Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method and a communication device, relates to the technical field of communication, and can reduce the power consumption of terminal equipment for blind detection of a PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel). According to the method, the complexity of blind detection of the PDCCH can be reduced by indicating the range where blind detection of the PDCCH is needed and / or not needed, or the complexity of blind detection of the PDCCH can be reduced by indicating whether blind detection of the PDCCH is needed or not, and unnecessary PDCCH blind detection is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and a communication device. Background Technology

[0002] Blind detection of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) by terminal equipment is a necessary process for obtaining uplink and downlink scheduling information. PDCCH blind detection involves the terminal equipment performing blind detection within a preset control resource set (CORESET) and search space, using predetermined rules. This process typically involves a large number of blind detections, and the power consumption of blind PDCCH detection accounts for a significant portion of the terminal equipment's overall power consumption. Therefore, reducing the power consumption of blind PDCCH detection by terminal equipment is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a communication method and a communication device that can reduce the power consumption of blind detection PDCCH in terminal devices.

[0004] Firstly, a communication method is provided. The executing entity of this method can be a terminal-side device, which is a terminal equipment, or a component or device applied to the terminal equipment (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal equipment. The method includes: receiving a low-power signal, the low-power signal including first information; the first information indicating a range where the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored, and / or a range where the physical downlink control channel does not need to be monitored; and determining, based on the low-power signal, the range where the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored or does not need to be monitored.

[0005] The physical downlink control channel can be PDCCH, or in future communication systems, PDCCH can be replaced with other names.

[0006] In this application, the terminal device may include a main radio (MR) and a low-power wake-up radio (LP-WUR / LR), and the low-power signal may be received by the LP-WUR.

[0007] In this application, MR can also be understood as main radio, main receiver, main communication module, or main circuit, etc. MR can be used to receive or transmit signaling, data, measurement signals, etc.

[0008] LP-WUR can also be understood as a low-power radio, wake-up receiver (WUR), wake-up circuit, low-power radio (LP-R) module, communication auxiliary module, or auxiliary circuit. The operating power consumption of LP-WUR is much lower than that of MR. LR is used to receive or transmit low-power signals (such as low-power wake-up signals, low-power synchronization signals, or low-power measurement signals), wake up MR, or trigger MR to enter sleep mode.

[0009] Therefore, in this application, the terminal device does not need to listen to all candidate PDCCHs within the pre-configured PDCCH range. Instead, it determines the range of PDCCHs to be listened to or not to based on the first information, and then listens to only a portion of the PDCCHs. This reduces the number of times the terminal device performs blind PDCCH detection, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device during blind PDCCH detection.

[0010] In one possible design, the scope of the physical downlink control channel includes at least one of the following: downlink control information type; aggregation level; downlink control information size; candidate set of physical downlink control channels; format of radio network temporary identifier; secondary carrier; carrier sequence number group; carrier sequence number; subset of search space; search space group; relative position of physical downlink control channel to low-power signal; absolute position of physical downlink control channel; subset of time domain position; subset of frequency domain position; resource subset in resource block of control resource set; one of multiple control resource sets; one of multiple bandwidth portions; partial subset in a bandwidth portion. This application does not limit the scope of the physical downlink control channel to merely an example; other examples are also possible. In this way, the terminal device does not need to listen to all physical downlink control channels, but rather listens to or does not listen to physical downlink control channels within the specified scope, thereby reducing the complexity of blind detection of physical downlink control channels by the terminal device.

[0011] In one possible design, the first information indicates the range within a first time period that requires monitoring of the physical downlink control channel (PLC) and / or the range where monitoring of the PLC is not required. This first time period can be predefined or configured by a higher layer, or it can be carried in the first information; this application does not limit this. This reduces the complexity of blindly detecting the PLC within the first time period on the terminal side, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal side device during blind PLC detection.

[0012] Secondly, a communication method is provided. The execution entity of this method can be a terminal-side device, which is a terminal equipment, or a component or device applied to a terminal equipment (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal equipment. The method includes: receiving a low-power signal, the low-power signal including second information indicating whether to listen to the physical downlink control channel or not; and determining whether to listen to the physical downlink control channel based on the low-power signal.

[0013] Therefore, in this application, when the terminal device determines not to listen to the physical downlink control channel based on the second information in the low-power signal, it can avoid performing invalid physical downlink control channel listening, thereby reducing the complexity of blind detection of the physical downlink control channel by the terminal device, and thus reducing the power consumption of blind detection of the physical downlink control channel by the terminal device.

[0014] Furthermore, when the terminal device includes both MR and LP-WUR, the MR of the terminal device does not need to be in normal working state all the time. It can determine whether to put the MR into normal working state to listen to the PDCCH based on the second information in the low-power signal. That is, when the LP-WUR determines that the second information indicates not to listen to the physical downlink control channel, it does not send a wake-up signal to the MR, so as to avoid the terminal device performing invalid blind detection of the physical downlink control channel.

[0015] In one possible design, the second information indicates whether or not to listen to the physical downlink control channel (PLC) during a first time period. The first time period can be predefined, configured by higher layers, or carried in the second information; this application does not limit this. This allows the terminal device to avoid performing invalid blind detection of the PLC when it does not listen to it during the first time period.

[0016] In the first and / or second aspects:

[0017] In one possible design, the first time period is at least one time slot, or at least one mini-time slot, or a time period related to the subcarrier spacing, or a time period predetermined by the protocol, or a configured time period.

[0018] In one possible design, the low-power signal is at least one of the following: a chirp signal, a sequence signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, a frequency shift keying (FSK) signal, an on / off (OOK) signal, or a low-power synchronization signal. Alternatively, the low-power signal can also be a combination or optimized design of these examples. In this application, with an architecture in which the terminal device includes an MR and an LP-WUR, the LP-WUR receives the low-power signal, allowing the MR of the terminal device to avoid being constantly in normal operating condition, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device listening to the low-power signal.

[0019] In one possible design, the second information instructs at least one terminal-side device to listen to or not listen to the physical downlink control channel on at least one carrier, secondary carrier, or carrier group. This allows the terminal-side device to avoid ineffective physical downlink control channel listening when it determines not to listen to the physical downlink control channel based on the second information.

[0020] In one possible design, receiving a low-power signal includes: listening to the low-power signal during a second time period; the second time period is indicated by at least one of the following: an identifier for a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window within the third time period; and a monitoring window within the monitoring period. The second time period can be predefined by the protocol, configured by higher-layer signaling, or configured by the physical layer, so that the terminal device listens to the low-power signal based on the configured second time period.

[0021] In one possible design, the second time period is a subset of the first time period, or the second time period and the first time period do not overlap. The second time period being a subset of the first time period can also be understood as the time periods for monitoring low-power signals and monitoring the physical downlink control channel falling within the same time period. The second time period not overlapping with the first time period can mean that the first time period falls within a time period following the second time period.

[0022] In one possible design, the relative position of the low-power signal and the physical downlink control channel in the time domain is related to the capabilities of the terminal device. This allows for flexible design of the time-domain position of the monitored physical downlink control channel based on the capabilities of the terminal device.

[0023] In one possible design, the time-domain position of the low-power signal is the first symbol of the first time period. This allows the terminal device to determine whether to perform a blind detection of the physical downlink control channel (PHDC) early based on the low-power signal, reducing the latency of the terminal device in blind PHDC detection.

[0024] In one possible design, the time-domain position of the low-power signal is the symbol preceding the first time segment. This allows the terminal device to determine whether to perform a blind detection of the physical downlink control channel (PHDC) early based on the low-power signal, reducing the latency of the terminal device in blind PHDC detection.

[0025] In one possible design, the frequency domain location of the low-power signal is determined by the set of control resources associated with the currently active bandwidth portion of the terminal device; or, the frequency domain location of the low-power signal is a pre-configured fixed location.

[0026] In one possible design, the low-power signal is a broadcast or multicast signal, and the second information occupies at least 1 bit, indicating whether at least one terminal-side device is listening to or not listening to the physical downlink control channel. This avoids ineffective physical downlink control channel listening by the terminal-side device receiving the broadcast or multicast signal.

[0027] In one possible design, the low-power signal is a unicast or multicast signal, and the low-power signal monitored by different terminal-side devices or different groups of terminal-side devices is frequency-division multiplexed, time-division multiplexed, or space-division multiplexed. In this way, the complexity of different terminal-side devices or different groups of terminal-side devices monitoring the physical downlink control channel can be reduced based on the first or second information in the low-power signal.

[0028] In one possible design, the low-power signal is repeatedly transmitted in the time or frequency domain. This improves the reliability of low-power signal transmission.

[0029] Thirdly, a communication method is provided, wherein the executing entity of the method may be a network-side device, which is a network device, or a component or device applied to a network device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The method includes: transmitting a low-power signal, the low-power signal including first information, the first information indicating the range of the physical downlink control channel that needs to be monitored, and / or the range of the physical downlink control channel that does not need to be monitored.

[0030] For the beneficial effects of the third aspect, please refer to the explanation of the first aspect.

[0031] In one possible design, the scope of the physical downlink control channel includes at least one of the following: downlink control information type; aggregation level; downlink control information size; candidate set of physical downlink control channels; format of radio network temporary identifier; secondary carrier; carrier number group; carrier number; subset of search space; search space group; relative position of physical downlink control channel to low-power signal; absolute position of physical downlink control channel; subset of time domain position; subset of frequency domain position; resource subset in resource block of control resource set; one of multiple control resource sets; one of multiple bandwidth portions; partial subset in a bandwidth portion.

[0032] In one possible design, the first information indicates the range of the physical downlink control channel that needs to be monitored within a first time period, and / or the range of the physical downlink control channel that does not need to be monitored.

[0033] Fourthly, a communication method is provided. The execution entity of this method can be a network-side device, which is a network device, or a component or device applied to a network device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. The method includes: transmitting a low-power signal, the low-power signal including second information, the second information indicating whether to listen to or not listen to the physical downlink control channel.

[0034] For the beneficial effects of the fourth aspect, please refer to the explanation of the second aspect.

[0035] In one possible design, the second information indicates whether or not the physical downlink control channel is being monitored during the first time period.

[0036] In the third and / or fourth aspects:

[0037] In one possible design, the first time period is at least one time slot, or at least one mini-time slot, or a time period related to the subcarrier spacing, or a time period predetermined by the protocol, or a configured time period.

[0038] In one possible design, the low-power signal is at least one of the following: a chirp signal, a sequence signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, a frequency shift keying (FSK) signal, an on / off switch (OOK) signal, or a low-power synchronization signal.

[0039] In one possible design, the second information instructs at least one terminal-side device to listen to the physical downlink control channel or not listen to the physical downlink control channel on at least one carrier, secondary carrier, or carrier group.

[0040] In one possible design, transmitting a low-power signal includes: transmitting a low-power signal during a second time period; the second time period is indicated by at least one of the following: an identifier of a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window in the third time period; and a monitoring window in the monitoring period.

[0041] In one possible design, the second time period is a subset of the first time period, or the second time period does not overlap with the first time period.

