Communication methods and devices, and systems

Abstract

Embodiments of this application provide a communication method and apparatus. The method can be performed by a base station. The method includes the steps of: receiving a first acknowledgment from a terminal device, the first acknowledgment indicating that the activation signaling of a secondary cell has been successfully received; transmitting a probe data packet to the terminal device; receiving a second acknowledgment from the terminal device, the second acknowledgment being a response to the probe data packet, the second acknowledgment indicating that the terminal device is ready to perform data transmission; and transmitting data to the terminal device. According to the method, after receiving an acknowledgment for activation signaling, the base station actively detects whether the terminal device is ready to perform data transmission. If the terminal device is ready to perform data transmission, data transmission can take place between the base station and the terminal device, resulting in faster data transmission time, thereby reducing waiting time, improving data transmission efficiency, and reducing communication latency. In addition, the method can improve communication flexibility and user experience.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present application claims priority from Chinese Patent Application No. 202311062221.7 entitled "Communication method, apparatus, and system" filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on August 22, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, and system. [Background Art]

[0003] To improve communication speed, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP (registered trademark)) introduces carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA) technology that aggregates multiple continuous or discontinuous component carriers (component carrier, CC) for use. Therefore, this technology improves bandwidth utilization, thereby improving communication speed. A component carrier accessed by a user is a primary component carrier (primary component carrier, PCC), and a cell where the PCC is located is a primary cell (primary cell, PCell). Among a plurality of carriers corresponding to a bandwidth used by CA, carriers other than the PCC may be referred to as secondary component carriers (secondary component carrier, SCC), and a cell where the SCC is located is a secondary cell (secondary cell, SCell). CA technology can improve the peak speed perceived by uplink and downlink users by utilizing resources and advantages of different carriers and different standards.

[0004] In scenarios where CA technology is used, a terminal device can transmit data by using the secondary cell only after it has been activated. Specifically, when a secondary cell is activated by a base station, the base station sends an activation signaling to the terminal device, and the base station performs a series of actions to activate the secondary cell only after receiving an acknowledgment (ACK). According to Section 5.9 of 3GPP® Technical Specification (TS) 38.321, a terminal device may report secondary cell channel state information (CSI) reports, etc., at a specified time after the terminal device has received the activation signaling. Data transmission between the terminal device and the base station must occur after the reporting of the secondary cell channel state information report is completed. However, according to Section 4.3 of TS 38.213, the execution time for reporting the secondary cell channel state information report must be later than time T. For example, if the base station sends an activation signaling to the terminal device in slot n, the value of T is n+k. For specific settings regarding the value of k, please refer to the explanation in Section 4.3 of TS 38.213. As a result, data transmission efficiency in CA technology scenarios will be affected. [Overview of the Initiative] [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] This application describes a communication method and apparatus.

[0006] According to a first aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides a communication method for improving data transmission efficiency. The method may be performed by a base station. The method includes the steps of: receiving a first acknowledgment from a terminal device, the first acknowledgment indicating that the activation signaling of a secondary cell has been successfully received; transmitting a probe data packet to the terminal device; receiving a second acknowledgment from the terminal device, the second acknowledgment being a response to the probe data packet, the second acknowledgment indicating that the terminal device is ready to perform data transmission; and transmitting data to the terminal device. According to the method, after receiving an acknowledgment for activation signaling, the base station actively detects whether the terminal device is ready to perform data transmission. If the terminal device is ready to perform data transmission, data transmission may take place between the base station and the terminal device, resulting in faster data transmission time, thereby reducing waiting time, improving data transmission efficiency, and reducing communication latency. In addition, the method can improve communication flexibility and user experience.

[0007] It will be understood that data transmission includes uplink data transmission and / or downlink data transmission, and that a second acknowledgment indicating that data transmission is ready to take place includes that data is ready to be received (downlink data transmission) and / or that data is ready to be transmitted (uplink data transmission). The foregoing description is applicable to the description of other aspects of this application. Further details are not described again.

[0008] In one possible embodiment, after the step of sending data to a terminal device, the method further includes the step of receiving a secondary cell channel status information report from the terminal device. For example, the channel status information report is a CSI report.

