPP network functions to AF, and also allows AF to provide information to 3GPP network functions.

[0202] 10. Network slice selection function network element: responsible for selecting network slices for UE. In the 5G communication system, this application network element can be the NSSF network element.

[0203] The above-mentioned functional network element can be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The above-mentioned functional network element can be divided into one or more services, and further, there may be services that exist independently of the network function. In this application, an instance of the above-mentioned functional network element, or an instance of a service included in the above-mentioned functional network element, or an instance of a service that exists independently of the network function can be referred to as a service instance.

[0204] In addition, although not shown, the CN may also include other possible network elements, such as authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) network elements, etc. Optionally, the AF and / or AAA may also be independent of the CN. When the AF and AAA are independent of the CN, the AF and AAA may access the CN through the NEF.

[0205] It should be noted that the above functional entity is only a name, and the name itself does not limit the entity. For example, the session management function may also be replaced by "session management function entity" or other names. Moreover, the session management function entity may also correspond to an entity including other functions in addition to the session management function. The user plane function may also be replaced by "user plane function entity" or other names, and the user plane function entity may also correspond to an entity including other functions in addition to the user plane function. A unified explanation is given here, and no further description is given below.

[0206] It should be noted that the message names between network elements or the names of parameters in the messages in the following embodiments of the present application are merely examples, and other names may be used in specific implementations, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any specific limitations on this.

[0207] In this application, "sending information to...(terminal)" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal. It can include sending information to the terminal directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from...(terminal)" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal, which can include receiving information from the terminal directly or indirectly. The information may be processed as necessary between the source and destination of the information, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here.

[0208] It should be understood that the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can be any of the above-mentioned devices or chips, which are not specifically limited here. Whether as a device or as a chip, the terminal device can be manufactured, sold or used as an independent product. In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, only the terminal device is used as an example for introduction.

[0209] It should be understood that the device used to implement the function of the access network device in the embodiment of the present application may be the access network device itself, or may be a device that can support the access network device to implement the function, such as a chip system or a combination device or component that can implement the function of the access network device, and the device can be installed in the access network device. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices. In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, only the access network device is used as an example for introduction.

[0210] It should be understood that the device for implementing the function of the core network element in the embodiment of the present application may be the core network element itself, or may be a device capable of supporting the core network element to implement the function, such as a chip system or a combination of devices and components capable of implementing the function of the core network element, and the device may be installed in the core network element. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices. In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, only the core network element is used as an example for introduction.

[0211] It should be understood that the device used to implement the network management (such as operation administration and maintenance (OAM)) function in the embodiment of the present application can be the network management itself, or it can be a device that can support the network management to implement the function, such as a chip system or a combination of devices and components that can implement the network management function, and the device can be installed in the network management. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system can be composed of chips, and can also include chips and other discrete devices. In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, only the network management is used as an example for introduction.

[0212] It should be noted that the access network equipment, core network elements and network management in the embodiments of the present application can also be collectively referred to as network equipment.

[0213] The following is an explanation of the relevant technical features involved in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by the present application.

[0214] 1. NTN

[0215] NTN is to provide seamless communication coverage for terminal devices by deploying base stations or part of base station functions on non-ground equipment (such as ships, high altitude platforms, drones or satellites) to improve the reliability of communication systems. NTN is a general term for all networks involving flying objects, including satellite communication networks, high altitude platform stations (HAPS) systems and air-to-ground networks. NTN networks can be deployed independently or as a supplement to ground networks.

[0216] It should be noted that, for ease of understanding, the following text only uses the non-terrestrial device in the NTN as a satellite as an example for explanation, which should not be regarded as a specific limitation of the present application. Satellite communication networks have certain advantages over terrestrial communication networks. For example, satellite communication networks have the characteristics of long communication distance, large coverage area, wide communication frequency band, and can provide users with communication services at any time and any place. They can effectively serve as a supplement to terrestrial communication networks and provide users with more reliable communication services.

[0217] 2. Paging

[0218] In wireless communication, the access network device can send a paging message to the terminal. There are two types of paging messages sent by the access network device. One type is short message-type paging messages, such as system message update indication, earthquake and tsunami warning system (ETWS) messages, etc. For short message-type paging messages, terminal devices in RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE), RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE) or RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED) can receive them. The other type of paging message is used to establish a connection. For this type of paging message, terminal devices in RRC idle state or RRC inactive state can receive it, while terminal devices in RRC connected state do not need to receive it.

[0219] The access network device can periodically send paging messages. There can be multiple paging frames (PF) in a paging cycle, and there can be one or more paging occasions (PO) under each PF. Taking the terminal device as UE1 as an example, the access network device and UE1 can both determine the paging occasion corresponding to UE1 according to the terminal identifier of UE1. Each paging occasion is further composed of multiple monitoring occasions. Then, the access network device can send paging downlink control information (DCI) at the monitoring occasion of a paging occasion corresponding to UE1, and send the paging message on the time-frequency resources indicated by the paging DCI. The paging DCI is used to schedule the paging message (or the paging DCI contains the scheduling information of the paging message). The paging message is carried on the paging physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and the paging DCI is scrambled using the paging radio network temporary identity (P-RNTI). Accordingly, UE1 may use the P-RNTI to monitor the paging DCI at multiple monitoring occasions of the paging occasions corresponding to UE1, and receive the paging message according to the received paging DCI to obtain the specific content of the paging message.

[0220] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the paging opportunity and paging cycle. Figure 3 As shown, a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state monitors its own PO in each paging cycle to determine whether the network has performed paging. Generally speaking, a terminal device can calculate its own PO position according to its own terminal identification and paging-related parameters according to the calculation formula specified in the protocol. The PO positions calculated by different terminal devices may be the same, that is, there may be multiple terminal devices monitoring the same PO.

[0221] Exemplarily, PF is a system frame satisfying the following formula:

[0222] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0223] The PO index i_s of PO satisfies:

[0224] i_s = floor(UE_ID / N) mod Ns;

[0225] Among them, SFN is the system frame number, PF_offset is the offset value used for PF determination, T is the paging cycle (also called discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle), N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0226] Generally speaking, T can be the minimum value between specific DRX and default DRX (i.e., min(specific DRX, default DRX)), where default DRX can be configured through system information block 1 (SIB), and specific DRX can be configured through radio resource control (RRC) release message (RRCrelease). N, Ns, and PF_offset are configured through SIB.