[0042] In one possible design, the relative position of the low-power signal and the physical downlink control channel in the time domain is related to the capabilities of the terminal device.

[0043] In one possible design, the time-domain location of the low-power signal is the first symbol of the first time period.

[0044] Fifthly, a communication device is provided. The communication device can be a terminal-side device, which is a terminal device, or a component or device applied to a terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method includes a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module is used to perform methods related to reception as described in the first aspect and / or the second aspect, and any possible design of the first aspect and / or the second aspect. The processing module is used to perform methods related to other actions besides reception as described in the first aspect and / or the second aspect, and any possible design of the first aspect and / or the second aspect. For example, the transceiver module is used to receive a low-power signal, the low-power signal including first information; the first information indicates a range where the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored, and / or a range where the physical downlink control channel does not need to be monitored; the processing module is used to determine, based on the low-power signal, whether the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored or not. Alternatively, the transceiver module is used to receive a low-power signal, the low-power signal including second information, the second information indicating whether the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored or not; the processing module is used to determine, based on the low-power signal, whether the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored.

[0045] In one possible design, the scope of the physical downlink control channel includes at least one of the following: downlink control information type; aggregation level; downlink control information size; candidate set of physical downlink control channels; format of radio network temporary identifier; secondary carrier; carrier number group; carrier number; subset of search space; search space group; relative position of physical downlink control channel to low-power signal; absolute position of physical downlink control channel; subset of time domain position; subset of frequency domain position; resource subset in resource block of control resource set; one of multiple control resource sets; one of multiple bandwidth portions; partial subset in a bandwidth portion.

[0046] In one possible design, the first information indicates the range of the physical downlink control channel that needs to be monitored within a first time period, and / or the range of the physical downlink control channel that does not need to be monitored.

[0047] In one possible design, the transceiver module is used to: listen for low-power signals during a second time period; the second time period is indicated by at least one of the following: an identifier for a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window in the third time period; and a monitoring window in the monitoring period.

[0048] Sixthly, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus may be a network-side device, which is a network device, or a component or device applied to a network device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. It includes a transceiver module for performing a method of transmission as described in any possible design of the third aspect and / or the first and / or second aspects. For example, the transceiver module is used to transmit a low-power signal, the low-power signal including first information indicating a range where the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored, and / or a range where the physical downlink control channel does not need to be monitored. Alternatively, the transceiver module is used to transmit a low-power signal, the low-power signal including second information indicating whether the physical downlink control channel is being monitored or not.

[0049] In one possible design, the second information indicates whether or not the physical downlink control channel is being monitored during the first time period.

[0050] In one possible design, the first time period is at least one time slot, or at least one mini-time slot, or a time period related to the subcarrier spacing, or a time period predetermined by the protocol, or a configured time period.

[0051] In one possible design, the transceiver module is used to transmit a low-power signal during a second time period; the second time period is indicated by at least one of the following: an identifier of a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window in the third time period; and a monitoring window in the monitoring period.

[0052] In the fifth and / or sixth aspects:

[0053] In one possible design, the low-power signal is at least one of the following: a chirp signal, a sequence signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, a frequency shift keying (FSK) signal, an on / off switch (OOK) signal, or a low-power synchronization signal.

[0054] In one possible design, the second information instructs at least one terminal-side device to listen to the physical downlink control channel or not listen to the physical downlink control channel on at least one carrier, secondary carrier, or carrier group.

[0055] In one possible design, the second time period is a subset of the first time period, or the second time period does not overlap with the first time period.

[0056] In one possible design, the relative position of the low-power signal and the physical downlink control channel in the time domain is related to the capabilities of the terminal device.

[0057] In one possible design, the time-domain location of the low-power signal is the first symbol of the first time period.

[0058] In one possible design, the frequency domain location of the low-power signal is determined by the set of control resources associated with the currently active bandwidth portion of the terminal device; or, the frequency domain location of the low-power signal is a pre-configured fixed location.

[0059] In one possible design, the low-power signal is a broadcast or multicast signal, and the second information occupies at least 1 bit, indicating whether at least one terminal-side device is listening to or not listening to the physical downlink control channel.

[0060] In one possible design, the low-power signal is a unicast or multicast signal, and the low-power signal monitored by different terminal devices or different groups of terminal devices is frequency-division multiplexed, time-division multiplexed, or space-division multiplexed.

[0061] In one possible design, the low-power signal is repeatedly transmitted in the time or frequency domain.

[0062] A seventh aspect provides a communication system, including a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is configured to perform the method described in accordance with the first aspect and any possible design thereof, and / or the method described in accordance with the second aspect and any possible design thereof; the second communication device is configured to perform the method described in accordance with the third aspect and any possible design thereof, and / or the method described in accordance with the fourth aspect and any possible design thereof. The communication device may be a chip or a chip system, or a communication device including the chip or chip system.

[0063] Eighthly, a communication device is provided, comprising at least one processor connected to a memory, the at least one processor being configured to read and execute a program stored in the memory, such that the communication device performs the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and / or, the method in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect. The communication device may be a chip or a chip system, or a communication device including the chip or chip system.

[0064] A ninth aspect provides a communication device including at least one processor connected to a memory, the at least one processor being configured to read and execute a program stored in the memory such that the communication device performs the method described in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, and / or, the method in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0065] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, including computer instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the communication method in any of the above aspects and any possible implementations.

[0066] Eleventhly, a computer program product is provided, which, when run on a communication device, causes the communication device to execute the communication method in any of the above aspects and any possible implementations. Attached Figure Description

[0067] Figure 1 This application provides a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system.

[0068] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an SA architecture, a DC architecture, and a macro-micro scenario provided for embodiments of this application;

[0069] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating whether PDCCH is monitored via WUS indication, provided as an embodiment of this application;

[0070] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating MR wake-up via LP-WUS provided in this application embodiment;

[0071] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0072] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the time-domain location of a PDCCH monitoring device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0073] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating a first information indication of whether it is necessary to monitor the CORESET of the PDCCH, as provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0074] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0075] Figure 9 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0076] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the meaning of a second piece of information provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0077] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of a chirp signal in the frequency domain provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0078] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0079] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0080] For ease of understanding, examples are provided to illustrate some concepts related to the embodiments of this application, as shown below.

[0081] 1. Subcarrier spacing (SCS).

[0082] SCS is a frequency domain concept, which can be understood as the bandwidth of a subcarrier. By using different SCS, the needs of different services, frequency bands, and mobile speed scenarios can be adapted.

[0083] 2. Carrier wave.

[0084] A carrier wave is a radio signal, or electromagnetic wave, emitted by the radio frequency equipment of a base station or terminal. It has a specific frequency, bandwidth, and standard and is the main component used to carry information in wireless mobile communication. For example, carrier waves can be divided into uplink carriers and downlink carriers, high-frequency carriers and low-frequency carriers, etc.

[0085] To achieve high-speed transmission, new radio (NR) employs carrier aggregation (CA) mechanisms. Terminals supporting CA can transmit data simultaneously on multiple carriers, increasing the data transmission rate. For example, carriers can be divided into primary and secondary carriers, or carrier group 1 and carrier group 2, etc.

[0086] In the future, carriers and carrier groups may also be defined in new ways and classified in different ways, and this application does not impose any restrictions on them.

[0087] 3. Physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0088] A single PDCCH in an NR can contain L control channel elements (CCEs). Here, L is called the aggregation level (AL) of the PDCCH, and L = 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16, etc. A CCE contains 6 resource element groups (REGs), and each REG corresponds to a resource block (RB) on an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. New definition methods may be defined in the future, and this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0089] A PDCCH candidate set may or may not send a PDCCH for a terminal. A terminal can monitor multiple PDCCHs in a candidate PDCCH set to determine whether a PDCCH is intended for it.

[0090] A search space (SS) with an aggregation level AL of L is a set of candidate PDCCHs within a control region, consisting of the same CCE aggregation level. Sometimes, the search space is a general concept that can be used to represent a search space, a search space set, multiple search space sets, or a class of search space sets.

[0091] A search space set is associated with a control resource set (CORESET). The control resource set is a concept introduced in NR. A control resource set is defined on a cell and contains a set of continuous or non-contiguous RBs in the frequency domain and 1, 2 or 3 consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain.

[0092] The future search space and control resource set may also define new definitions and classification methods, which are not limited in this application.

[0093] 4. Types of search space sets.

[0094] The search space set can be divided into the common search space (CSS) and the user equipment (UE) specific search space (USS). The search space set can also be divided into different groups, such as search space group 1 and search space group 2.

[0095] 5. PDCCH monitoring capability.

[0096] Two aspects of PDCCH monitoring significantly impact the terminal's implementation complexity: the number of monitored PDCCH candidates (sometimes called blind detection, BD) and the number of non-overlapping Channel Encryption Components (CCEs), sometimes simply referred to as the number of CCEs. The more monitored PDCCH candidates, the higher the UE's decoding complexity; conversely, the higher the number of non-overlapping CCEs, the higher the UE's channel estimation complexity.

[0097] For each cell being regulated, the blind detection upper limit and non-overlapping CCE upper limit of the PDCCH candidate of the primary regulating cell used to schedule this cell can be determined according to the method specified in the protocol. These are referred to as the BD / CCE upper limit per unit time. The unit time can include several consecutive OFDM symbols, specifically, it can be a slot or a span.

[0098] 6. Downlink control information (DCI).

[0099] 1) Introduction to the basic concepts of DCI.

[0100] In NR, the DCI is carried on the PDCCH. For example, the DCI in the PDCCH scheduling the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may contain the cell being mediated, and control information such as the two resource indication fields of the PDSCH (frequency domain resource assignment and time domain resource assignment). The DCI in the PDCCH scheduling the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) may contain the cell being mediated, and the two resource indication fields of the PUSCH (frequency domain resource assignment and time domain resource assignment).

[0101] 2) The size of the DCI.

[0102] The size of a DCI can be interpreted in two ways: first, it refers to the number of bits in the payload; second, it's the sum of the payload bits and the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits. Specifically, if the information bits in the DCI are padded, the payload bits are the sum of the information bits and the padding information bits; if the information bits in the DCI are not padded, the payload bits are simply the number of information bits.

[0103] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise stated, " / " means "or," for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in this text is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, and B existing alone. Furthermore, in the description of the embodiments of this application, "multiple" refers to two or more than two.

[0104] Hereinafter, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this embodiment, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0105] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., Figure 1 110a and 110b, collectively referred to as 110, may also include at least one terminal (such as...). Figure 1 RAN100, denoted as RAN100, comprises RAN nodes 120a-120j, collectively referred to as RAN120. RAN100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment. Figure 1(Not shown in the image). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. Terminals and RAN nodes can be interconnected via wired or wireless means. Communication system 1000 may also include core network 200. RAN node 110 is connected to core network 200 via wireless or wired means. The core network equipment in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 can be independent physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating the logical functions of core network equipment and RAN node. Communication system 1000 may also include Internet 300.