[0009] In one possible embodiment, the probe data packet includes either a filler data packet or a control data packet. For example, the control data packet may be a control frame. In this embodiment, the value of the logical channel identifier in the medium access control header of the filler data packet includes 63 or any value between 35 and 46. If the value is 63, the filler data packet is a padding data packet.

[0010] In one possible embodiment, the activation signaling includes a media access control-control element. For example, the activation signaling may be a MAC-CE.

[0011] In one possible embodiment, prior to the step of receiving a first acknowledgment from a terminal device, the method further includes the step of transmitting an activation signaling to the terminal device. In this embodiment, prior to the step of receiving a first acknowledgment from a terminal device and after the step of transmitting an activation signaling to the terminal device, the method may further include the step of receiving a first negative response from the terminal device, wherein the first negative response is a response to the activation signaling and the first negative response indicates that the activation signaling was not received; and the step of retransmitting the activation signaling to the terminal device. The first negative response may include a hybrid auto-retransmission request-negative response.

[0012] In one possible embodiment, prior to the step of receiving a second acknowledgment from a terminal device, the method further includes the steps of receiving a second negation from a terminal device and retransmitting a probe data packet to the terminal device. In this embodiment, the second negation includes a hybrid autoretransmission request-negation response, e.g., a HARQ-NACK. This description is applicable to the description of other embodiments of this application. Further details are not described again.

[0013] In one possible embodiment, the first acknowledgment may include a hybrid auto-retransmission request-acknowledgment. For example, the hybrid auto-retransmission request-acknowledgment may be a HARQ-ACK. This description is applicable to the description of other embodiments of this application. Further details are not described again.

[0014] In one possible embodiment, synchronization with the terminal device is completed. The synchronization may be the synchronization of a synchronization signal block. In other words, after receiving a second acknowledgment, the synchronization of the synchronization signal block is completed between the terminal device and the base station, and then data transmission takes place. The synchronization time may be before the detection data packet is transmitted or before data transmission takes place. This is not limited in this application.

[0015] According to a second aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides a communication method for improving data transmission efficiency. The method may be performed by a terminal device. The method includes the steps of: transmitting a first acknowledgment to a base station, the first acknowledgment indicating that the activation signaling of a secondary cell has been successfully received; receiving a probe data packet from the base station; transmitting a second acknowledgment to the base station, the second acknowledgment being a response to the probe data packet, the second acknowledgment indicating that data transmission is ready to take place; and receiving data from the base station. For the beneficial effects of the method, please refer to the description of the first aspect. Further details will not be described again.

[0016] In one possible embodiment, after the step of receiving data from a base station, the method further includes the step of transmitting a secondary cell channel status information report to the base station.

[0017] In one possible embodiment, the probe data packet includes either a filler data packet or a control data packet. For this embodiment, please refer to the corresponding description in the first embodiment.

[0018] In this embodiment, the value of the logical channel identifier in the medium access control header of the filler data packet is 63 or any value between 35 and 46. For this embodiment, please refer to the corresponding description in the first embodiment.

[0019] In one possible embodiment, the activation signaling includes a media access control-control element. For this embodiment, please refer to the corresponding description in the first embodiment.

[0020] In one possible embodiment, prior to the step of transmitting a first acknowledgment to the base station, the method further includes the step of receiving an activation signaling from the base station.

[0021] In this embodiment, prior to the step of transmitting a first acknowledgment to a base station and after the step of receiving an activation signaling from the base station, the method further includes the step of transmitting a first negation to a base station, wherein the first negation is a response to the activation signaling and the first negation indicates that the reception of the activation signaling failed; and the step of receiving an activation signaling from the base station. The first negation includes a hybrid auto-retransmission request-negation.

[0022] In one possible embodiment, prior to the step of transmitting a second acknowledgment to the base station, the method further includes the steps of transmitting a second negation to the base station and receiving the probe data packet again from the base station. In this embodiment, the second negation may include a hybrid auto-retransmission request-negation.

[0023] In one possible embodiment, the first acknowledgment includes a hybrid auto-retransmission request-acknowledgment. For this embodiment, please refer to the corresponding description of the first embodiment.

[0024] In one possible embodiment, synchronization of the synchronization signal block is completed with the base station. For this embodiment, see the corresponding description in the first embodiment.