[0227] It should be noted that the parameters such as T, N, Ns, PF_offset described in the following text can be cell-level configurations, or they can be bandwidth part (BWP) level configurations, that is, different BWPs correspond to different T / N / Ns / PF_offsets, and this application does not limit this. However, for ease of understanding, the parameters in the form of T, N, Ns, and PF_offset in the following text are all understood to be cell-level configurations.

[0228] It should be understood that for UE_ID, if the terminal device is configured with eDRX, then UE_ID = 5G-S-TMSI mod 4096, otherwise, UE_ID = 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024. The fifth generation short temporary mobile subscription identifier (5G S-temporary mobile subscription identifier, 5G-S-TMSI) is the terminal identifier of the terminal device. Generally speaking, one terminal device corresponds to one 5G-S-TMSI.

[0229] 3. Beam

[0230] The beam is the main lobe of the directional array diagram. The base station adjusts the antenna weights so that the satellite's beam can point to different directions and have different coverage ranges. The spatial coverage of the beam mentioned in this application refers to the coverage of the beam on the ground. As the satellite moves and the weights are adjusted, the spatial coverage of the satellite's beam will change.

[0231] In NTN communications, due to limited satellite power and the long distance between the terminal device and the satellite, the link budget is limited, that is, the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal received by the terminal device is low, or even cannot be demodulated. Especially when the terminal device is in the RRC idle state, the user usually puts the terminal device in a pocket or a briefcase, and the link budget will be further deteriorated. If the access network device needs to page the terminal device, the terminal device may not receive the paging message correctly and miss the paging. Therefore, how to ensure the link budget of the paging channel and improve the success rate of paging has become an urgent problem to be solved.

[0232] Based on this, the present application proposes a communication method, which is beneficial to improving the success rate of paging.

[0233] The communication method and communication device provided by this application are described in detail below:

[0234] See also Figure 4 , Figure 4 Schematic diagram of an interactive process of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the communication method includes the following steps S400-S402. Figure 4 The execution subject of the method shown may be a terminal device, an access network device (such as a satellite) and a core network element (such as an AMF), or, Figure 4 The execution subject of the method shown may also be a chip in a terminal device, a chip in an access network device, and a chip in a core network element. For the convenience of description, Figure 4 The method is mainly described by taking terminal equipment, access network equipment and core network elements as the execution subjects. It should be noted that the device used to execute the core network element function in this application can also be an OAM or a third-party control center, etc., and this application does not limit this. It should be noted that Figure 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the present application embodiment may also perform other operations or Figure 4 In addition, Figure 4 The steps in Figure 4 are executed in a different order than those presented, and may not be executed in the order Figure 4 All operations in . Among them:

[0235] S400: The core network element sends first indication information 1 to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first indication information 1 from the core network element.

[0236] In some possible implementations, the first indication information 1 indicates an index of a first geographic area to which the first location information belongs, wherein the first location information is the location information of the terminal device. Here, the location information of the terminal device may specifically be a location coordinate value of the terminal device. The location coordinate value may be a coordinate value (x, y, z) in an earth-centered rectangular coordinate system (earthcentered earth fixed, ECEF), or may be expressed in longitude and latitude coordinates, or may be expressed in position relationship coordinates relative to a satellite, and other methods are not limiting in the present application.

[0237] In a possible implementation, the location information of the terminal device may be actively reported by the terminal device. For example, the terminal device sends the location information of the terminal device to the access device, and the access network device sends the location information of the terminal device to the core network element. It should be understood that the access network device may directly forward the location information of the terminal device, or the access network device may also perform blurring or truncating on the location information of the terminal device before sending it to the core network element, and this application does not limit this.

[0238] Optionally, in another possible implementation, the location information of the terminal device can also be located by the access network device, and the access network device sends the located location information of the terminal device to the core network element. For example, the access network device can estimate the location information of the terminal device based on the uplink signal sent by the terminal device. For example, the terminal device can send a preamble code to the access network device, and the access network device estimates the angle between the terminal device and the access network device based on the phase difference when different antennas receive the preamble code, and then estimates the location of the terminal device. For another example, the access network device can also estimate the location information of the terminal device based on the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the access network device, etc. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0239] The following embodiments of the present application are mainly illustrated by taking the terminal device reporting location information as an example. Therefore, after the access network device obtains the current location information of the terminal device (i.e., the first location information), the access network device can further send the obtained first location information to the core network network element, and then the core network network element determines which geographical area the terminal device belongs to based on the obtained first location information. In the embodiments of the present application, the determined geographical area to which the terminal device belongs is referred to as the first geographical area. The first geographical area corresponds to an index, referred to as the index of the first geographical area. After determining the index of the first geographical area, the core network network element can send the first indication information 1 to the access network device to indicate the index of the first geographical area.

[0240] It should be noted that the geographical areas involved in the embodiments of the present application are stationary relative to the earth. Generally speaking, by dividing a large ground geographical area, a plurality of geographical areas can be obtained. Each geographical area represents a continuous ground geographical area bounded by a geometric shape, such as a square, rectangle, quadrilateral or general polygon. In one implementation, a large ground geographical area can be divided into geographical areas of the same size. Optionally, in another implementation, a large ground geographical area can also be divided into geographical areas of different sizes, which is not limited in the present application. Exemplarily, various attributes can be used to represent a geographical area, such as using a bounding box of latitude coordinates and longitude coordinates to represent a geographical area, and for example, an identifier (or index) of a geographical area, a name of a geographical area, and a descriptor of a boundary of a geographical area can be used to represent a geographical area. For ease of understanding, the present application mainly uses an index of a geographical area (i.e., Areaindex) to represent a geographical area as an example for schematic illustration. It should be understood that in this application, one geographical area corresponds to one Areaindex, but one Areaindex may correspond to multiple geographical areas, where the correspondence between the geographical area and the Areaindex may be predefined by the protocol, or may be configured by the core network element, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0241] For example, see Figure 5 , Figure 5 Schematic diagram of geographical area division provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, a large ground geographical area can be divided into 100 geographical areas of equal size, which are respectively geographical areas with indexes of 1 to 100. Among them, the core network element can match the location information of the terminal device with the geographical area to determine which geographical area the location of the terminal device belongs to (or is called within which geographical area), and notify the terminal device of the index of the geographical area to which it belongs through the access network device.