[0106] RAN100 can be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system as defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). RAN100 can also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN100 can also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0107] RAN nodes, also known as radio access network devices, RAN entities, or access nodes, are used to help terminals access communication systems wirelessly. In one application scenario, an RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a future base station (NodeB, gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. RAN nodes can also be macro base stations (such as...) Figure 1 110a in the text), can also be a micro base station or an indoor station (such as... Figure 1 110b in the middle can also be a relay node or a donor node.

[0108] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing different functions of the base station. For example, a RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and can also perform the functions of the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's Radio Link Control (RANC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of these protocol layers, refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement radio frequency signal transmission and reception. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as within a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as remote radio units (RRUs) or active antenna units (AAUs). CUs can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0109] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and an RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. For example, a RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software modules. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the RAN nodes. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of a RAN node in the following description.

[0110] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from a base station. Terminals can also be called terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the terminal.

[0111] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can be deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminals.

[0112] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative, for example, Figure 1 The helicopter or drone 120i can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol; in this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, both base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. Figure 1 The 110a and 110b in the text can be referred to as communication devices with base station functions. Figure 1 The 120a-120j in the text can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0113] In some embodiments, this application can be applied to a standalone (SA) architecture. The terminal connects to a single base station, and both the base station to which the terminal connects and the core network to which the base station connects are of the same standard. For example, such as... Figure 2Figure (a) shows a schematic diagram of an SA architecture, including a core network, base stations, and terminals. The core network is a 5G core network, and the base stations are correspondingly 5G base stations, which are directly connected to the 5G core network. Alternatively, the core network is the core network of a future communication network, and the base stations are base stations under the future communication network, which are directly connected to the core network of the future communication network.

[0114] In some embodiments, this application can be used in a dual connectivity (DC) architecture. The terminal simultaneously connects to base stations of different / same standards, suitable for connected UEs. For example... Figure 2 Figure (b) shows a schematic diagram of a DC architecture, for example, where the core network is a 5G core network, and the terminal is connected to both a 5G base station and a future communication network base station, with the 5G base station serving as the primary station and the future communication network base station serving as the secondary station; another example: where the core network is the core network of the future communication network, and the terminal is connected to both a future communication network base station and a 5G base station, with the future communication network base station serving as the primary station and the 5G base station serving as the secondary station; yet another example: where the core network is the core network of the future communication network, and the terminal is connected to two future communication network base stations simultaneously, i.e., both the primary station and the secondary station are future communication network base stations.

[0115] From a scenario perspective, this application can be applied to scenarios where both wide-coverage base stations and small-coverage base stations coexist, such as... Figure 1 The wide-coverage base station shown in RAN110a and the small-coverage base station shown in RAN110b are shown in the diagram.

[0116] Similarly, this application can also be applied to macro and micro scenarios composed of base stations of different forms in future communication networks, such as... Figure 2 As shown in (c), the super BS can be in various forms such as satellite, air balloon station, UAV station, high-altitude platform station, high-power high-tower (HPMT), medium-power medium-tower (MPMT), etc. The ground station can be in various forms such as current cellular station (macro station, small station, micro station, relay station, transmission reception point (TRP), etc.) and can cover terminals.

[0117] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal, or by a device that includes terminal functions.

[0118] In this application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal, with the downlink information carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, with the uplink information carried on the uplink channel. To communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a radio connection on a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a radio connection is called the terminal's serving cell. When the terminal communicates with this serving cell, it is also susceptible to interference from signals from neighboring cells.

[0119] In the embodiments of this application, the time-domain symbol can be an OFDM symbol or a Discrete Fourier Transform-Spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol. Unless otherwise specified, the symbols in the embodiments of this application refer to time-domain symbols.

[0120] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, PDCCH is only one example of a physical downlink control channel. In different systems and different scenarios, the control channel may have different names, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0121] Throughout the evolution of NR systems, research has been continuously conducted on reducing terminal-side power consumption, such as discontinuous reception (DRX) and bandwidth part (BWP) adaptation defined in 3GPP Rel-15; cross-slot scheduling and PDCCH-based wake-up signal (WUS) defined in Rel-16; PEI and PDCCH monitoring adaptation defined in Rel-17; and low-power reception and low-power wake-up signal to be supported in Rel-18 / 19.

[0122] For connected terminals, PDCCH blind detection is a necessary process for the terminal to obtain scheduling information. Because PDCCH blind detection requires the terminal to perform blind detection within a preset CORESET and search space using predetermined rules, the number of PDCCH blind detections is high, and the power consumption accounts for a significant portion of the terminal's overall energy consumption. Therefore, in the evolution of cellular networks, optimization design has been continuously implemented for terminal PDCCH blind detection.

[0123] To reduce the power consumption caused by blind PDCCH detection in the terminal, a DRX mechanism based on WUS was designed in Release 16. WUS carries an indication of whether the terminal needs to be woken up for the next active state, such as... Figure 3The diagram illustrates a method of indicating whether to monitor the PDCCH via a WUS (Wireless Received Signal). For example, before the on-duration period of the previous DRX cycle, the WUS received by the terminal indicates that the terminal is monitoring the PDCCH; before the on-duration period of the next DRX cycle, the WUS received by the terminal indicates that the terminal is not monitoring the PDCCH. Here, the WUS is a conventional signal, received by the terminal using a main radio (MR). For example, the WUS could be a ZC (Zadoff-Chu) sequence or an OFDM signal.

[0124] It is known that in this WUS-based DRX mechanism, the traditional signal WUS indicates whether the terminal needs to be woken up to monitor the PDCCH. However, for the terminal to receive WUS, the terminal's MR needs to be in a working state, resulting in high power consumption.

[0125] Therefore, this application proposes a communication method applicable to a network device architecture including a main module and a low-power module. The low-power module can receive a low-power signal indicating whether it is necessary to monitor the physical downlink control channel (WUS), or indicating the range of WUS monitoring and / or the range of WUS non-monitoring. In this way, this application effectively solves the problem of how to reduce the complexity of WUS monitoring using a low-power signal, thereby reducing terminal power consumption. This low-power signal can be received by the terminal's low-power module, eliminating the need for the terminal's main module to continuously monitor WUS, thus reducing terminal power consumption. Furthermore, the low-power signal indicating whether the terminal is monitoring the WUS avoids invalid blind WUS detection, reducing the power consumption of blind WUS detection. Alternatively, the range of WUS monitoring or non-monitoring indicated by the low-power signal reduces the number of blind WUS detections, further reducing the power consumption of blind WUS detection.

[0126] To facilitate understanding of the low-power signal in this application, a brief explanation of the low-power wake-up signal (LP-WUS) in 3GPP Release 18 is provided first. In 3GPP Release 18, the purpose of studying LP-WUS is to evaluate the feasibility and potential optimization directions for power saving in 5G devices equipped with a low-power wake-up receiver (LP-WUR). Typically, even when a terminal is not sending or receiving any data, it consumes tens of milliwatts of power. This idle power consumption is due to the terminal periodically waking up for paging, listening, measurement, and other tasks.

[0127] To reduce power consumption in idle-state terminals, Release 18 proposes using LP-WUS to receive paging messages. Specifically, for idle-state terminals, MR (Mobile Receiver) is disabled, and only LP-WUR (Low-Level Receiver) is enabled. When LP-WUR receives an LP-WUS message containing relevant information about the terminal, the terminal wakes up MR and continues receiving paging messages or initiating random access. This method allows MR to gain more sleep time, resulting in better energy efficiency. Figure 4 The diagram illustrates a method for waking up an MR via LP-WUS. When the LP-WUS signal does not contain relevant messages for the terminal (corresponding to...) Figure 4 (OFF in the LP-WUS signal) does not require waking up the MR, meaning the MR remains in sleep / dormant state; when the LP-WUS signal contains information related to the terminal ( Figure 4 When the LP-WUR sends a trigger signal (e.g., a trigger) to wake up the MR, the MR then enters normal operating mode.

[0128] In some embodiments, in this application, the LP-WUR in the terminal receives a low-power signal and wakes up the MR when the received low-power signal indicates that the physical downlink control channel is being monitored, or wakes up the MR when the low-power signal indicates the range of the physical downlink control channel being monitored.

[0129] In some embodiments, when the terminal's LP-WUR receives a low-power signal, the MR may be in a sleep state, requiring the LP-WUR to wake up the MR first; the MR may also be in a normal working state, where the LP-WUR can notify the MR that it needs to listen to the physical downlink control channel or notify the MR of the range of the physical downlink control channel it needs to listen to.

[0130] Based on this, the following is an exemplary description of the communication method of the physical downlink control channel based on low-power signal monitoring in this application.

[0131] like Figure 5 The diagram shown is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. In this method, a low-power signal can be used to indicate the range within which the terminal device can listen to the physical downlink control channel (PHS channel), and / or the range within which it cannot listen to the PHS channel, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blind detection of the PHS channel. The method includes the following steps.

[0132] 501. The terminal device receives a low-power signal, the low-power signal including first information, the first information indicating the range of the physical downlink control channel that needs to be monitored, and / or the range of the physical downlink control channel that does not need to be monitored.

[0133] Accordingly, the network device sends a low-power signal.

[0134] In some embodiments, the low-power signal is LP-WUS.

[0135] In some embodiments, the low-power signal may be received by the LP-WUR of the terminal device; the low-power information may also be received by the terminal device, for example, if the terminal device includes an LP-WUR, or if the terminal device or the MR of the terminal device has the ability to receive low-power signals.

[0136] If the MR of the terminal device has the capability to receive low-power signals, the receiver of the terminal device may not include the LR. The MR receiving low-power signals of the terminal device can also be understood as the terminal device receiving low-power signals.

[0137] In some embodiments, the physical downlink control channel is the PDCCH.

[0138] In some embodiments, the first information indicates the range of PDCCH that needs to be monitored, and / or the range of PDCCH that does not need to be monitored. The range of PDCCH includes at least one of the following:

[0139] Downlink control information type; aggregation level; downlink control information size; candidate set of downlink control information; format of radio network temporary identifier; secondary carrier; carrier number group; carrier number; subset of search space; search space group; relative position of physical downlink control channel and low-power signal; absolute position of physical downlink control channel; subset of time domain position; subset of frequency domain position; resource subset in resource block of control resource set; one of multiple control resource sets; one of multiple bandwidth parts; partial subset in a bandwidth part.

[0140] Among these, the downlink control information type, aggregation level, downlink control information size, candidate set of downlink control information, or format of the radio network temporary identifier can be understood as the range of variables related to blind detection PDDCH. Secondary carriers, carrier sequence number groups, or carrier sequences can be understood as the range of carriers related to blind detection PDDCH. Subsets of the search space, search space groups, the relative positions of the physical downlink control channel and low-power signals, the absolute positions of the physical downlink control channel, subsets of time-domain positions, or subsets of frequency-domain positions can be understood as the time-domain related range of blind detection PDDCH. Subsets of resources in resource blocks of the control resource set, one of multiple control resource sets, one of multiple bandwidth portions, or a partial subset of a bandwidth portion can be understood as the frequency-domain related range of blind detection PDDCH.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first information indicates the range of the physical downlink control channel that needs to be monitored within a first time period, and / or the range of the physical downlink control channel that does not need to be monitored.