[0025] According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. In one optional embodiment, the device may include a module that has a one-to-one correspondence with the methods / operations / steps / actions according to the first to fourth aspects. The module may be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software. In one optional embodiment, the communication device includes a baseband device, or a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional embodiment, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes called a transceiver module). The transceiver unit may perform a transmit function and a receive function. If the transceiver unit performs a transmit function, the transceiver unit may be called a transmit unit (sometimes called a transmit module). If the transceiver unit performs a receive function, the transceiver unit may be called a receive unit (sometimes called a receive module). The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and this functional module can perform both transmitting and receiving functions. Alternatively, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be different functional modules, and "transceiver unit" is a general term for these functional modules.

[0026] In one optional embodiment, the communication device includes a processor. The processor is configured to read a program from memory, execute the program, and perform a method according to either the first embodiment or a possible embodiment of the first embodiment, or a method according to either the second embodiment or a possible embodiment of the second embodiment.

[0027] According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions. When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer will perform the method according to any one of the first aspect and possible implementations of the first aspect, or perform the method according to any one of the second aspect and possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0028] According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, a processor will perform the method according to any one of the first aspect and possible implementations of the first aspect, or perform the method according to any one of the second aspect and possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0029] According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip. The chip includes a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions such that the method according to any one of the first aspect and possible implementations of the first aspect is performed, or the method according to any one of the second aspect and possible implementations of the second aspect is performed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network architecture of a communication system to which the present application is applicable. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a communication method according to the present application. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to the present application. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0031] To further clarify the purpose, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application, the embodiments of this application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application may be applied to various communication systems, such as long-term evolution (LTE) networks, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) networks, LTE time division duplex (TDD) networks, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication networks or new radio (NR) networks, non-terrestrial networks (NTN), future communication networks, or other similar communication networks. In this application, a network may also be referred to as a system. The network architectures and service scenarios described in this application are intended to further clarify the technical solutions in this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided herein. With the evolution of network architectures and the emergence of new service scenarios, those skilled in the art will know that the technical solutions provided in this application may also be applicable to solving similar technical problems.

[0032] Figure 1 is a diagram of a possible and non-limiting system. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) and a core network (CN). The RAN includes at least one RAN node and at least one user device. The RAN may also include other RAN nodes, e.g., radio relay devices and / or radio backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1). The user device is connected to the RAN node wirelessly. The RAN node is connected to the core network wirelessly or wired. The core network devices in the core network and the RAN nodes in the RAN may be different physical devices, or they may be the same physical device integrating the logical functions of the core network and the logical functions of the radio access network.

[0033] RAN may be a cellular system associated with the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP®), such as a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or a future-oriented evolutionary system (such as a 6G mobile communication system). Alternatively, RAN may be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN, or ORAN), a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. Alternatively, RAN100 may be a communication system integrating two or more of the aforementioned systems.

[0034] RAN nodes are also sometimes called access network devices, RAN entities, or access nodes, and they constitute part of a communication system to help terminals perform wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes in a communication system may be of the same type or different types. RAN nodes and user equipment are sometimes referred to as communication devices.

[0035] In possible scenarios, a RAN node may be a base station, satellite base station, evolved NodeB (eNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), next-generation NodeB (gNB), next-generation base station for 6th generation (6G) mobile communication systems, base station for future mobile communication systems, or access node for a WiFi system. A RAN node may be a macro base station, micro base station, indoor base station, relay node, or donor node, or a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, a RAN node may also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle device. For example, an access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology may be a roadside unit (RSU).

[0036] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to support user equipment when performing radio access, and different RAN nodes perform some of the base station's functions separately. For example, a RAN node may be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). CUs and DUs may be located separately or may be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). An RU may be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU).