[0242] It should be noted that the area size of the divided geographical area in the embodiment of the present application is related to the spatial coverage range of the transmitting beam of the access network device. Generally speaking, the area size of the divided geographical area can be equal to the spatial coverage range of the transmitting beam. Optionally, the area difference between the area size of the divided geographical area and the spatial coverage range of the transmitting beam can also be less than or equal to the preset area difference. The present application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0243] S401. The access network device sends first indication information 2 to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information 2 from the access network device.

[0244] In some feasible implementations, after the access network device receives the first indication information 1 from the core network element, the access network device may carry the first indication information 1 in the first indication information 2 and send it to the terminal device to inform the terminal device of the index of the geographical area to which it belongs.

[0245] Optionally, in addition to the first indication information 1, the first indication information 2 may also include a first offset value and / or a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device. The first offset value and / or the second offset value will be described in detail later and will not be repeated here.

[0246] S402. The access network device / terminal device determines a first PO based on an index of the first geographical area.

[0247] In some feasible implementations, in order to keep the understanding of PO by the access network device and the terminal device consistent, both the access network device and the terminal device can determine the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area. It is understandable that since the terminal device and the access network device determine the first PO in the same way, for the convenience of description, the following mainly uses the terminal device as the execution subject for explanation, wherein the way in which the access network device determines the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area is the same as that of the terminal device, and will not be repeated in the following text.

[0248] The terminal device determines the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area, which can be understood as: the terminal device determines the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the offset value used to determine the paging frame. Exemplarily, the paging frame where the first PO is located can satisfy:

[0249] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0250] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0251] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0252] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns.

[0253] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0254] It should be understood that the spatial coverage of the transmission beam used by the access network device for paging in the embodiment of the present application is smaller than the spatial coverage of the synchronization signal block (SSB) beam. For the convenience of description, the transmission beam of the access network device for paging in the present application may be described as a narrow beam, and the SSB beam may be described as a wide beam. For example, see Figure 6 , Figure 6 Schematic diagram of a wide beam and a narrow beam provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the spatial coverage of the narrow beam is smaller than the spatial coverage of the wide beam (or the spatial coverage of the narrow beam is a subset of the spatial coverage of the wide beam).

[0255] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, one Areaindex may correspond to / indicate one narrow beam, or one Areaindex may correspond to / indicate multiple narrow beams, or multiple Areaindexes may correspond to / indicate one narrow beam.

[0256] When an Areaindex corresponds to / indicates multiple narrow beams, if the multiple narrow beams are the transmission beams of the same access network device, the POs of the multiple narrow beams may be the same. Therefore, the access network device needs to page on multiple narrow beams at the same time, which places high requirements on the capabilities of the access network device (for example, the access network device needs to have space separation capabilities). If the access network device does not have space separation capabilities, the solution of one Areaindex corresponding to / indicating multiple narrow beams cannot be adopted. When an Areaindex corresponds to / indicates multiple narrow beams, if the multiple narrow beams are the transmission beams of multiple access network devices, the space separation capabilities of the access network device are not required.

[0257] When multiple AreaIndex correspond to / indicate a narrow beam, the POs of different terminal devices under the same narrow beam may be different. Paging is required at multiple POs under the same narrow beam, which may cause additional paging overhead when there are fewer terminal devices.

[0258] It should be noted that when an Areaindex corresponds to / indicates a narrow beam under an access network device, the paging timings of different terminal devices in a narrow beam calculated based on the above formula are the same. In densely populated geographical areas, due to the large number of terminal devices, the problem of being unable to page at the same time may occur. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application proposes that the terminal devices in a geographical area can also be regrouped to achieve the distinction between terminal devices under the same narrow beam coverage. The following describes different grouping methods respectively:

[0259] In a possible implementation 1, the first indication information 2 may also indicate a first offset value corresponding to the terminal device, and the first offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the terminal device, that is, the access network device may also allocate a user-level PF_offset to the terminal device. For the convenience of description, UE_specific_PF_offset may be used below to represent the first offset value, so that the terminal devices in a narrow beam can be distinguished. Therefore, the paging frame where the first PO is located may satisfy:

[0260] (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0261] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0262] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0263] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns.

[0264] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0265] It should be noted that when the above implementation method 1 is adopted, for terminal devices assigned with different UE_specific_PF_offset, the corresponding paging frames are different, but the PO positions of the POs in different paging frames are the same. For example, assuming that the number of terminal devices in a geographical area 1 is 100, namely UE1 to UE100, then the access network device can configure the first offset value corresponding to UE1 to UE50 as the first offset value 1, and configure the first offset value corresponding to UE51 to UE100 as the first offset value 2. Based on this, the terminal devices in the geographical area 1 can be divided into 2 groups, where UE1 to UE50 are a group 1, and the paging opportunities of different UEs in the group 1 are the same, and UE51 to UE100 are another group 2, and the paging opportunities of different UEs in the group 2 are the same. It can be understood that the paging frame corresponding to group 1 is different from the paging frame corresponding to group 2, but the PO index of group 1 is the same as the PO index of group 2, that is, the paging opportunities of group 1 and group 2 are located at the same PO position in different paging frames.

[0266] It should be noted that the “same paging occasion (or same paging occasion)” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application means that the paging frames are the same and the PO positions in the paging frames are the same.

[0267] Optionally, the first offset value may not be indicated by the first indication information 2, that is, the first offset value is not allocated / configured by the access network device while issuing the index of the first geographical area, but the terminal device itself determines the first offset value based on the UE_specific_PF_offset list broadcast by the access network device and its own UE_ID. For example, assume that the number of UE_specific_PF_offsets included in the UE_specific_PF_offset list broadcast by the access network device is 2, namely UE_specific_PF_offset 1 and UE_specific_PF_offset 1. The terminal device determines which one to select from the UE_specific_PF_offset list based on its own UE_ID. Exemplarily, the selection rule may be: if UE_IDmod 2=0, use UE_specific_PF_offset 1; if UE_ID mod 2=1, use UE_specific_PF_offset 2. In this way, the position of the PF corresponding to different terminal devices under the same narrow beam can be configured more flexibly.