[0142] The first time period can be predefined or pre-configured, or it can be carried in the first information; this application does not impose any restrictions on it.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first time period is at least one slot, or at least one mini-slot, or a time period related to the subcarrier spacing, or a time period predetermined by the protocol, or a configured time period.

[0144] For example, the first time period can be at least one symbol in a time slot.

[0145] In some embodiments, receiving a low-power signal includes: listening to the low-power signal during a second time period. The second time period is indicated by at least one of the following: an identifier of a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window in the third time period; and a monitoring window in the monitoring period. For example, the third time period may be at least one time slot. The detection period may be, for example, multiple symbols, etc.

[0146] In some embodiments, the second time period is a subset of the first time period, or the second time period and the first time period do not overlap. For example, the first time period can be a time slot. This time slot can be a time slot in which the terminal device receives a low-power signal and also a time slot in which the terminal device listens to the PDCCH, i.e., the second time period is included in this time slot. Alternatively, if the second time period is also understood as a time slot, the first time period is a time slot following the second time period.

[0147] 502. The terminal device determines the range of whether or not it needs to listen to the physical downlink control channel based on the low-power signal.

[0148] In some embodiments, when the first information indicates the range of PDCCH that needs to be monitored, the terminal device can monitor the PDCCH within the range of PDCCH that needs to be monitored based on the first information, and will not monitor the PDCCH in the range outside the range of PDCCH that needs to be monitored as indicated by the first information.

[0149] In some embodiments, when the first information indicates a range of PDCCHs that do not need to be monitored, the terminal device can avoid monitoring the range of PDCCHs indicated by the first information based on the first information. The terminal device can monitor the range of PDCCHs pre-configured except for the range of PDCCHs that do not need to be monitored as indicated by the first information.

[0150] In some embodiments, the low-power signal in this application can be at least one of the following:

[0151] Chirp signals, sequence signals, OFDM signals, frequency shift keying (FSK) signals, on-off keying (OOK) signals, multi-carrier amplitude shift keying (MC-ASK) signals, and low-power synchronization signals are all applicable to this application. The low-power signals in this application can also be optimized or combined modes of the aforementioned signals.

[0152] For example, the OOK signal can be one or more of signals such as OOK-1, OOK-2, OOK-3 or OOK-4 (which can be multiple optimization modes or combination modes).

[0153] The sequence signal can be one or more of the following (which can be multiple optimized modes or combinations of modes): Gold sequence, M-sequence, ZC sequence, Chirp sequence, Walsh sequence, Golay sequence, Kasami sequence, Low density sequence, DFT / FFT sequence or QAM symbol-based sequence, etc.

[0154] In this way, the terminal device does not need to listen to all candidate PDCCHs within the pre-configured PDCCH range. Instead, it determines the range of PDCCHs to listen to or not listen to based on the first information, and then listens to only a portion of the PDCCHs. This reduces the number of times the terminal device performs blind PDCCH checks, thereby reducing the power consumption of blind PDCCH checks.

[0155] The following is an illustrative description of the content indicated by the first information.

[0156] Case 1: The first information indicates the range of variables related to the PDDCH being monitored.

[0157] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not the DCI type needs to be monitored. The DCI type may include: downlink (DL) DCI, uplink (UL) DCI, or at least one of DL DCI and UL DCI. Among them, DDL DCI and UL DCI are predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first information indicating the need to monitor the DCI type may be one of the following: a) needing to monitor DL ​​DCI; b) needing to monitor UL DCI; c) needing to monitor both DL DCI and UL DCI.

[0159] For example, the first information occupies 2 bits, and the DCI type indicated by the bit value of the first information field is shown in Table 1.

[0160] Table 1

[0161] Fields DCI type 0 Only need to monitor DL ​​DCI 1 Only UL DCI needs to be monitored 2 DL DCI and UL DCI need to be monitored

[0162] In some embodiments, the first information indicating that it is not necessary to listen to the DCI type may be one of the following: a) it is not necessary to listen to DL DCI; b) it is not necessary to listen to UL DCI.

[0163] For example, the first information occupies 1 bit, and the DCI type indicated by the bit value of the first information field is shown in Table 2.

[0164] Table 2

[0165] Fields DCI type 0 No need to monitor DL ​​DCI 1 No need to monitor UL DCI

[0166] In this way, the terminal device can determine the DCI types that need to be monitored based on the indication of the first information, and / or the DCI types that do not need to be monitored, which can reduce the types of DCIs that the terminal device needs to listen to, which is equivalent to reducing the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device listens to, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0167] For example, when the first information indicates that it is not necessary to listen to DL DCI and UL DCI, the terminal device has already received a low-power signal. The first information indicates that the terminal device does not need to listen to whether there is a low-power signal in DL DCI and UL DCI.

[0168] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not the aggregation level needs to be monitored. For example, the aggregation level for monitoring PDCCH candidates can include L = 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc., where L is called the aggregation level of the PDCCH candidate. In future communication systems, the aggregation level may also include other L values, which are not limited in this application. For example, the following examples a and b are possible cases.

[0169] a. The first information is indicated by a bitmap, with different aggregation levels corresponding to one bit in the bitmap.

[0170] In some embodiments, the bitmap occupies 5 bits, corresponding to aggregation levels {1, 2, 4, 8, 16} respectively.

[0171] For example, when the bit value of the bitmap is 11111, it indicates that the aggregation level to be monitored is {1,2,4,8,16}; when the bit value of the bitmap is 10000, it indicates that the aggregation level to be monitored is {1}, and aggregation levels 2 to 16 do not need to be monitored.

[0172] For example, when the bit value of this bitmap is 10000, it indicates that the aggregation level {2,4,8,16} does not need to be monitored.

[0173] In this application, the correspondence between the bitmap and the aggregation level that needs to or does not need to listen to the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-level signaling.

[0174] b. The bit value of the first information indicates a sequence number, and one sequence number corresponds to one or more aggregation levels, indicating whether the aggregation level needs to be monitored.

[0175] In some embodiments, the relationship between the sequence number indicated by the field of the first information and the aggregation level is shown in Table 3 or Table 4. This application does not limit the correspondence between Table 3 and Table 4, and other correspondences are also possible.

[0176] Table 3

[0177] Fields Aggregation level 0 No need to listen to aggregation levels 1 and 2 1 No need to listen to aggregation levels 1, 2, and 4 2 No need to monitor aggregation levels 1, 2, 4, and 8 3 No need to listen to aggregation levels 2 and 4 4 No need to monitor aggregation levels 2 and 4.8 … …

[0178] Table 4

[0179] Fields Aggregation level 0 Requires monitoring aggregation levels 1 and 2. 1 Aggregation levels 1, 2, and 4 need to be monitored. 2 Aggregate levels 1, 2, 4, and 8 need to be monitored. 3 Aggregation levels 2 and 4 need to be monitored. 4 Aggregate levels 2 and 4.8 need to be monitored. … …

[0180] In this application, the correspondence between the sequence number indicated by the bit value of the first information and the aggregation level that needs to or does not need to listen to the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0181] In this way, when the terminal device is listening to the PDCCH, it does not need to listen to the PDCCH at all aggregation levels of the PDCCH candidates. Instead, it selects the aggregation level of the PDCCH to be listened to based on the first information, or avoids listening to the PDCCH at aggregation levels where it is not necessary. This reduces the number of PDCCHs that the terminal device needs to listen to and reduces the power consumption of blindly detecting PDCCHs.

[0182] Optionally, the first information indicates the size of the DCI that needs to be monitored or not, and / or, the range of DCI sizes. It is possible for different types of DCIs to have the same size. The sizes of different DCI types shown in Table 5 are only one example; in future communication systems, different types of DCIs may have different sizes. Table 5 shows the DCI format, indicated content, and number of bits occupied for different DCI types. That is, the size of the DCI is expressed in terms of the number of bits occupied by the DCI.

[0183] Table 5

[0184]

[0185] For example, the first information field occupies 1 bit. When the value of this 1 bit is 0, it indicates that the DCI size to be monitored or not to be monitored includes PDCCH with a bit count of 36 to 83. When the value of this 1 bit is 1, it indicates that the DCI size to be monitored or not to be monitored includes PDCCH with a bit count other than 36 to 83.

[0186] For example, the first information field occupies at least 1 bit. The value of this field can indicate the range of DCI sizes that need to be monitored or the range of DCI sizes that do not need to be monitored. For example, see the correspondence between the field values ​​of the first field and the range of DCI sizes that need to be monitored shown in Table 6, or the correspondence between the field values ​​of the first field and the range of DCI sizes that do not need to be monitored shown in Table 7. The different ranges of DCI sizes that need to be monitored or do not need to be monitored can be predefined by the protocol, configured by higher-layer signaling, or configured in other ways.

[0187] Table 6

[0188] Fields DCI size range 0 The required DCI size range is 1. 1 The required DCI size range is 2. … …

[0189] For example, if you need to monitor a DCI size range 1 of 36 to 83 bits for PDCCH, and a DCI size range 2 of 36 to 49 bits for PDCCH, then you need to monitor the DCI size range 2 of 36 to 49 bits for PDCCH.

[0190] Table 7

[0191] Fields DCI size range 0 No need to monitor the range of DCI size 1 1 No need to monitor the range of DCI size 2 … …

[0192] For example, range 1 of DCI size that does not need to be monitored is PDCCH with a bit count of 36 to 43, and range 2 of DCI size that does not need to be monitored is PDCCH with a bit count of 37 to 83.

[0193] In this way, the terminal device does not need to listen to all DCI-sized PDCCH candidates. It can listen to a portion of the DCI-sized PDCCH candidates based on the first information, thereby reducing the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device blindly detects and thus reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blindly detecting PDCCH.

[0194] Optionally, the first information indicates the candidate set of PDCCHs that need to be listened to or do not need to be listened to. Here, the candidate set of PDCCHs can be a specific format of DCI, or it can be a candidate set of protocol predefined / higher-layer signaling configuration.

[0195] For example, the specific set of DCI formats may include Format 0_0, Format 0_1, Format 0_2, Format 0_3, Format1_0, Format 1_1, Format 1_2, Format 1_3, Format 2_0, Format 2_1, Format 2_2, Format 2_3, Format2_4, Format 2_5, Format 2_6, Format 2_7, Format 2_8, and Format 2_9. This application does not limit the DCI format to the examples herein, but may also include possible DCI formats in future communication networks.

[0196] For example, the specific set of DCI formats may include the Format 0 series (uplink formats, including Format 0_0 to Format 0_3, which may be extended to future communication networks); the Format 1 series (downlink formats, including Format 1_0 to Format 1_3, which may be extended to future communication networks); and the Format 2 series (other formats, including Format 2_0 to Format 2_9, which may be extended to future communication networks).

[0197] For example, the first information field occupies 1 to 2 bits. For instance, the 2 bits occupied by the first information can indicate whether or not the DCI format to be listened to includes one or more of the following: Format 0 series, Format 1 series, or Format 2 series.