[0037] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but their meanings will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may be called O-DU, CU-CP may be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may be called O-CU-UP, and RU may be called O-RU. For the sake of clarity, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU are used as illustrative examples in this application. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented using a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0038] User equipment (UE) may also be called a terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, user equipment, or target terminal. A terminal may be a passive Internet of Things terminal or a tag. A terminal may be a passive device. A passive device may be a passive tag. A passive tag may collect energy by using backscattering techniques to receive and transmit packets. Passive tags include, but are not limited to, terminal tags without power supply, such as radio frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth®, or Zigbee. A terminal may alternatively be a semi-passive device or an active device.Active devices may include devices with wireless transceiver functionality, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functionality, virtual reality (VR) terminals, augmented reality (AR) terminals, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical care, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminals in 5G mobile communication systems, or terminals in future advanced networks. Wearable devices, sometimes called wearable intelligent devices, are a general term for wearable devices such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes, developed by applying wearable technology to the intelligent design of everyday clothing. Wearable devices are portable devices that can be worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are hardware devices that perform powerful functions through software support, data exchange, and cloud interaction.In a broad sense, wearable intelligent devices include large, fully-featured devices such as smartwatches and smart glasses that can perform all or part of their functions without relying on a smartphone, as well as devices that are specialized for only one type of application function and need to work in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bands and smart jewelry for monitoring physical signs.

[0039] The aforementioned functional network elements may be network elements within a hardware device, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). One or more services may be obtained by partitioning based on the aforementioned functional network elements. Furthermore, services independent of network functions may also exist. In this application, instances of the aforementioned functional network elements, instances of the aforementioned services included in the functional network elements, or instances of services independent of network functions may be referred to as service instances. For ease of explanation, RAN nodes in this application are described using base stations.

[0040] To improve communication speeds, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) introduces carrier aggregation (CA) technology, which aggregates multiple consecutive or discontinuous component carriers (CCs) for use. Therefore, this technology improves bandwidth utilization and thereby improves communication speeds. The component carrier accessed by the user is the primary component carrier (PCC), and the cell in which the PCC resides is the primary cell (PCell). In a network of multiple carriers corresponding to the bandwidth used by CA, carriers other than the PCC may be called secondary component carriers (SCCs), and the cell in which the SCC resides is the secondary cell (SCell). CA technology can improve the peak speed perceived by uplink and downlink users by utilizing the resources and advantages of different carriers and different technologies.

[0041] In scenarios where CA technology is used, a terminal device can transmit data (send uplink data or receive downlink data) by using the secondary cell only after it has been activated. Specifically, when a secondary cell is activated by a base station, the base station sends an activation signaling, such as a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), to the terminal device. The base station then performs a series of actions to activate the secondary cell only when the terminal device sends an acknowledgment (ACK) to the base station. According to section 5.9 of 3GPP® technical specification (TS) 38.321, a terminal device may, at a specified time after the terminal device receives the activation signaling, transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) in the secondary cell, report channel state information (CSI) in the secondary cell, and detect the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in the secondary cell. Data transmission between the base station and the terminal device must occur after the secondary cell's channel status information report has been completed. However, according to Section 4.3 of TS 38.213, the execution time for reporting the secondary cell's channel status information must be later than time T. For example, if the base station sends an activation signaling to the terminal device in slot n, the value of T is n+k. For specific settings of the value of k, please refer to the explanation in Section 4.3 of TS 38.213. Details are not provided here. However, the terminal device may be ready to perform data transmission before the secondary cell's channel status information report is reported. As a result, the data transmission efficiency in CA technology scenarios is affected.

[0042] Therefore, this application describes a communication method for solving the aforementioned problems.

[0043] Figure 2 illustrates the communication method according to this application. The method is explained using an example in which the radio access network is a base station and the user equipment is a terminal device. It will be understood that the primary and secondary cells may be provided by the same base station or by different base stations. This is not limited to this application. Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of the communication method according to this application. This diagram is explained from the perspective of the base station. Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the method may include the following steps.

[0044] Step 201: The base station sends an activation signal to the terminal device.

[0045] In response, the terminal device receives an activation signal from the base station.

[0046] Activation signaling is used to activate the secondary cells of a base station. For example, activation signaling may be MAC-CE.

[0047] Step 202: The terminal device sends a first acknowledgment to the base station.

[0048] In response, the base station receives a first acknowledgment from the terminal device.

[0049] For example, after the activation signaling has been verified correctly, the terminal device performs step 202. A correct verification may also be understood as a successful verification or a successful analysis. This is not limited to the present application. This step is like A2 shown in Figure 3, followed by step 203.

[0050] The first acknowledgment is the response to the activation signaling in step 201. For example, the first acknowledgment may include a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK).