[0268] In a possible implementation manner 2, the first indication information 2 may also indicate a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device, and the second offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device, that is, the access network device may also allocate a user-level PO_offset to the terminal device. For the convenience of description, UE_specific_PO_offset may be used below to represent the second offset value, which may also achieve the distinction of terminal devices within a narrow beam. Therefore, the paging frame where the first PO is located may satisfy:

[0269] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0270] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0271] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0272] (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns.

[0273] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0274] It should be noted that when the above implementation method 2 is adopted, for terminal devices assigned with different UE_specific_PO_offsets, the paging frames corresponding to different terminal devices are the same, but the PO indexes of their POs in the paging frames are different. For example, assuming that the number of terminal devices in a geographical area 1 is 100, namely UE1 to UE100, then the access network device can configure the second offset value corresponding to UE1 to UE50 as the second offset value 1, and configure the second offset value corresponding to UE51 to UE100 as the second offset value 2. Based on this, the terminal devices in the geographical area 1 can be divided into 2 groups, where UE1 to UE50 are a group 1, and the paging opportunities of different UEs in the group 1 are the same, and UE51 to UE100 are another group 2, and the paging opportunities of different UEs in the group 2 are the same. It can be understood that the paging frame corresponding to group 1 is the same as the paging frame corresponding to group 2, but the PO index of group 1 is different from the PO index of group 2, that is, the paging opportunities of group 1 and group 2 are located at different PO positions in the same paging frame.

[0275] Optionally, the second offset value may not be indicated by the first indication information 2, that is, the second offset value is not allocated / configured by the access network device while issuing the index of the first geographical area, but the terminal device itself determines the second offset value based on the UE_specific_PO_offset list broadcast by the access network device and its own UE_ID. For example, assume that the number of UE_specific_PO_offsets included in the UE_specific_PO_offset list broadcast by the access network device is 2, namely UE_specific_PO_offset 1 and UE_specific_PO_offset 1. The terminal device determines which one to select from the UE_specific_PO_offset list based on its own UE_ID. Exemplarily, the selection rule may be: if UE_IDmod 2=0, use UE_specific_PO_offset 1; if UE_ID mod 2=1, use UE_specific_PO_offset 2. In this way, the position of PO corresponding to different terminal devices under the same narrow beam can be configured more flexibly.

[0276] In a possible implementation manner 3, the first indication information 2 may also indicate the first offset value and the second offset value corresponding to the terminal device, that is, the access network device may simultaneously allocate the user-level PF_offset and the user-level PO_offset to the terminal device, which may also achieve the distinction of terminal devices within a narrow beam. Therefore, the paging frame where the first PO is located may satisfy:

[0277] (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0278] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0279] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0280] (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns.

[0281] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0282] It should be noted that when the above implementation method 3 is adopted, for terminal devices allocated with different UE_specific_PF_offset and UE_specific_PO_offset, the corresponding paging frames are different, and the PO indexes of PO in the paging frames are also different. For example, assuming that the number of terminal devices in a geographical area 1 is 100, namely UE1 to UE100, then the access network device can configure the first offset value and the second offset value corresponding to UE1 to UE50 as the first offset value 1 and the second offset value 1 respectively, and configure the first offset value and the second offset value corresponding to UE51 to UE100 as the first offset value 2 and the second offset value 2 respectively. Based on this, the terminal devices in the geographical area 1 can be divided into 2 groups, wherein UE1 to UE50 are a group 1, and the paging timings of different UEs in the group 1 are the same, and UE51 to UE100 are another group 2, and the paging timings of different UEs in the group 2 are the same. It is understandable that the paging frame corresponding to group 1 is different from the paging frame corresponding to group 2, and the PO index of group 1 is also different from the PO index of group 2, that is, the paging occasions of group 1 and group 2 are located at different PO positions in different paging frames.

[0283] It should be noted that the user-level PF_offset (i.e., UE_specific_PF_offset) and user-level PO_offset (i.e., UE_specific_PO_offset) in the embodiments of the present application may be different PF_offsets and / or PO_offsets configured for different terminal devices, or different PF_offsets and / or PO_offsets configured for different user groups.

[0284] In a possible implementation method 4, the paging time in the same narrow beam can also be bound to the UE_ID (that is, the calculation of PO is related to both Areaindex and UE_ID) to further distinguish the paging times corresponding to different terminal devices under the same narrow beam.

[0285] In Example 1, the access network device can configure a new parameter beam_specific_N1 for different terminal devices, where beam_specific_N1 indicates the number of paging frames included in a beam in a paging cycle (i.e., beam_specific_N1 is a beam-level configuration). Therefore, the paging frame where the first PO is located can satisfy:

[0286] (SFN+PF_offset+(UE_ID mod beam_specific_N1)*PF_offset)mod T=(TdivN)*(Area Index mod N);

[0287] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, beam_specific_N1 is the number of paging frames included in a beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0288] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0289] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns.

[0290] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0291] As can be seen from Example 1, the paging frames of different UE_IDs can be staggered in configuration. Similar to implementation method 1, for terminal devices assigned with different beam_specific_N1, the corresponding paging frames are different, but their POs have the same PO position in different paging frames.

[0292] It should be noted that in Example 1, when PF_offset is configured to 0, different terminal device groups under the beam will have the same PO. Based on this, in another Example 2, another paging frame calculation formula is given, that is, the paging frame where the first PO is located can satisfy:

[0293] (SFN+PF_offset+(UE_ID mod beam_specific_N1)*delta_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N);

[0294] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, beam_specific_N1 is the number of paging frames included in a beam, delta_PF_offset is the cell-level or beam-level offset value configuration, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

[0295] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0296] i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns.

[0297] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0298] It can be seen from Example 2 that by configuring delta_PF_offset (which can be a cell-level configuration or a beam-level configuration), different paging frame positions can be achieved between different terminal device groups. This Example 2 is also similar to implementation method 1. For terminal devices assigned with different beam_specific_N1 and delta_PF_offset, their corresponding paging frames are different, but their PO positions in different paging frames are the same.