[0198] Optionally, the first information indicates the candidate set number of the PDCCHs that need to be listened to or do not need to be listened to. The correspondence between the candidate set number and one or more candidate PDCCHs is predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0199] For example, the candidate set number of the PDCCH may include candidate set 1, candidate set 2, or candidate set 3, etc., and each candidate set includes one or more candidate PDCCHs. The first information may occupy at least 1 bit to indicate the candidate set number.

[0200] In this way, the terminal device does not need to listen to all the DCI formats in the DCI format set. Instead, it listens to the candidate set of DCI in the format set based on the first information, or avoids listening to the candidate set of that DCI. This reduces the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device can blindly detect, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blindly detecting PDCCH.

[0201] Optionally, the first information indicates the format of the radio network temporary identity (RNTI) that needs to be monitored or not. The RNTI format can also be understood as the RNTI type.

[0202] For example, the RNTI format can be either Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI) or Random Access RNTI (RA-RNTI). When the bit value of the first information field is 0, the RNTI format indicating whether or not listening is required is TC-RNTI; when the bit value of the first information field is 1, the RNTI format indicating whether or not listening is required is RA-RNTI. Alternatively, when the bit value of the first information field is 0, it indicates TC-RNTI and RA-RNTI that do not require listening; when the bit value of the first information field is 1, it indicates TC-RNTI and RA-RNTI that require listening.

[0203] For example, the format of RNTI may include system information RNTI (SI-RNTI), RA-RNTI, TC-RNTI, interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), slot format indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), transmit power control PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), transmit power control PUCCH RNTI (TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), transmit power control SRS-RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI), cell RNTI (C-RNTI), modulation and coding scheme cell RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), or configured scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), and semi-persistent CSI RNTI. (RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI). The first information may occupy at least 1 bit, indicating the format of the RNTI that needs to be listened to, and / or the format of the RNTI that does not need to be listened to.

[0204] For example, RNTI formats are categorized according to search space type. For instance, CSS includes SI-RNTI, RA-RNTI, TC-RNTI, INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, CS-RNTI, and SP-CSI-RNTI, while USS includes C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, and CS-RNTI. The first information can indicate the format of RNTIs to be listened to in CSS, and / or the format of RNTIs not to be listened to; alternatively, the first information can occupy at least 1 bit to indicate the format of RNTIs to be listened to in USS, and / or the format of RNTIs not to be listened to.

[0205] For example, CSS can also be categorized by PDCCH type, such as Type0-PDCCH, with corresponding RNTI formats including SI-RNTI; Type0A-PDCCH, with corresponding RNTI formats including SI-RNTI; Type1-PDCCH, with corresponding RNTI formats including RA-RNTI and TV-RNTI; Type2-PDCCH, with corresponding RNTI formats including P-RNTI; and Type3-PDCCH, with corresponding RNTI formats including INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, or CS-RNTI. The first information may occupy at least 1 bit, indicating the RNTI formats that need to be listened to, and / or the RNTI formats that do not need to be listened to, within the RNTI formats categorized by PDCCH type for CSS.

[0206] Optionally, the first information indicates the number of the RNTI that needs to be monitored or does not need to be monitored. The mapping between the RNTI number and one or more RNTIs can be configured via protocol predefinition or higher-level signaling.

[0207] In this way, for the terminal device, it does not need to listen to the PDCCH corresponding to all formats in the RNTI format. Instead, it listens to the PDCCH candidates corresponding to some formats in the RNTI format based on the first information, or avoids listening to the PDCCH candidates corresponding to some formats. This can reduce the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device blindly detects, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blindly detecting PDCCH.

[0208] Case 2: The first information indicates the range associated with the carrier of the PDCCH being monitored.

[0209] Optionally, the first information is used to indicate whether or not PDCCH needs to be listened to on one or more secondary carriers.

[0210] For example, the first information field occupies 1 bit and is used to indicate whether or not PDCCH needs to be listened to on one or more secondary carriers.

[0211] Optionally, the first information is used to indicate whether or not the carrier sequence number group or carrier sequence number needs to be monitored on the PDCCH.

[0212] For example, the first information field occupies 1 to 3 bits, and each bit value of this field corresponds to a carrier sequence number. For example, Table 8 shows an example of the correspondence between the bit values ​​of the first information field and the carrier sequence number.

[0213] Table 8

[0214] Fields carrier 0 Carrier 1 1 Carrier 2 2 Carrier 3 3 Carrier 4 4 Carrier 5 … …

[0215] That is, this application can indicate whether the corresponding carrier sequence number needs to listen to the PDCCH or not by using the bit value of the field of the first information.

[0216] For example, the first information field occupies 1 to 3 bits. The bit value of this field corresponds to multiple carrier sequence numbers, or a group of carrier sequence numbers. For example, Table 9 shows an example of the correspondence between the bit values ​​of the first information field and multiple carrier sequence numbers.

[0217] Table 9

[0218] Fields carrier 0 Carrier 1, Carrier 2, Carrier 3 1 Carrier 2, Carrier 3 2 Carrier 3, Carrier 4, Carrier 5 3 Carrier 1, Carrier 4, Carrier 5 … …

[0219] That is, this application can indicate whether one or more carrier sequence numbers need to listen to the PDCCH or not by using the bit value of the field of the first information.

[0220] Of course, Tables 8 and 9 above are only one example. The number of bits occupied by the first information field can be more than 3 bits, and the correspondence between the bit value and the carrier sequence number or carrier sequence number group can be other possible cases.

[0221] In this application, the correspondence between the field value of the first information and the identifier of the carrier or carrier group that needs to or does not need to listen to the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0222] Optionally, the different carriers (or carrier groups) mentioned above can be different radio access technologies (RAT), different bands, different power amplifiers, different frequency domains, or different cell levels.

[0223] In this way, when the terminal device is listening to the PDCCH, it does not need to listen to all the PDCCH candidate carriers or secondary carriers. Instead, it listens to the PDCCH candidates on some carriers or secondary carriers based on the first information, or avoids listening to the PDCCH candidates on some carriers or secondary carriers. This reduces the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device can blindly detect, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blindly detecting the PDCCH.

[0224] Case 3: The first information indicates the time-domain related range of the monitored PDCCH.

[0225] Optionally, the first information indicates a subset of time-domain locations where PDCCH needs to be listened to or not.

[0226] For example, the first information indicates the number of a subset of one or more time-domain locations that need to be listened to on the PDCCH, or that do not need to be listened to. For example, a subset of time-domain locations could be: one or more symbols, one or more absolute locations (or times), one or more relative locations (or times), one or more mini-slots, one or more slots, one or more search spaces, or one or more other time-domain locations.

[0227] In this application, the correspondence between the subset of time-domain locations and their numbers can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0228] The correspondence between the bit values ​​of the first information and the subset (number) of time-domain locations that need to or do not need to listen to the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0229] For example, if the time-domain location of the PDCCH being monitored is understood as a time slot, the first information indicates whether or not a subset of the PDCCH in that time slot needs to be monitored.

[0230] For example, the first information indicates whether or not PDCCH needs to be listened to on the p-th symbol in the time slot, where p is a positive integer or at least one integer from 1 to 14. For instance, the first information indicates whether or not PDCCH needs to be listened to on the 2nd, 5th, or 8th symbol in the time slot. This time slot can be the time slot where a low-power signal is being listened to, or the time slot following the time slot where a low-power signal is being listened to.

[0231] like Figure 6 The diagram illustrates the time-domain location for monitoring the PDCCH. In a time slot comprising 14 symbols, assuming the terminal device detects the low-power signal as the first symbol (symbol 0) within that time slot, the first information can indicate the relative time-domain position of the PDCCH to be monitored relative to the low-power signal: starting from the second symbol after the detected low-power signal within that time slot, continuing for 3 symbols, i.e., symbols 3 to 5. Alternatively, the first information can indicate the absolute position of the PDCCH to be monitored as starting from the fourth symbol within that time slot, continuing for 3 symbols, i.e., symbols 3 to 5.

[0232] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not it is necessary to listen to a subset of search spaces in multiple search spaces.

[0233] For example, the first information indicates one or more search spaces that do not need to be monitored among multiple search spaces. For instance, the relationship between the bit values ​​of the first information field and the search spaces that do not need to be monitored can be shown in Table 10.

[0234] Table 10

[0235]

[0236]

[0237] For example, the first information indicates one or more search spaces that need to be monitored among multiple search spaces. For instance, the relationship between the bit values ​​of the first information field and the search spaces that need to be monitored can be shown in Table 11.

[0238] Table 11

[0239] Fields Search space 0 Need to monitor search space 1, 2 1 Need to monitor search space 1, 2, 3 2 Need to monitor search space 1, 2, 3, 4 3 Requires monitoring search space 4,5 4 Search space 4 and 6 need to be monitored. … …

[0240] For example, the first information indicates that at least one of the CSS or USS needs to be listened to, or the first information indicates that at least one of the CSS or USS does not need to be listened to.

[0241] Optionally, the first information indicates the search space groups that need to be monitored or do not need to be monitored, where the search space groups are predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-level signaling. For example, Table 12 shows the correspondence between the field values ​​of the first information and the search space groups that need to be monitored, or Table 13 shows the correspondence between the field value fields of the first information and the search spaces that do not need to be monitored.

[0242] In this application, the correspondence between the field value of the first information and the identifier of the search space or the identifier of the search space group that needs to or does not need to listen to the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0243] Table 12

[0244] Fields Search space 0 Need to monitor search space group 1 1 Need to monitor search space group 2 … …

[0245] Table 13

[0246] Fields Search space 0 No need to listen to search space group 1 1 No need to listen to search space group 2 … …

[0247] In this way, when the terminal device is listening to the PDCCH, it does not need to listen to the PDCCH in all the search spaces of the PDCCH candidates. Instead, it listens to the PDCCH candidates in a portion of the search space based on the first information, or avoids listening to the PDCCH candidates in a portion of the search space. This reduces the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device can blindly detect, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blindly detecting the PDCCH.

[0248] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not the relative position of the PDCCH and the low-power signal needs to be monitored. For example, the relative position indicates the starting position and duration of the time-domain offset of the PDCCH relative to the low-power signal.

[0249] For example, the first information indicating whether or not to listen to the PDCCH relative to the low-power signal starts from the m-th symbol in the time slot and lasts for n symbols, where m and n are positive integers. This time slot can be the time slot where the low-power signal is being listened to, or the time slot following the time slot where the low-power signal is being listened to. For example, if the time slot is the time slot where the low-power signal is being listened to, the first information indicating whether or not to listen to the PDCCH in the time domain starts from the second symbol starting from the symbol where the low-power signal is being listened to, and lasts for 4 symbols.

[0250] Optionally, the first information indicates the absolute location where PDCCH needs to be listened to, or not.