[0051] If the verification performed by the terminal device against the activation signaling fails before step 202 is performed, the terminal device will be understood to send a first negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the base station, for example, A1 shown in Figure 3. For example, the first negative acknowledgement is a hybrid automatic repeat request-negative acknowledgement (HARQ-NACK). In this case, after receiving the first negative acknowledgement, the base station repeats step 201 until step 202 is performed. The base station may perform step 201 immediately after receiving the first negative acknowledgement, or it may wait for a period of time before performing step 201. The time for performing step 201 may be set according to the actual product requirements, and is not limited herein.

[0052] Step 203: The base station sends a discovery data packet to the terminal device.

[0053] The detection data packet is for detecting whether a terminal device is ready to perform data transmission, specifically whether the terminal device is ready to receive downlink data or ready to transmit data (transmit uplink data). In this application, data transmission may include data transmission in at least one of the uplink or downlink directions.

[0054] For example, a detection data packet may be a filler data packet or a control data packet, and a control data packet may also be called a control frame, while a filler data packet may also be called a dummy data packet or padding data packet. In certain embodiments, when the detection data packet is a data filling packet, the value of the logical channel ID (LCID) in the media access control header of the data filling packet is 63, or one of the reserved values ​​between 35 and 46. In certain embodiments, a data filling packet whose LCID value is not equal to 63 may be used as the detection data packet, and it will be understood that this depends on the specific embodiment.

[0055] Step 204: The terminal device sends a second acknowledgment to the base station.

[0056] The second acknowledgment is the response to the detection data packet in step 203.

[0057] The second acknowledgment may be the same as or different from the first acknowledgment. If the second acknowledgment is the same as the first acknowledgment, it means that the data structure of the data packet for the second acknowledgment is the same as the data structure of the data packet for the first acknowledgment, or that the information content contained in the data packet for the second acknowledgment is the same as the information content contained in the data packet for the first acknowledgment. For example, both the first and second acknowledgments may be hybrid auto-retransmission request-acknowledgment. If the second acknowledgment is different from the first acknowledgment, it means that the data structure of the data packet for the second acknowledgment is different from the data structure of the data packet for the first acknowledgment, or that the information content contained in the data packet for the second acknowledgment is different from the information content contained in the data packet for the first acknowledgment. This is not limited to the present application.

[0058] For example, if the terminal device is ready to transmit data, step 204 is performed. It will also be understood that the second acknowledgment data packet is to notify the base station that the terminal device is ready to transmit data or that the terminal device is capable of transmitting data. This step is like B2 shown in Figure 3, followed by step 205.

[0059] Naturally, a prerequisite for this step is that the terminal device correctly parses the discovery data packet in step 203. If the terminal device cannot correctly parse the discovery data packet, it sends a second negation response to the base station.

[0060] Similarly, if the terminal device is not ready to transmit data before step 204 is performed, the terminal device sends a second negation response to the base station. This step is like B1 shown in Figure 3. In this case, after receiving the second negation response, the base station performs step 203 again. The base station may perform step 203 immediately after receiving the second negation response, or it may wait for a period of time before performing step 203. This is not limited in this application.

[0061] Step 205: Perform data transmission.

[0062] A base station can begin transmitting data; in other words, a base station can send data to a terminal device.

[0063] In addition, the terminal device can also initiate data uploads; in other words, the terminal transmits data to the base station.

[0064] Where possible, step 206 is performed immediately or after a first time interval. The length of this first time interval is not limited.

[0065] In possible embodiments, synchronization between the terminal device and the base station is completed before step 203 or before step 205 is performed. For example, the synchronization is the synchronization of the synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0066] Step 206: The terminal device sends a secondary cell channel status information report to the base station.

[0067] For specifications regarding the uplink transmission time of channel status information reports, please refer to the descriptions in Section 4.3 of TS 38.213 and Section 8.3.2 of TS 38.133 of 3GPP®. Further details will not be provided again.

[0068] Subsequently, the terminal device may continue to transmit uplink data, and the base station may transmit downlink data to the terminal device.

[0069] According to this method, after receiving an acknowledgment for activation signaling, the base station proactively detects whether the terminal device is ready to transmit data. If the terminal device is ready to transmit data, data transmission can occur between the base station and the terminal device without waiting for the terminal device to send a secondary cell channel status information report to the base station. In this way, data transmission time is advanced, thereby reducing waiting time, improving data transmission efficiency, and reducing communication latency. In addition, this method can improve communication flexibility and the user experience.