[0299] Optionally, similar to Example 1 and Example 2, the PO index of the first PO can also be configured with beam_specific_N1 at the beam level, or delta_PO_offset at the cell level or beam level, so as to achieve different PO indexes between different terminal device groups.

[0300] It should be noted that, since each narrow beam includes at least one PO in a paging cycle, a large number of narrow beams may result in excessive time resource overhead (this is because each narrow beam must reserve a paging opportunity). Considering that in NTN communications, spatial division beams can be used to schedule different terminal devices at the same time (i.e., different terminal devices have the same time-frequency resources, and spatial division is used to distinguish different terminal devices), it is also possible to design multiple narrow beams to have the same PO (i.e., one Areaindex corresponds to / indicates multiple narrow beams), where these narrow beams with the same PO need to be spaced a certain distance apart to avoid mutual interference. For ease of understanding, take the design of two narrow beams with the same PO as an example, such as Figure 5 As shown, assuming that the number of AreaIndex is 100, 50 paging occasions can be designed so that the paging occasions of two AreaIndex in the 100 AreaIndex are the same, for example, the paging occasions of AreaIndex 16 and AreaIndex 66 are the same, so the access network device can page the two narrow beams at the same time. If the access network device does not have the space division capability, or needs to fully converge the power to the same beam, it is impossible to adopt the solution of designing the same PO for multiple narrow beams.

[0301] It should be noted that after the terminal device moves a certain distance, the terminal device needs to re-report its own location information (or the terminal device can also periodically report its own location information). Therefore, the access network device can determine whether it is necessary to re-assign Areaindex to the terminal device based on the location information reported by the terminal device to ensure that the user can be correctly paged. It should be noted that the access network device will also determine the first PO based on the index of the first geographical area to which the location information of the terminal device belongs, and then use the beam corresponding to the first geographical area (for example, the first beam) on the first PO to page the terminal device. Accordingly, for the terminal device, it is not aware of how the access network device divides the geographical areas. It only needs to calculate the first PO according to the index of the first geographical area issued by the access network device, and monitor the paging message at the first PO.

[0302] It should be noted that the prior art adopts a wide beam paging solution, in which the SSB index is associated with the paging opportunity (that is, there is a corresponding / associated relationship between the SSB index and the paging opportunity). Therefore, the terminal device needs to find the corresponding PO based on the SSB where it is located, and then use a wide beam for paging on the determined PO. However, the wide beam signal-to-noise ratio is relatively low. Therefore, the present application proposes a solution for paging using a narrow beam. In this application, the PO corresponding to the terminal device is no longer determined based on the association between the SSB where the terminal device is located and the SSB index and the paging opportunity. Instead, a correspondence between the index of the geographical area and the paging opportunity is established, so that the network side can use a narrow beam (that is, a beam narrower than the SSB beam) to page the terminal device, thereby improving the link budget and helping to improve the paging success rate.

[0303] See also Figure 7 , Figure 7 is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, the communication method includes the following steps S701-S702. Figure 7 The method shown may be performed by a terminal device and an access network device, or, Figure 7 The execution subject of the method shown may also be a chip in a terminal device and a chip in an access network device. For the convenience of description, Figure 7 The following mainly uses the terminal device and the access network device as the execution subject of the method as an example. It should be noted that: Figure 7 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the present application embodiment may also perform other operations or Figure 7 In addition, Figure 7 The steps in Figure 7 are executed in a different order than those presented, and may not be executed in the order Figure 7 All operations in . Among them:

[0304] S701. The access network device sends first indication information 3 to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information 3 from the access network device.

[0305] In some possible implementations, the first indication information 3 indicates the index of the first geographic area to which the first location information belongs, wherein the first location information is the location information of the terminal device. Here, the location information of the terminal device may specifically be the location coordinate value of the terminal device. The location coordinate value may be the coordinate value (x, y, z) under ECEF, or may be expressed in longitude and latitude coordinates, or may be expressed in position relationship coordinates relative to satellites, and the present application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0306] In one possible implementation, the location information of the terminal device may be actively reported by the terminal device. Optionally, in another possible implementation, the location information of the terminal device may also be obtained by positioning the access network device. The specific positioning method can refer to the relevant description in the above S401, which will not be repeated here.

[0307] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the core network network element or network management or a third-party control center can pre-divide the geographical areas and the correspondence between the geographical areas and the Areaindex, and send the correspondence to the access network device. The access network device can then determine the index of the first geographical area to which the location information of the terminal device belongs based on the acquired first location information and the correspondence, and send the first indication information 3 indicating the index of the first geographical area to the terminal device.

[0308] Optionally, when the geographical area division and / or the correspondence between the geographical area and the Areaindex is updated / changed, the core network element or the network management or the third-party control center needs to synchronize the updated information to the access network device.

[0309] S702. The access network device / terminal device determines a first PO based on an index of the first geographical area.

[0310] Here, the understanding of step S702 is similar to that of step S402, except that the first indication information in step S402 is first indication information 2, and the first indication information in step S702 is first indication information 3.

[0311] Optionally, in some feasible implementations, the correspondence between the geographic area and the Areaindex can also be directly sent to the terminal device and stored in the terminal device. Therefore, the terminal device can determine the first physical area to which it belongs and the index of the first physical area based on its own location information without interacting with the network side, and then determine the first PO based on the index of the first geographic area.

[0312] In the embodiments of this application Figure 4 The illustrated embodiment is similar, except that the access network device allocates an index of a geographical area to the terminal device.

[0313] See also Figure 8 , Figure 8 FIG. 1 is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the communication method includes the following steps S801-S802. Figure 8 The method shown may be performed by a terminal device and an access network device, or, Figure 8 The execution subject of the method shown may also be a chip in a terminal device and a chip in an access network device. For the convenience of description, Figure 8 The following mainly uses the terminal device and the access network device as the execution subject of the method as an example. It should be noted that: Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the present application embodiment may also perform other operations or Figure 8 In addition, Figure 8 The steps in Figure 8 are executed in a different order than those presented, and may not be executed in the order Figure 8 All operations in . Among them:

[0314] S801. The access network device sends the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to each beam. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to each beam.