[0251] For example, the absolute position indicates the sequence number of the time slot from which PDCCH listening begins, and the number of time slots that continue. For instance, the first information indicating whether PDCCH listening is needed or not starts from the i-th time slot and continues for j time slots, where i is an integer greater than or equal to 0, and j is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0252] Alternatively, the absolute position indicates the sequence number of the symbol in the time slot at which PDCCH listening begins, and the number of symbols that continue.

[0253] Alternatively, the absolute position indicates the absolute time at which PDCCH listening begins and the absolute duration. The unit of absolute time can be microseconds, milliseconds, seconds, etc.

[0254] In this way, when the terminal device is listening to the PDCCH, it does not need to listen to the time domain positions of all PDCCH candidates. Instead, it can listen to the PDCCH candidates in some time domain positions based on the first information, or avoid listening to the PDCCH candidates in some time domain positions. This can reduce the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device blindly detects, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blindly detecting the PDCCH.

[0255] Case 4: The first information indicates the range related to the frequency domain of the monitored PDCCH.

[0256] Optionally, the first information indicates a subset of frequency domain locations where PDCCH needs to be monitored or not.

[0257] For example, the first information indicates a subset (numbered) of one or more frequency domain locations that need to be monitored on the PDCCH. For instance, a subset of frequency domain locations may include one or more BWPs, one or more frequency bands, one or more sub-bands, one or more carriers, one or more carrier groups, one or more CORESETs, one or more REs, one or more RBs, one or more CCEs, and / or one or more other frequency domain locations.

[0258] In this application, the correspondence between the subset of frequency domain locations and their numbers can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0259] In this application, the correspondence between the bit values ​​of the first information and the subset (number) of frequency domain positions that need to or do not need to be monitored on the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0260] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not a subset of resources in the resource block (RB) of the CORESET that needs to listen to the PDCCH is required or not.

[0261] For example, the first information indicates whether or not the location (number) of the CCE in a CORESET of the PDCCH needs to be monitored.

[0262] For example, the first information indicates the location (number) of the aggregation level in a CORESET of the PDCCH that needs to be listened to or does not need to be listened to.

[0263] In this application, the correspondence between the bit values ​​of the first information and the position or number of the CCE in a CORESET that needs to or does not need to listen to the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0264] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not one of the multiple CORESETs needs to be listened to on the PDCCH.

[0265] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not a subset of multiple CORESETs needs to be listened to in the PDCCH.

[0266] For example, such as Figure 7 The diagram illustrates a first-information indicator to determine whether PDCCH CORESET needs to be monitored. Figure 7 In a time slot containing 14 symbols, it is assumed that a low-power signal is detected on the first symbol (symbol 0) of the time slot. The first information included in the low-power signal indicates that PDCCH needs to be listened to on CORESET0 and not on CORESET1.

[0267] In this application, the correspondence between the bit values ​​of the first information and the position or number of the CORESET that needs to be monitored or does not need to be monitored on the PDCCH can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0268] Optionally, the first information indicates one of the multiple BWPs that needs to listen to the PDCCH or not.

[0269] Optionally, the first information indicates a subset of multiple BWPs that need to listen to the PDCCH or not.

[0270] For example, the first information indicates one or more BWP numbers that need to listen to the PDCCH or not. The BWP numbers are either predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0271] For example, the first information indicates a subset of BWP numbers that need to or do not need to listen to the PDCCH. These subset numbers are either predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0272] Optionally, the first information indicates whether or not a subset of the bandwidth of the BWP needs to be listened to in the PDCCH.

[0273] For example, the first information indicates the number of a subset of a BWP that needs to be listened to on the PDCCH, or does not need to be listened to. Here, the number of the subset is either predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling.

[0274] In this way, when the terminal device is listening to the PDCCH, it does not need to listen to the frequency domain positions of all PDCCH candidates. Instead, it can listen to the PDCCH candidates in some frequency domain positions based on the first information, or avoid listening to the PDCCH candidates in some frequency domain positions. This can reduce the number of PDCCH candidates that the terminal device blindly detects, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blindly detecting the PDCCH.

[0275] The above embodiments are illustrated using the range of network side indicating whether to listen to or not listen to PDCCH as an example. In other embodiments of this application, the network side may also instruct the terminal device whether to listen to PDCCH to avoid the terminal device performing invalid PDCCH blind detection, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device in blind PDCCH detection.

[0276] like Figure 8 The diagram shown is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. In this method, a low-power signal can be used to indicate whether to listen to the PDCCH or not, so as to avoid the terminal device performing invalid blind PDCCH detection and reduce the power consumption of blind PDCCH detection. The method includes the following steps.

[0277] 801. The terminal device receives a low-power signal, which includes second information indicating whether to listen to the PDCCH or not.

[0278] Accordingly, the network device sends a low-power signal.

[0279] In some embodiments, the low-power signal is at least one of the following: a chirp signal, a sequence signal, an OFDM signal, an FSK signal, an OOK signal, or a low-power synchronization signal. Alternatively, the low-power signal may be a combination or optimization of several signal types listed herein. This low-power signal can be received by the terminal device's LP-WUR. When the LP-WUR determines that the low-power signal indicates PDCCH listening, the MR is woken up to listen to the PDCCH. Alternatively, when the LP-WUR determines that the low-power signal indicates PDCCH listening, the MR may also be in normal operating condition.

[0280] 802. Terminal devices determine whether to listen to the PDCCH based on low-power signals.

[0281] For example, the MR may be in a light sleep / sleep state before entering normal operation after receiving a wake-up signal from the LP-WUR, during which time the terminal device consumes less power. When the MR receives a low-power signal from the LP-WUR indicating that it is listening to the PDCCH, the MR enters normal operation and begins listening to the PDCCH.

[0282] In this way, for the terminal device, the MR does not need to be in normal working state all the time. It can determine whether to put the MR into normal working state to listen to the PDCCH based on the second information in the low power signal. That is, when the LP-WUR determines that the second information indicates not to listen to the PDCCH, no wake-up signal is sent to the MR, so as to avoid the terminal device performing invalid blind PDCCH detection and reduce the power consumption of blind PDCCH detection.

[0283] In this application, the content of low-power information and its time-frequency domain location can also be indicated through protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling. In this way, the terminal device can, based on the information indicated by the protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling, not only listen to low-power signals, but also determine whether it needs to listen to the PDCCH based on the content of the low-power signals.

[0284] The following example illustrates how to predefine the following information in the protocol or configure the higher-layer signaling or physical layer signaling: the content of the low-power signal indication, the meaning (or format) of the low-power signal fields, the time-frequency location of the low-power signal, and the retransmission method. For the terminal device, it can determine whether there is a low-power signal and whether the low-power signal indication is listening to the PDCCH based on the information predefinement in the protocol, the configuration in the higher-layer signaling, or the physical layer signaling indication.

[0285] like Figure 9 The diagram shows a flowchart of a communication method, which includes the following steps.

[0286] 901. Network devices indicate the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of low-power signals through protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling.

[0287] For example, the higher-layer signaling could be RRC signaling or Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC CE) signaling. The physical layer signaling could be DCI, for example.

[0288] 902. The terminal device listens for the presence of low-power signals based on the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of the low-power signals, as indicated by protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling.

[0289] For example, the LP-WUR of the terminal device can listen for the presence of low-power signals based on the time-frequency domain location of the low-power signals indicated by protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling.

[0290] 903. The terminal device receives a low-power signal, which includes second information indicating whether to listen to the PDCCH or not.

[0291] 904. Terminal devices determine whether to listen to the PDCCH based on low-power signals.

[0292] For example, when the LP-WUR receives a low-power signal, if the LP-WUR determines, based on the content and format of the low-power signal as indicated by a protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling, that the second information carried by the low-power signal indicates listening to the PDCCH, the LP-WUR sends a wake-up signal to the MR to enable the MR to listen to the PDCCH in normal operating condition. If the LP-WUR determines, based on the content and format of the low-power signal as indicated by a protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling, that the second information carried by the low-power signal indicates not listening to the PDCCH, the LP-WUR does not send a wake-up signal to the MR.

[0293] The following sections describe the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of low-power signals that are predefined by the protocol, configured by higher-layer signaling, or indicated by physical layer signaling.

[0294] 1. Contents of low-power signals.

[0295] In some embodiments, in step 901, the content of the low-power signal indicates whether at least one terminal device needs to listen to the PDCCH during a first time period.

[0296] In some embodiments, the first time period is at least one time slot, or at least one mini time slot, or a time period related to the subcarrier spacing, or a time period predefined by the protocol, or a configured time period.

[0297] For example, in Method 1, when the first time period is a time slot, the low-power signal indicates whether one or more terminal devices need to listen to the PDCCH in that time slot.

[0298] In mode 2, when the first time period is a protocol-predefined time period or a configured time period, the low-power signal indicates whether one or more terminal devices need to listen to the PDCCH within the protocol-predefined time period or the configured time period.

[0299] For example, the first time period is a slot or mini-slot.

[0300] Alternatively, the first time period can be an absolute time period such as 1ms, 0.5ms, or 0.25ms.

[0301] Alternatively, the first time period can be a time period containing multiple symbols predefined by the protocol. For example, if the first time period contains 14 symbols, it is a slot in NR. Or, the first time period can contain 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or other values ​​of symbols, which is a mini-slot in NR.

[0302] Alternatively, the first time period may consist of X1 slots, where X1 is a positive integer and is predefined or preconfigured by the protocol. Or, the first time period may consist of X2 symbols, where X2 is a positive integer and is predefined or preconfigured by the protocol.

[0303] In Method 3, the first time period is the time period related to the subcarrier.

[0304] For example, when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, the first time period is 14 OFDM symbols.

[0305] Alternatively, when the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz, the first time period is 28 OFDM symbols.

[0306] Alternatively, when the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, the first time period is 56 OFDM symbols.

[0307] Alternatively, when the subcarrier spacing is 15*n kHz, the first time period consists of 14*n OFDM symbols, where n is a positive integer.

[0308] 2. Low-power signal format.

[0309] In step 901, the protocol predefined or higher layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling configurable low power signal includes second information, instructing the terminal device to listen to the PDCCH or not listen to the PDCCH.

[0310] In some embodiments, the second information indicates whether to listen to the PDCCH or not during the first time period.

[0311] In one possible approach, the low-power signal is a broadcast or multicast signal, and the second information occupies at least 1 bit, indicating whether at least one terminal device is listening to the PDCCH or not.

[0312] For example, the low-power signal is a broadcast signal or a multicast signal, and the second information included in the low-power signal occupies 1 bit.

[0313] When the value of this 1 bit is 0, the second information indicates that one or more terminal devices do not need to listen to the PDCCH during the first time period. When the value of this 1 bit is 1, the second indication information indicates that one or more terminal devices need to listen to the PDCCH during the first time period.

[0314] Alternatively, when the value of this 1 bit is 1, the second information indicates that one or more terminal devices need to listen to the PDCCH during the first time period; when the value of this 1 bit is 1, the second indication information indicates that one or more terminal devices do not need to listen to the PDCCH during the first time period.

[0315] For example, the low-power signal is a broadcast signal or a multicast signal, and the second information included in the low-power signal occupies multiple bits.