[0070] It will be understood that the CA scenarios to which this embodiment can be applied may include, but are not limited to, multi-CC scenarios such as 2CC, 3CC, 4CC, or 5CC scenarios, and that this embodiment may also be applicable to low-frequency CA scenarios, high-frequency CA scenarios, and inter-frequency CA scenarios.

[0071] Figures 4 and 5 are diagrams of the structure of a communication device that may be disclosed, respectively. This communication device may be configured to perform functions such as a base station and base station modules (CU, DU, and RU, etc.) in the method described above. Thus, the beneficial effects of the method described above may also be implemented.

[0072] Based on the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a diagram of a communication device according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0073] The communication device includes a processing module 401, a receiving module 402, and a transmitting module 403. The processing module 401 is configured to perform data processing by the communication device. The receiving module 402 is configured to receive content between the communication device and another unit or network element, and the transmitting module 403 is configured to receive content between the communication device and another unit or network element. It will be understood that in embodiments of this application, the processing module 401 may be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component (or referred to as a processing circuit), and the receiving module 402 may be implemented by a receiver or a receiver-related circuit component. The transmitting module 403 may be implemented by a transmitter or a transmitter-related circuit component.

[0074] For example, this communication device may be a communication device, a chip used within a communication device, or another combination of devices or components having the functionality of a communication device.

[0075] When the communication device is configured to perform the functions of a base station, the receiving module 402 is configured to receive a first acknowledgment from a terminal device (e.g., step 202 in Figure 2), the first acknowledgment indicating that the activation signaling of the secondary cell has been successfully received; the transmitting module 403 is configured to send a probe data packet to the terminal device (e.g., step 203 in Figure 2); the receiving module 402 is configured to receive a second acknowledgment from the terminal device (e.g., step 204 in Figure 2), the second acknowledgment being a response to the probe data packet, the second acknowledgment indicating that the device is ready to transmit data; and the transmitting module 403 is configured to send data to the terminal device (e.g., step 205 in Figure 2).

[0076] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support other processes of the technology described herein. For details on the beneficial effects, please refer to the previous description; further details are not provided here.

[0077] When the communication device is configured to perform the functions of a terminal device, the transmitting module 403 is configured to transmit a first acknowledgment to the base station (e.g., step 202 in Figure 2), the first acknowledgment indicating that the activation signaling of the secondary cell has been successfully received; the receiving module 402 is configured to receive a probe data packet from the base station (e.g., step 203 in Figure 2); the transmitting module 403 is configured to transmit a second acknowledgment to the base station (e.g., step 204 in Figure 2), the second acknowledgment being a response to the probe data packet, the second acknowledgment indicating that the device is ready to transmit data; and the receiving module 402 is configured to receive data from the base station (e.g., step 205 in Figure 2).

[0078] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support other processes of the technology described herein. For details on the beneficial effects, please refer to the previous description; further details are not provided here.

[0079] Based on the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 5 shows another communication device according to one embodiment of the present application. This communication device includes a processor 501, a communication interface 502, and a memory 503. The processor 501, the communication interface 502, and the memory 503 may be connected to each other via a bus 504. The bus 504 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The aforementioned bus 504 may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, the bus is represented in Figure 5 by using only one line. However, this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus. The processor 501 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor may further include hardware chips. The aforementioned hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The aforementioned PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof. Memory 503 may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory.Non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache.

[0080] The processor 501 is configured to perform data processing operations of the communication device. The communication interface 502 is configured to perform receiving and transmitting operations of the communication device.

[0081] For example, this communication device may be a base station as shown in either Figure 2 or Figure 3.

[0082] When the communication device is configured to perform the functions of a base station, the communication interface 502 is configured to receive a first acknowledgment from a terminal device (e.g., step 202 in Figure 2), the first acknowledgment indicating that the activation signaling of the secondary cell has been successfully received, the communication interface 502 is configured to send a probe data packet to the terminal device (e.g., step 203 in Figure 2), the communication interface 502 is configured to receive a second acknowledgment from the terminal device (e.g., step 204 in Figure 2), the second acknowledgment being a response to the probe data packet, the second acknowledgment indicating that the device is ready to transmit data, and the communication interface 502 is configured to send data to the terminal device (e.g., step 205 in Figure 2).