[0315] Among them, the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, that is, the third offset value is the PF_offset at the beam level. For the convenience of description, beam_specific_PF_offset can be used to represent the third offset value below. The fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, that is, the fourth offset value is the PO_offset at the beam level. For the convenience of description, beam_specific_PO_offset can be used to represent the fourth offset value below. It should be noted that the spatial coverage of the beam involved in this application is smaller than the spatial coverage of the SSB beam, that is, the transmission beam used for paging in this application is a narrow beam, and correspondingly, the SSB beam is a wide beam.

[0316] S802. The access network device / terminal device determines the first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each beam, and determines the first PO based on the third offset value and / or fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

[0317] It should be understood that the first beam is included in at least one beam. It should be noted that in order to keep the understanding of PO consistent between the access network device and the terminal device, both the access network device and the terminal device can determine the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam. It is understandable that since the terminal device and the access network device determine the first PO in the same way, for the convenience of description, the following mainly uses the terminal device as the execution subject for explanation, wherein the way in which the access network device determines the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam is the same as that of the terminal device, and will not be repeated in the following text.

[0318] It should be understood that the center point position information of the beam can be understood as the intersection of the vertex direction of the main lobe of the directional array diagram (beam vertex direction) and the center of the earth line on the surface. Exemplarily, the indication of the center point position information of the beam can be indicated by the coordinates (x, y, z) of the earth-centered earth fixed (ECEF) coordinate system, or by the longitude and latitude coordinates, or by the relative satellite position relationship coordinates, etc., and this application does not limit this.

[0319] Among them, the terminal device determines the first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each beam, which can be understood as: the terminal device can calculate the distance between the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each beam to determine the beam where it is located (for the convenience of description, the beam where the terminal device is located will be referred to as the first beam in the following), and then determine the first PO according to the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam. Specifically, the terminal device determines the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, which can be understood as: the terminal device determines the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the grouping index of the terminal device.

[0320] It should be noted that when the access network device determines the first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each beam, the location information of the terminal device used by the access network device may be actively reported by the terminal device, or may be obtained by positioning the access network device. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0321] In a possible implementation manner (1), when the access network device only configures the third offset value corresponding to the first beam for the terminal device, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0322] (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0323] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0324] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0325] i_s=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns.

[0326] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0327] It can be understood that, under implementation mode (1), the paging frames corresponding to the terminal devices located in different beams are different, but the PO positions of the terminal devices in different paging frames are the same.

[0328] In a possible implementation manner (2), when the access network device only configures the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam for the terminal device, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0329] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0330] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0331] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO may satisfy:

[0332] (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns.

[0333] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0334] It can be understood that, under implementation mode (2), the paging frames corresponding to the terminal devices located in different beams are the same, but the PO positions of their POs in the same paging frame are different.

[0335] In a possible implementation manner (3), when the access network device configures the third offset value and the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam for the terminal device at the same time, the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies:

[0336] (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N);

[0337] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0338] Furthermore, the PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0339] (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns.

[0340] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0341] It can be understood that, under implementation mode (3), the paging frames corresponding to the terminal devices located in different beams are different, and the PO positions in the paging frames are also different.

[0342] It should be noted that the access network device will also determine the beam (i.e., the first beam) where the terminal device is located based on the acquired location information of the terminal device, and determine the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and then use the first beam to page the terminal device on the first PO. Accordingly, for the terminal device, after the terminal device determines the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, it can monitor the paging message at the first PO.

[0343] In an embodiment of the present application, by broadcasting the center point location information of each narrow beam and its corresponding PO_offset and / or PF_offset, the terminal device can determine the narrow beam in which it is located and the corresponding PO position, so that the paging timings of different narrow beams can be staggered. This can also unbind the association between the SSB index and PO in the prior art, so that the access network device can page the terminal device through a narrow beam, thereby improving the link budget and facilitating improving the paging success rate.

[0344] See also Fig. 9 , Fig. 9 FIG. 1 is another interactive flow diagram of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the communication method includes the following steps S900 to S902. Fig. 9 The execution subject of the method shown may be a terminal device, an access network device (such as a satellite) and a core network element (such as an AMF), or, Fig. 9 The execution subject of the method shown may also be a chip in a terminal device, a chip in an access network device, and a chip in a core network element. For the convenience of description, Fig. 9 The method is mainly described by taking terminal equipment, access network equipment and core network elements as the execution subjects. It should be noted that the device used to execute the core network element function in this application can also be an OAM or a third-party control center, etc., and this application does not limit this. It should be noted that Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a method embodiment of the present application, showing detailed communication steps or operations of the method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the present application embodiment may also perform other operations or Fig. 9 In addition, Fig. 9 The steps in Fig. 9 are executed in a different order than those presented, and may not be executed in the order Fig. 9 All operations in . Among them:

[0345] S900: The core network element determines and sends second indication information 1 to the access network device. Accordingly, the access network device receives the second indication information 1 from the core network element.

[0346] The second indication information 1 indicates a terminal identifier assigned to the terminal device, and the terminal identifier is determined based on the first location information, and the first location information is the location information of the terminal device. By way of example, the location information of the terminal device may be actively reported by the terminal device, or may be obtained by positioning by an access network device. For specific positioning methods, please refer to the relevant description in the aforementioned S401, which will not be repeated here. The location information of the terminal device may specifically be the location coordinate value of the terminal device, and the location coordinate value may be the coordinate value (x, y, z) under ECEF, or may be represented by longitude and latitude coordinates, or may be represented by methods such as position relationship coordinates relative to satellites, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0347] Exemplarily, the terminal identifier sent by the core network element to the access network device in this embodiment may be a TMSI.

[0348] It should be understood that the method of allocating a terminal identifier to a terminal device based on the first physical area to which the terminal device belongs in this implementation can also ensure that the paging timings are different under the spatial coverage of different beams.

[0349] S901. The access network device sends second indication information 2 to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information 2 from the access network device.

[0350] In some feasible implementations, the access network device may obtain the 5G-S-TMSI by processing the TMSI allocated by the core network element, and then the access network device may send a second indication message 2 indicating the 5G-S-TMSI to the terminal device.

[0351] S902: The access network device / terminal device determines a first PO based on the terminal identifier.