[0316] For example, each bit in a multi-bit configuration corresponds to a terminal device, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding terminal device needs to listen to the PDCCH within the first time period. For example, such as... Figure 10 Figure (a) shows a schematic diagram illustrating the meaning of the second information. The second information occupies 4 bits, corresponding to UE1 through UE4. Each bit indicates whether the corresponding UE needs to listen to the PDCCH during the first time period. This correspondence can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling or physical layer signaling.

[0317] For example, when the low-power signal is a multicast signal, each bit in the multiple bits corresponds to a terminal device group, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding terminal device group needs to listen to the PDCCH in the first time period. For example, Figure 10 Figure (b) illustrates the meaning of one type of second information. The second information occupies two bits. One bit corresponds to UE groups UE1-2, indicating whether UE1 and UE2 need to listen to the PDCCH within the first time period. The other bit corresponds to UE groups UE3-4, indicating whether UE3 and UE4 need to listen to the PDCCH within the first time period. This correspondence can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling or physical layer signaling.

[0318] In some embodiments, the second information indicates that at least one terminal device may listen to the PDCCH or not listen to the PDCCH on at least one carrier, secondary carrier, or carrier group.

[0319] For example, the second information indicates whether at least one terminal device needs to listen to the PDCCH on one or more secondary carriers during a first time period. For instance, the second signal occupies at least one bit, with each bit corresponding to one or more secondary carriers. This correspondence can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling or physical-layer signaling.

[0320] For example, the second information indicates whether at least one terminal device needs to listen to the PDCCH on one or more carriers during a first time period. For instance, the second signal occupies at least one bit, with each bit corresponding to one or more carriers. This correspondence can be predefined by the protocol or configured by higher-layer signaling or physical-layer signaling.

[0321] Thus, through the configuration in step 901 above, the terminal device can determine whether it needs to listen to the PDCCH based on the content and format of the configured low-power signal when executing step 904.

[0322] 3. Time-frequency domain location of low-power signals.

[0323] By configuring the time-frequency domain position of the power consumption signal in step 901, the terminal device can listen for low-power signals based on the time-frequency domain position when executing step 902.

[0324] 31) Time-domain location of low-power signals.

[0325] In some embodiments, in step 901, the time-domain location of the low-power signal can be indicated as a second time period by protocol predefinition, higher-layer signaling configuration, or physical layer signaling.

[0326] Thus, in steps 902 and 903, the terminal device listening to or receiving low-power signals includes: listening to low-power signals during a second time period. The second time period is indicated by at least one of the following: an identifier for a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window within the third time period; or a monitoring window within the monitoring period.

[0327] In Method 1, the second time period is the identifier of the third time period, which is at least one time slot. The identifier of the third time period can be the slot number of at least one time slot.

[0328] In some embodiments, the protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling indicates the slot number where the low-power signal is located.

[0329] For example, the protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling indicates the starting slot number and the number of consecutive slots for the low-power signal. For instance, the starting slot number is slot 2, and the number of consecutive slots is 6, meaning the time-domain location for listening to the low-power signal is slots 2 through 7. The terminal device can listen to the low-power signal on each of slots 2 through 7.

[0330] In Method 2, the second time period is the monitoring cycle.

[0331] For example, when the second time period is the monitoring cycle, the monitoring cycle can be constant. For instance, the monitoring cycle can be 1ms, 2ms, 5ms, or 10ms, meaning the terminal device can listen for a low-power signal every 1ms, 2ms, 5ms, or 10ms. Alternatively, the monitoring cycle can be a slot, meaning the terminal device can listen for a low-power signal every slot.

[0332] For example, when the second time period is the monitoring period, the monitoring period can be variable. For instance, the monitoring period can be 14*n symbols, where n is related to the subcarrier spacing and is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0333] In Method 3, for each third time period or monitoring cycle of monitoring low-power signals, the monitoring window for monitoring low-power signals in the third time period or monitoring cycle can be designated as the second time period through protocol predefinition, higher-layer signaling configuration, or physical layer signaling. This will be explained in two scenarios.

[0334] In one possible scenario, the second time period is a subset of the first time period. This can be understood as the second information in the low-power signal instructing the terminal device to listen to the PDCCH within the same slot or time period; that is, the low-power signal and the associated PDCCH are within the same slot or time period. The low-power signal can be configured to be positioned slightly earlier in that slot or time period.

[0335] For example, the time-domain location / monitoring window of the low-power signal is the first symbol of the first time period. This allows the terminal device to determine whether to listen to the PDCCH early in the first time period based on the low-power signal, thereby reducing the latency of listening to the PDCCH.

[0336] For example, the monitoring window could be the first symbol of the slot configured with low-power signals, or the first 2, 3, or 4 symbols, or other numerical values ​​of symbols.

[0337] Alternatively, the monitoring window can be the first symbol of the monitoring cycle of the low-power signal, or the first 2, 3, 4 or other numerical symbols.

[0338] Alternatively, the monitoring window can be the first symbol of the CORESET that configures the low-power signal, or the first 2, 3, or 4 or other numerical symbols.

[0339] In another possible scenario, the second time period does not overlap with the first time period. This can be understood as the second information in the low-power signal instructing the terminal device to listen to the PDCCH in the next or subsequent slots of the slot monitoring the low-power signal, or in the next time period after a period of monitoring the low-power signal; that is, the low-power signal and the associated PDCCH are not in the same slot or time period. The low-power signal can be configured to be located later in the slot or time period of monitoring the low-power signal. Alternatively, the second time period can be in the previous one or more symbols of the first time period.

[0340] For example, the monitoring window could be the last symbol of the slot configured with a low-power signal, or the second, third, or fourth symbol from the end, or other numerical values.

[0341] Alternatively, the monitoring window can be the last symbol of the monitoring cycle of the low-power signal, or the last two, three, four, or other numerical symbols.

[0342] The monitoring window can be the last symbol of the CORESET of the low-power signal, or the last 2, 3, or 4 or other numerical symbols.

[0343] 32) Frequency domain location of low-power signals.

[0344] In some embodiments, the frequency domain location of the low-power signal is determined by the CORESET associated with the currently active BWP of the terminal device. That is, once the terminal device has determined the currently active BWP, it can determine the frequency domain location of the low-power signal based on the CORESET associated with the BWP.

[0345] In some embodiments, the frequency domain location of the low-power signal is a pre-configured / predefined fixed location. For example, the fixed location may be independent of the currently active BWP and / or CORESET.

[0346] In this case, the low-power signal can be a unicast signal or a multicast signal, and the low-power signal monitored by different terminal devices or different groups of terminal devices is frequency-division multiplexed, time-division multiplexed, space-division multiplexed, or code-division multiplexed.

[0347] For example, in mode a, different terminal devices or groups of terminal devices can share a frequency domain location to listen to low-power signals, which are code-division multiplexed.

[0348] In the case of a low-power signal being a chirp signal, code division can represent the different slopes and / or starting points, and / or different bitwise operations (BWs) of the chirp signals from different terminal devices. For example... Figure 11 The diagram shows a chirp signal in the frequency domain. The chirp signal is linear, where fo represents the starting point and uo represents the slope. The horizontal axis represents the time domain, the vertical axis represents the frequency domain, and BW represents the frequency bandwidth occupied by the chirp signal.

[0349] Alternatively, when the low-power signal is a sequential signal, code division can represent different cyclic offsets of the sequence. That is, for different terminal devices or groups of terminal devices, their sequential signals can carry different information through cyclic offsets.

[0350] For example, in method b, low-power signals are frequency-divided among different terminal devices or groups of terminal devices. For instance, different terminal devices may listen to low-power signals on sub-channels at different frequency points within the same time slot, the same space, and the same orthogonal code.

[0351] Thus, through the configuration in step 901 above, the terminal device can determine whether to listen to the low-power signal based on the time-frequency domain information of the configured low-power signal when executing steps 902 and 903.

[0352] In some embodiments, the relative position of the low-power signal and the PDCCH in the time domain is related to the capabilities of the terminal device.

[0353] This application can also indicate the relative position of the low-power signal and the PDCCH in the time domain and the capabilities of the terminal device through protocol predefinition, higher-layer signaling configuration, or physical layer signaling.

[0354] This configuration can be understood as allowing the terminal device to determine where to start listening to the PDCCH based on its relative position when it receives a low-power signal; that is, it configures the listening position of the PDCCH.

[0355] For example, network devices can be configured for high-capacity terminal devices to have a shorter relative position time between the low-power signal and the PDCCH in the time domain, for example, the relative position time is K1.

[0356] Network devices can be configured to allow low-power signals and PDCCH to have a longer relative time in the time domain for terminal devices with weak capabilities. For example, the relative time can be K2, where K2 > K1. The units of K1 and K2 can be symbols, slots, a period of time, or absolute time.

[0357] In this way, this application is equivalent to being able to flexibly configure the time for the terminal device to listen to the PDCCH according to the capabilities of the terminal device.

[0358] In some embodiments, the low-power signal is repeatedly transmitted in the time domain, frequency domain, or spatial domain.

[0359] This application can also indicate that low-power signals are repeatedly transmitted through protocol predefinition, higher-layer signaling configuration, or physical layer signaling, thereby improving the reliability of low-power signal transmission.

[0360] For example, in some embodiments, the network device indicates, via protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling, that the low-power signal is repeatedly transmitted in the frequency domain, and indicates the number of times it is repeatedly transmitted in the frequency domain. Alternatively, the network device indicates, via protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling, that the low-power signal is repeatedly transmitted in the time domain, and indicates the number of times it is repeatedly transmitted in the time domain. Alternatively, the number of times it is repeatedly transmitted in the frequency domain or time domain may also be predefined by the protocol.

[0361] In some embodiments, network devices may protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configurations or physical-layer signaling instructions for the repeated transmission of low-power signals in a beam-dependent manner.

[0362] For example, a monitoring window for low-power signals can be indicated through protocol predefinition, higher-layer signaling configuration, or physical layer signaling. This monitoring window includes multiple repeating low-power signals, each associated with a different beam, or some of the repeating low-power signals may be associated with the same beam, while others may be associated with different beams. In this way, the terminal device can listen for low-power signals on multiple beams, thereby improving the reliability of low-power signal transmission.

[0363] In this way, this application allows terminal devices to listen to low-power signals via LP-WUR by predefining the protocol, configuring higher-layer signaling, or indicating the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of the low-power signal through physical layer signaling. This eliminates the need for the terminal device's MR to be constantly in normal operating mode while listening to low-power signals, resulting in lower power consumption for the terminal device. Furthermore, it allows the terminal device to determine whether to listen to the PDCCH based on the low-power signal, avoiding invalid blind PDCCH detection and reducing the power consumption of blind PDCCH detection.

[0364] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the network device and terminal device include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to perform each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0365] Figure 12 and Figure 13 The diagram illustrates the possible structures of communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of a terminal or base station in the above method embodiments, and thus also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device may be as follows: Figure 1 The terminal 120 shown can also be as follows: Figure 1 The base station 110 shown can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal or base station.