[0083] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support other processes of the technology described herein. For details on the beneficial effects, please refer to the previous description; further details are not provided here.

[0084] For example, this communication device may be either the terminal device shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3.

[0085] When the communication device is configured to perform the functions of a terminal device, the communication interface 502 is configured to send a first acknowledgment to the base station (e.g., step 202 in Figure 2), the first acknowledgment indicating that the activation signaling of the secondary cell has been successfully received; the communication interface 502 is configured to receive a probe data packet from the base station (e.g., step 203 in Figure 2); the communication interface 502 is configured to send a second acknowledgment to the base station (e.g., step 204 in Figure 2), the second acknowledgment being a response to the probe data packet, the second acknowledgment indicating that the device is ready to transmit data; and the communication interface 502 is configured to receive data from the base station (e.g., step 205 in Figure 2).

[0086] In addition, the aforementioned modules may be further configured to support other processes of the technology described herein. For details on the beneficial effects, please refer to the previous description; further details are not provided here.

[0087] One embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer may perform procedures related to a base station in any one of the embodiments shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3 provided in the embodiments of the present method, or the computer may perform procedures related to a terminal device in any one of the embodiments shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3 provided in the embodiments of the present method.

[0088] One embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product. This computer program product stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer may perform a procedure relating to a base station in either one of the embodiments shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3 provided in the embodiments of the present method, or the computer may perform a procedure relating to a terminal device in either one of the embodiments shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3 provided in the embodiments of the present method.

[0089] This application further provides a chip including a processor. The processor is configured to read and execute computer programs stored in memory to perform corresponding operations and / or procedures performed by a base station or terminal device in the manner provided in this application. Optionally, the chip further includes memory, the memory and processor are connected to the memory via circuits or wires, and the processor is configured to read and execute computer programs in memory. Optionally, the chip further includes a communication interface, the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is configured to receive data and / or information to be processed, and the processor obtains data and / or information from the communication interface and processes the data and / or information. The communication interface may be an input / output interface on the chip, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, an associated circuit, etc. The processor may alternatively be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0090] The aforementioned chip may be replaced by a chip system instead. Further details will not be provided here.

[0091] In this application, the terms “includes,” “has,” and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device comprising a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to the steps or units explicitly enumerated, and may include other steps or units not explicitly enumerated or specific to such process, method, product, or device.

[0092] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between the related objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may indicate the following three cases: that only A exists, that both A and B exist, and that only B exists, where A and B may be singular or plural. The letter " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the related objects.

[0093] The system architectures and service scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As network architectures evolve and new service scenarios emerge, those skilled in the art will know that the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to solving similar technical problems.

[0094] Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the units and algorithmic steps in the examples described with respect to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware or by a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the function is performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions using different methods for specific applications, but such embodiments should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0095] For the sake of brevity, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that detailed operating processes of the aforementioned systems, apparatus, and units should be referred to the corresponding processes in the method embodiments described above. Further details are not provided here.

[0096] In some embodiments provided in this application, it will be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatus, and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely examples. For example, the division into units is merely a logical functional division. In actual embodiments, other division methods may be used. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, and some features may be ignored or omitted. In addition, the mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection shown or discussed may be implemented by using some interfaces. Indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatus or units may be implemented electronically, mechanically, or in other forms.

[0097] Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separated, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actual conditions in order to achieve the objectives of the solution in the embodiment.

[0098] In addition, the functional units in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into a single processing unit, each unit may exist physically independently, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit.

[0099] If a function is implemented in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, the function may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of this application itself, a portion of the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution may be implemented in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored on a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in the embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes any medium capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, removable hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0100] In addition, terms such as “First,” “Second,” etc., in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are intended to distinguish different subjects and are not intended to describe a particular order. Furthermore, the terms “includes” and “have,” and any other variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a set of steps or units may, at its discretion, include further steps or units not listed, or other specific steps or units of that process, method, product, or device, without limitation.

[0101] While this application describes its specific features and embodiments, it is evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Accordingly, this specification and the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative descriptions of the application as defined by the accompanying claims and shall be considered as any or all of the modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents of the application. It is evident that a person skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations of this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. This application is intended to encompass these modifications and variations of this application, insofar as they fall within the scope of protection defined by the following claims and the equivalent art.