[0352] It should be noted that in order to keep the understanding of PO consistent between the access network device and the terminal device, both the access network device and the terminal device can determine the first PO based on the 5G-S-TMSI in S902. Since the terminal device and the access network device determine the first PO in the same way, for the convenience of description, the following mainly uses the terminal device as the execution subject for description, in which the way the access network device determines the first PO based on 5G-S-TMSI is the same as that of the terminal device, and will not be repeated in the following text.

[0353] Exemplarily, the paging frame where the first PO is located may satisfy:

[0354] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N)

[0355] Among them, SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device determined based on 5G-S-TMSI. For example, if the terminal device is configured with eDRX, then UE_ID = 5G-S-TMSI mod 4096, otherwise, UE_ID = 5G-S-TMSImod 1024. The 5G-S-TMSI in this implementation is determined based on the first location information.

[0356] The PO index of the first PO satisfies:

[0357] i_s=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns

[0358] Among them, i_s is the PO index of the first PO, UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device determined based on 5G-S-TMSI, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

[0359] It should be noted that the access network device will also determine the first PO based on the 5G-S-TMSI determined by the first location information, and then use the beam corresponding to the first geographical area (for example, the first beam) on the first PO to page the terminal device. Accordingly, for the terminal device, the terminal device can monitor the paging message at the determined first PO.

[0360] It is understandable that the beams used for paging in the embodiments of the present application are all narrow beams. Generally speaking, the spatial coverage of a wide beam may include the spatial coverage of multiple narrow beams. For example, see Fig.10 , Fig.10 FIG. 1 is another schematic diagram of a wide beam and a narrow beam provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 As shown, the spatial coverage of a wide beam includes the spatial coverage of four narrow beams. That is to say, the spatial coverage of a narrow beam is smaller than the spatial coverage of a wide beam (or the spatial coverage of a narrow beam is a subset of the spatial coverage of a wide beam). It should be understood that in this embodiment, if the configured 5G-S-TMSI can ensure that the values ​​of UE_ID mod N under different narrow beams are different (the difference here can be partial difference, or, it can also be completely different), or, the values ​​of UE_ID mod N under the same narrow beam are the same (that is, no further grouping of terminal devices under the same narrow beam), or, the values ​​of UE_ID mod N under the same narrow beam are different (that is, further grouping of terminal devices under the same narrow beam), the paging opportunities of different narrow beams can be distinguished in this way.

[0361] It should be understood that due to the mobility of the terminal device, after the terminal device moves a certain distance, the terminal device can re-report its own location information, and then the network side needs to re-allocate the terminal identifier to the terminal device based on the updated location information.

[0362] In an embodiment of the present application, the network side allocates 5G-s-TMSI to the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device, so that POs of different narrow beams can be staggered in configuration. It can also be achieved that the access network device can use a narrow beam to page the terminal device, thereby improving the link budget and facilitating improving the paging success rate.

[0363] The following will be combined Figure 11-12 The communication device provided in this application is described in detail.

[0364] It is understandable that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, 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 scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0365] Fig.11 and Fig.12 The following is a schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device (such as access network device or core network element or OAM, etc.) in the above method embodiments, so as to achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be as follows: Figure 1 One of the terminal devices 120a-120j shown may also be Figure 1 The access network device 110a or 110b is shown. Optionally, the communication device may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal device or a network device.

[0366] like Fig.11 As shown, the communication device 1100 includes a processing unit 1110 and a transceiver unit 1120. The communication device 1100 is used to implement the above Figures 4 to 11 The functions of the terminal device or network device in any of the method embodiments shown.

[0367] When the communication device 1100 is used to implement Figures 4 to 11 When the function of the terminal device in any of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 1 is:

[0368] In one implementation:

[0369] The transceiver unit 1120 is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is location information of a terminal device;

[0370] The processing unit 1110 is configured to determine a first paging occasion PO based on an index of the first geographical area.

[0371] In another implementation:

[0372] The transceiver unit 1120 is configured to receive the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage range of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage range of the synchronization signal block SSB beam;

[0373] The processing unit 1110 is configured to determine a first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each of the beams; the first beam is included in the at least one beam;

[0374] The processing unit 1110 is used to determine a first paging occasion PO based on a third offset value and / or a fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

[0375] When the communication device 1100 is used to implement Figures 4 to 11 When the function of the network device in any of the method embodiments shown in FIG. 1 is:

[0376] In one implementation:

[0377] The processing unit 1110 is configured to determine second indication information;

[0378] The transceiver unit 1120 is used to send the second indication information, where the second indication information indicates a terminal identifier assigned to the terminal device, where the terminal identifier is determined based on the first location information, and the first location information is location information of the terminal device.

[0379] In another implementation:

[0380] The processing unit 1110 is configured to determine first indication information, where the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is location information of a terminal device;

[0381] The transceiver unit 1120 is configured to send the first indication information.

[0382] In yet another implementation:

[0383] The transceiver unit 1120 is configured to send the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage range of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage range of the synchronization signal block SSB beam;

[0384] The processing unit 1110 is configured to determine a first beam where the terminal device is located based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each of the beams; the first beam is included in the at least one beam;

[0385] The processing unit 1110 is used to determine a first paging occasion PO based on a third offset value and / or a fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

[0386] For more detailed description of the processing unit 1110 and the transceiver unit 1120, please refer to Figures 4 to 11 Any of the method embodiments shown in .

[0387] like Fig.12 As shown, the communication device 1200 includes a processor 1210 and an interface circuit 1220. The processor 1210 and the interface circuit 1220 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1220 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1200 may also include a memory 1230 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1210 or storing input data required by the processor 1210 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1210 executes instructions.

[0388] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement Figures 4 to 9 When any of the methods shown in is implemented, the processor 1210 is used to implement the function of the above-mentioned processing unit 1110, and the interface circuit 1220 is used to implement the function of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1120.

[0389] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. The terminal device chip receives information sent by the access network device to the terminal device through other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna); or, the terminal device chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the access network device.

[0390] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to an access network device, the access network device module implements the functions of the access network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The access network device module receives information from other modules in the access network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the access network device; or, the access network device module sends information to other modules in the access network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the access network device to the terminal device. The access network device module here can be a baseband chip of the access network device, or it can be a CU, DU or other module, or it can be a device under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU and other devices.