[0366] like Figure 12 As shown, the communication device 1200 includes a processing unit 1210 and a transceiver unit 1220. The communication device 1200 is used to implement the above-mentioned... Figure 5 , Figure 8 or Figure 9 The functionality of a terminal device or network device in at least one of the method embodiments shown.

[0367] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment shown, the terminal device functions as follows: the transceiver unit 1220 is used to receive low-power signals; the processing unit 1210 is used to determine, based on the low-power signals, the range within which the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored or not.

[0368] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement Figure 8 In the method embodiment shown, the terminal device functions as follows: the transceiver unit 1220 is used to receive low-power signals; the processing unit 1210 is used to determine whether to monitor the physical downlink control channel based on the low-power signals.

[0369] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement Figure 9 In the method embodiment shown, the terminal device functions as follows: the transceiver unit 1220 is used to determine the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of the low-power signal based on protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling; and to receive the low-power signal; the processing unit 1210 is used to listen for the presence of the low-power signal based on the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of the low-power signal indicated by protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling; and to determine whether to listen to the physical downlink control channel based on the low-power signal.

[0370] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment shown, the network device functions as follows: the transceiver unit 1220 is used to send low-power signals; the processing unit 1210 is used to determine, before sending the low-power signals, the range of the physical downlink control channel that needs to be monitored, and / or the range of the physical downlink control channel that does not need to be monitored.

[0371] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement Figure 8 In the method embodiment shown, the network device functions as follows: the transceiver unit 1220 is used to send low-power signals; the processing unit 1210 is used to determine whether the terminal device is listening to the physical downlink control channel before sending the low-power signals.

[0372] When the communication device 1200 is used to implement Figure 9 In the method embodiment shown, the network device functions as follows: the transceiver unit 1220 is used to listen for the presence of a low-power signal based on the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of the low-power signal according to the protocol predefined or higher-layer signaling configuration or physical layer signaling indication; and to send the low-power signal; the processing unit 1210 is used to determine the content, format, and time-frequency domain location of the low-power signal.

[0373] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1210 and the transceiver unit 1220, please refer to [reference needed]. Figure 5 , Figure 8 and Figure 9 The relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown.

[0374] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of a possible communication device is shown. It will be understood that the communication device 130 includes means of the necessary form, such as modules, units, elements, circuits, or interfaces, to be appropriately configured together to perform this solution. The communication device 130 may be... Figure 1 The RAN nodes, terminals, core network equipment, or other network equipment, or components (e.g., chips) within these devices, are used to implement the methods described in the following method embodiments. The communication device 130 includes one or more processors 131. The processor 131 can be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, for example, a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the central processing unit can be used to control the communication device (e.g., RAN nodes, terminals, or chips), execute software programs, and process data from the software programs.

[0375] Optionally, in one design, processor 131 may include program 133 (sometimes also referred to as code or instructions), which can be executed on processor 131 to cause communication device 130 to perform the methods described in the embodiments below. In yet another possible design, communication device 130 includes circuitry (…). Figure 13 (Not shown), the circuit is used to implement the functions of the terminal device and / or network device in the above embodiments.

[0376] Optionally, the communication device 130 may include one or more memories 132 storing a program 134 (sometimes referred to as code or instructions), which can be run on the processor 131 to cause the communication device 130 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0377] Optionally, the processor 131 and / or memory 132 may include artificial intelligence (AI) modules 137 and 138, which are used to implement AI-related functions. The AI ​​modules can be implemented through software, hardware, or a combination of both. For example, the AI ​​module may include a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) module. For example, the AI ​​module may be a near real-time RIC or a non-real-time RIC.

[0378] Optionally, the processor 131 and / or memory 132 may also store data. The processor 131 and memory 132 may be configured separately or integrated together.

[0379] Optionally, the communication device 130 may further include a transceiver 135 and / or an antenna 136. The processor 131, sometimes referred to as a processing unit, controls the communication device (e.g., a RAN node or terminal). The transceiver 135, sometimes referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver, is used to realize the transmission and reception functions of the communication device through the antenna 136.

[0380] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from the base station, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules in the terminal (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. The terminal chip sends information to the base station, which can be understood as the information being first sent to other modules in the terminal (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0381] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the functions of the base station in the above method embodiments. The base station chip receives information from the terminal, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules in the base station (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. The base station chip sends information to the terminal, which can be understood as the information being sent down to other modules in the base station (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0382] In this application, entity A sends information to entity B, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Similarly, entity B receives information from entity A, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Entities A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within RAN nodes or terminals. Information transmission and reception can be between RAN nodes and terminals, such as between a base station and a terminal; between two RAN nodes, such as between a CU and a DU; or between different modules within a single device, such as between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules of the base station.

[0383] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0384] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which 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, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in a base station or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a base station or terminal.

[0385] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially 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 instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed entirely or partially. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0386] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0387] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0388] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: comprising: receiving a low power consumption signal, the low power consumption signal comprising first information; the first information indicating a range of physical downlink control channels that need to be monitored and / or a range of physical downlink control channels that do not need to be monitored; determining, based on the low power consumption signal, a range of physical downlink control channels that need to be monitored or do not need to be monitored.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the range of physical downlink control channels comprising at least one of: a downlink control information type; an aggregation level; a downlink control information size; a candidate set of physical downlink control channels; a format of a wireless network temporary identifier; a secondary carrier; a carrier numerology group; a carrier number; a subset of search spaces; a search space group; a relative position of the physical downlink control channels to the low power consumption signal; an absolute position of the physical downlink control channels; a subset of time domain positions; a subset of frequency domain positions; a subset of resources in a control resource set; one of a plurality of control resource sets; one of a plurality of bandwidth parts; a subset of one bandwidth part.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first information indicates that, in a first time period, a range of physical downlink control channels need to be monitored and / or a range of physical downlink control channels do not need to be monitored. comprising:

4. A communication method characterized by comprising: receiving a low power consumption signal, the low power consumption signal comprising second information indicating whether to monitor physical downlink control channels or not to monitor physical downlink control channels; determining, based on the low power consumption signal, whether to monitor the physical downlink control channels.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second information indicates that, in a first time period, to monitor physical downlink control channels or not to monitor physical downlink control channels.

6. The method of claim 3 or 5, wherein the first time period is at least one of: a time slot, or a mini-slot, or a time period related to a subcarrier spacing, or a time period predetermined by a protocol, or a time period configured. the low power consumption signal is at least one of:

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, a chirp signal, a sequence signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, a frequency shift keying (FSK) signal, an on-off keying (OOK) signal, or a low power consumption synchronization signal.

8. The method of any one of claims 4-7, wherein the second information indicates that at least one terminal-side device monitors the physical downlink control channels or does not monitor the physical downlink control channels on at least one of: a carrier, or a secondary carrier, or a carrier group. the receiving the low power consumption signal comprises:

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, monitoring the low power consumption signal in a second time period; the second time period is indicated by at least one of: an identification of a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window in the third time period; a monitoring window in the monitoring period.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second time period is a subset of the first time period, or the second time period and the first time period do not overlap.

11. The method of any one of claims 1-10, wherein a relative position of the low power consumption signal to the physical downlink control channels in time domain is related to a capability of a terminal-side device. ​ 12. The method according to any one of claims 3 or 5-9, characterized in that, The time-domain position of the low-power signal is the first symbol of the first time period.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-12, characterized in that, The frequency domain location of the low-power signal is determined by the set of control resources related to the currently activated bandwidth portion of the terminal device. Alternatively, the frequency domain position of the low-power signal is a pre-configured fixed position.

14. The method according to any one of claims 4-13, characterized in that, The low-power signal is a broadcast signal or a multicast signal, and the second information occupies at least 1 bit. The second information indicates whether at least one terminal-side device is listening to the physical downlink control channel or not listening to the physical downlink control channel.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, characterized in that, The low-power signal is a unicast signal or a multicast signal, and the low-power signal monitored by different terminal devices or different groups of terminal devices is frequency-division multiplexed, time-division multiplexed, or space-division multiplexed.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1-15, characterized in that, The low-power signal is repeatedly transmitted in the time domain or frequency domain.

17. A method of communication, comprising: include: Send a low-power signal, the low-power signal including first information, the first information indicating the range of the physical downlink control channel that needs to be monitored, and / or the range of the physical downlink control channel that does not need to be monitored.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The scope of the physical downlink control channel includes at least one of the following: Downlink control information type; aggregation level; downlink control information size; candidate set of physical downlink control channels; format of radio network temporary identifier; secondary carrier; carrier number group; carrier number; subset of search space; search space group; relative position of the physical downlink control channel to the low-power signal; absolute position of the physical downlink control channel; subset of time-domain position; subset of frequency-domain position; resource subset in the resource block of the control resource set; One of multiple control resource sets; one of multiple bandwidth portions; a subset of a bandwidth portion.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that, The first information indicates the range within which the physical downlink control channel needs to be monitored during a first time period, and / or the range within which the physical downlink control channel does not need to be monitored.

20. A method of communication, comprising: include: Send a low-power signal, the low-power signal including second information, the second information indicating whether to listen to the physical downlink control channel or not listen to the physical downlink control information.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The second information indicates whether to listen to the physical downlink control channel or not during the first time period.

22. The method according to claim 19 or 21, characterized in that, The first time period is at least one time slot, or at least one mini time slot, or a time period related to the subcarrier spacing, or a time period predetermined by the protocol, or a configured time period.

23. The method according to any one of claims 17-22, characterized by, The low-power signal is at least one of the following: a chirp signal, a sequence signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, a frequency shift keying (FSK) signal, an on-off keying (OOK) signal, or a low-power synchronization signal.

24. The method of any of claims 20-23, wherein the second information indicates that the at least one terminal-side device monitors or does not monitor the physical downlink control channel on the at least one carrier or secondary carrier or carrier group.

25. The method according to any one of claims 17-24, characterized by, the sending the low-power signal comprises: sending the low-power signal in a second time period; the second time period is indicated by at least one of the following: an identity of a third time period; a monitoring period; a monitoring window in the third time period; a monitoring window in the monitoring period.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the second time period is a subset of the first time period, or the second time period and the first time period do not overlap.

27. The method of any of claims 17-26, wherein a relative position of the low-power signal and the physical downlink control channel in time domain is related to a capability of a terminal-side device.

28. The method of any of claims 19 or 21-25, wherein a time domain position of the low-power signal is a first symbol of the first time period.

29. A communications device, characterized by comprising a transceiver module and a processing module; the transceiver module is configured to perform operations related to receiving in the method of any of claims 1-16; the processing module is configured to perform operations related to other actions than receiving in the method of any of claims 1-16.

30. A communications device, characterized by comprising a transceiver module; the transceiver module is configured to perform operations related to transmitting in the method of any of claims 17-28.

31. A communication system, characterized by comprising a first communication device configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-16 and a second communication device configured to perform the method of any of claims 17-28.

32. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: the computer readable storage medium has stored therein computer instructions, which when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-28.

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