[0102] The foregoing description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modification or substitution that is readily conceivable by a person skilled in the art within the scope of the art disclosed herein shall fall within the scope of protection of this application. Accordingly, the scope of protection of this application shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0103] 401 Processing Module 402 Receiver Module 403 Transmitter Module 501 Processor 502 Communication Interface 503 memory 504 Bus

Claims

1. A communication method, wherein the method is A step of receiving a first acknowledgment from a terminal device, wherein the first acknowledgment indicates that the activation signaling of the secondary cell has been successfully received. The steps include sending probe data packets to the aforementioned terminal device, A step of receiving a second acknowledgment from the terminal device, wherein the second acknowledgment is a response to the probe data packet, and the second acknowledgment indicates that data transmission is ready to take place. The steps include sending data to the aforementioned terminal device and A communication method that includes this.

2. After the step of transmitting the data to the terminal device, the method Steps to receive channel status information reports from the terminal device The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the probe data packet includes a filler data packet or a control data packet.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the value of the logical channel identifier in the media access control header of the filler data packet includes 63 or any value from 35 to 46.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the activation signaling includes a media access control-control element.

6. Prior to the step of receiving the first acknowledgment from the terminal device, the method: The step of transmitting the activation signaling to the terminal device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

7. Before the step of receiving the first acknowledgment from the terminal device, and after the step of transmitting the activation signaling to the terminal device, the method: A step of receiving a first negative response from the terminal device, wherein the first negative response is a response to the activation signaling, and the first negative response indicates that the activation signaling was not received. The steps include: resending the activation signaling to the terminal device; The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first negative response includes a hybrid automatic retransmission request-negative response.

9. Prior to the step of receiving the second acknowledgment from the terminal device, the method: The steps include receiving a second negative response from the terminal device, The steps include: resending the probe data packet to the terminal device; The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the second negative response includes a hybrid automatic retransmission request-negative response.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first acknowledgment includes a hybrid automatic retransmission request-acknowledgment.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein synchronization with the terminal device is completed before the step of transmitting the probe data packet to the terminal device.

13. A communication method, wherein the method is A step of transmitting a first acknowledgment to a base station, wherein the first acknowledgment indicates that the activation signaling of the secondary cell has been successfully received. The steps include receiving probe data packets from the base station, A step of transmitting a second acknowledgment to the base station, wherein the second acknowledgment is a response to the probe data packet and indicates that the base station is ready to transmit data. The step of receiving data from the aforementioned base station and A communication method that includes this.

14. After the step of receiving the data from the base station, the method Steps to transmit channel status information report to the base station The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the probe data packet includes a filler data packet or a control data packet.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the value of the logical channel identifier in the media access control header of the filler data packet is 63 or any value from 35 to 46.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the activation signaling includes a media access control-control element.

18. Prior to the step of transmitting the first acknowledgment to the base station, the method step of receiving the activation signaling from the base station. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, further comprising:

19. Before the step of transmitting the first acknowledgment to the base station, and after the step of receiving the activation signaling from the base station, the method: A step of transmitting a first negative response to the base station, wherein the first negative response is a response to the activation signaling, and the first negative response indicates that the reception of the activation signaling failed. The steps include receiving the activation signaling from the base station and The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the first negative response includes a hybrid auto-retransmission request-negative response.

21. Prior to the step of transmitting the second acknowledgment to the base station, the method The steps include sending a second negative response to the base station, The steps include: receiving the probe data packet again from the base station; The method according to any one of claims 13 to 20, further comprising:

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the second negative response includes a hybrid auto-retransmission request-negative response.

23. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 22, wherein the first acknowledgment includes a hybrid automatic retransmission request-acknowledgment.

24. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 23, wherein synchronization with the base station is completed before the step of receiving the probe data packets from the base station.

25. A communication device comprising a unit configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

26. A communication device comprising a unit configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 13 to 24.

27. A communication device comprising a processor and memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the processor is configured to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

28. A communication device comprising a processor and memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the processor is configured to carry out the method according to any one of claims 13 to 24.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, a processor performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 or 13 to 24.

30. A computer program product comprising instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 or 13 to 24.

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