[0391] It is understandable that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0392] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, register, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in an access network device or a terminal device. The processor and the storage medium can also be present in an access network device or a terminal device as discrete components.

[0393] 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 programs or instructions. When the computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is executed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device or other programmable device. The computer program or instruction 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 program or instruction may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape; it may also be an optical medium, for example, a digital video disc; it may also be a semiconductor medium, for example, a solid-state hard disk. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0394] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided for in any logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between the different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other, and the technical features in the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0395] It is understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receive first indication information, where the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is location information of a terminal device; A first paging occasion PO is determined based on an index of the first geographical area.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The determining a first PO based on the index of the first geographical area comprises: The first PO is determined based on an index of the first geographic area, and one or more of the following: a paging cycle, a number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, a number of POs included in the paging frame, or an offset value used to determine a paging frame.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies: (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N); Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the T is the paging cycle, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the AreaIndex is the index of the first geographical area.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The PO index of the first PO satisfies: i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns; Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first indication information further indicates a first offset value and / or a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the first offset value is used to determine a paging frame corresponding to the terminal device, and the second offset value is used to determine a paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device; The determining a first PO based on the index of the first geographical area comprises: The first PO is determined based on the first offset value and / or the second offset value, and the index of the first geographical area, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, or the number of POs included in the paging frame.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first indication information further indicates the first offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies: (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N); Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: The first indication information further indicates the second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the PO index of the first PO satisfies: (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns; Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The first geographical area is smaller than the spatial coverage of the synchronization signal block SSB beam.

9. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive the center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; the third offset value is used to determine the paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine the paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage range of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage range of the synchronization signal block SSB beam; Based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each of the beams, determine the first beam where the terminal device is located; the first beam is included in the at least one beam; The first paging occasion PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The determining the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam includes: The first PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the grouping index of the terminal device.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies: (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N); Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The PO index of the first PO satisfies: (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns; Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: include: determining second indication information; The second indication information is sent, where the second indication information indicates a terminal identifier assigned to the terminal device, where the terminal identifier is determined based on the first location information, and the first location information is location information of the terminal device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The terminal identifier is the fifth generation short temporary mobile subscription identifier 5G-S-TMSI.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access network device determines a first paging occasion PO based on the terminal identifier.

16. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Determine first indication information, where the first indication information indicates an index of a first geographical area to which first location information belongs, and the first location information is location information of a terminal device; Send the first indication information.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access network device determines a first paging occasion PO based on the index of the first geographical area.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The access network device determines a first PO based on an index of the first geographical area, including: The access network device determines the first PO based on an index of the first geographic area and one or more of the following: a paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or an offset value used to determine a paging frame.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies: (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N); Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the PF_offset is the offset value used to determine the paging frame, the T is the paging cycle, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the AreaIndex is the index of the first geographical area.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The PO index of the first PO satisfies: i_s=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns; Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

21. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The first indication information further indicates a first offset value and / or a second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the first offset value is used to determine a paging frame corresponding to the terminal device, and the second offset value is used to determine a paging opportunity corresponding to the terminal device; The access network device determines a first PO based on an index of the first geographical area, including: The access network device determines the first PO based on the first offset value and / or the second offset value, the index of the first geographical area, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, or the number of POs included in the paging frame.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The first indication information further indicates the first offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies: (SFN+UE_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(Area Index mod N); Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the UE_specific_PF_offset is the first offset value, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that The first indication information further indicates the second offset value corresponding to the terminal device; the PO index of the first PO satisfies: (i_s+UE_specific_PO_offset)=floor(Area_index / N)mod Ns; Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the UE_specific_PO_offset is the second offset value, the Area Index is the index of the first geographical area, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

24. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 23, characterized in that: The first geographical area is smaller than the spatial coverage of the synchronization signal block SSB beam.

25. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending center point position information of each beam in at least one beam, and a third offset value and / or a fourth offset value corresponding to each of the beams; The third offset value is used to determine a paging frame corresponding to the beam, and the fourth offset value is used to determine a paging opportunity corresponding to the beam, and the spatial coverage of the beam is smaller than the spatial coverage of the synchronization signal block SSB beam; Based on the location information of the terminal device and the center point location information of each of the beams, determine the first beam where the terminal device is located; the first beam is included in the at least one beam; The first paging occasion PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The determining the first PO based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam includes: The first PO is determined based on the third offset value and / or the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, and one or more of the following: the paging cycle, the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, the number of POs included in the paging frame, or the grouping index of the terminal device.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The paging frame where the first PO is located satisfies: (SFN+beam_specific_PF_offset)mod T=(Tdiv N)*(UE_ID mod N); Among them, the SFN is the system frame number of the paging frame where the first PO is located, the beam_specific_PF_offset is the third offset value corresponding to the first beam, T is the paging cycle, N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

28. The method according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that The PO index of the first PO satisfies: (i_s+beam_specific_PO_offset)=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns; Among them, the i_s is the PO index of the first PO, the beam_specific_PO_offset is the fourth offset value corresponding to the first beam, the UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device, the N is the number of paging frames included in the paging cycle, and the Ns is the number of POs contained in the paging frame.

29. A communication device, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 1-8, or, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 9-12, or, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of claims 13-15, or, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in claims 16-24, or, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in claims 25-28.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a processor, wherein the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-8, or implement the method as described in any one of claims 9-12, or implement the method as described in any one of claims 13-15, or implement the method as described in claims 16-24, or implement the method as described in claims 25-28.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, or implements the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 12, or implements the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 15, or implements the method as described in claims 16 to 24, or implements the method as described in claims 25 to 28.

32. A computer program product, characterized in that Comprising computer program code, when the computer program code is run on a computer, to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 12, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 15, or to implement the method as described in claims 16 to 24, or to implement the method as described in claims 25 to 28.

33. A communication system, characterized in that: It includes a communication device for implementing the method described in any one of claims 1-8 or the method described in any one of claims 9-12, and a communication device for implementing the method described in any one of claims 13-15 or the method described in claims 16-24 or the communication device of the method described in claims 25-28.

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