MÉTODO DE COMUNICAÇÃO, DISPOSITIVO DE COMUNICAÇÃO, MEIO E PRODUTO DE PROGRAMA

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a communication device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product. The communication method comprises: a terminal device receives beam coverage information of a network device from the network device, wherein the beam coverage information is used for determining airspace coverage ranges of a plurality of beams; the terminal device determines, from the airspace coverage ranges of the plurality of beams, a beam coverage range of the terminal device; and the terminal device executes wireless resource management measurement on the basis of the beam coverage range. In this way, a terminal device acquires beam coverage information from a network device, so as to determine the beam airspace coverage range of the terminal device according to the beam coverage information, thereby achieving accurate wireless resource management measurement.

Description

1 / 65 COMMUNICATION METHOD, COMMUNICATION DEVICE, MEDIUM AND PROGRAM PRODUCT

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310350560.9, filed with the National Intellectual Property Administration of China on March 27, 2023, and entitled COMMUNICATION METHOD, COMMUNICATION DEVICE, MEDIUM, AND PROGRAM PRODUCT, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This disclosure relates generally to the field of communication and, more specifically, to a method of communication, a communication device, a computer-readable storage medium and a computer program product. BACKGROUND

[0003] In a terrestrial communication system, due to movement, a terminal performs access selection and transfer between different base stations, and the determination of a transfer-related status generally depends on mobility management. Mobility management primarily means a measurement procedure related to radio resource management (RRM) and a mobility signaling procedure activated based on a measurement result. Currently, research on non-terrestrial network (NTN) coverage is underway to further expand coverage and provide communication services to regions such as oceans and forests. Unlike a terrestrial base station, a network device serving as a base station in NTN has a higher movement speed and a greater signal propagation distance, resulting in greater signal path loss for the network device.A communication mechanism designed for a terminal device and a ground base station in a current mobile communication system cannot. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 16 / 115 2 / 65 can be applied directly to an NTN system.

[0004] In the NTN communication system, a UE needs to perform beam measurement for mobility management. Due to the large coverage area and the large number of beams from a satellite, an excessively long measurement time window significantly reduces the terminal's measurement efficiency, leading to a significant increase in terminal power consumption overheads. Furthermore, the overheads of the time-frequency resources occupied by the terminal also increase, severely limiting the terminal's data transmission. Therefore, it is very important to design an efficient mobility management procedure for the NTN communication system. SUMMARY

[0005] The embodiments of this application provide a communication method, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium. In this way, the terminal device can obtain beam coverage information from the network device to determine, based on the beam coverage information, the spatial coverage of the beam in which the terminal device is located, implementing accurate radio resource management measurements.

[0006] According to a first aspect of this application, a communication method is provided. The method includes: A terminal device receives beam coverage information from a network device, where the beam coverage information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams; the terminal device determines, from the spatial coverage of the plurality of beams, the beam coverage in which the terminal device is located; and the terminal device performs radio resource management measurement based on the beam coverage. In this way, the terminal device determines, based on the beam coverage information, the spatial coverage of the beam in which the Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 17 / 115 The 3 / 65 terminal device is located there, additionally implementing precise measurement of radio resource management.

[0007] In some embodiments, beam coverage information includes at least one of the following: a beam plurality spatial coverage scan sequence, a geographic region covered by the beam plurality spatial coverage, a spatial filtering parameter of the beam plurality spatial coverage, or beam plurality spatial coverage shape information. Therefore, the terminal device can obtain a plurality of comprehensive beam spatial information types using beam coverage information, improving beam measurement accuracy.

[0008] In some embodiments, beam coverage information includes at least one of the following: a beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter of the plurality of beams, a beam center point and / or a beam center angle of the plurality of beams, or beam coverage angle information of the plurality of beams. Therefore, beam coverage information is represented in different forms so that the terminal device can obtain a plurality of types of beam coverage information.

[0009] In some embodiments, the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, and the beam center point, and / or the beam center angle are determined with reference to the ground or to a reference plane at a predetermined height. Therefore, a parameter has a plurality of reference planes, increasing the flexibility of the parameter representation.

[0010] In some embodiments, the beam coverage angle information includes at least one of the following: a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto the ground, a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto a reference plane. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 18 / 115 4 / 65 at a predetermined height or a beam angle present when the beam is sent from the grid device. Therefore, coverage angle information can be in different forms, and the terminal device can obtain angle information in a more flexible and accurate way.

[0011] In some embodiments, in beam cover information, one or at least two beam pluralities are used as a granularity for arrangement. Therefore, providing beam cover information using a beam plurality as a granularity reduces the overhead for representing beam cover information.

[0012] In some embodiments, the terminal device further determines beam coverage based on at least one of the following: a terminal device position, a satellite ephemeris associated with the network device, or a beam that is previously determined by the terminal device and that previously covers the terminal device. Therefore, the terminal device can refer to a plurality of information types to obtain more precise beam coverage.

[0013] In some embodiments, performing radio resource management measurement includes: The terminal device determines, based on beam coverage, a coverage beam that covers the terminal device; the terminal device determines at least one beam to be measured based on a beam scan pattern of the network device and the coverage beam; and performs radio resource management measurement based on at least one beam to be measured. Therefore, the terminal device can perform radio resource management measurement based on beam coverage information.

[0014] In some embodiments, the determination of at least one beam to be measured includes: The terminal device receives a beam measurement time window configuration from the network device, where the time window configuration of Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 19 / 115 5 / 65 measurement indicates a measurement periodicity and duration, determined by the network device, for radio resource management measurement performed by the terminal device; and the terminal device determines at least one beam to be measured based on the network device's beam scan pattern, beam coverage, and beam measurement time window configuration. Therefore, the beam is determined with reference to the beam measurement time window configuration, so that the measurement range can be further narrowed and measurement overheads can be further reduced.

[0015] In some embodiments, the network device is a first network device, the beam coverage information is the first beam coverage information, and the method further includes: The terminal device receives second beam coverage information from a second network device from the first network device. Therefore, the terminal device can obtain beam coverage information from a neighboring cell, to better select an ideal beam.

[0016] In some embodiments, the second beam coverage information includes indication information, where the indication information indicates whether the second beam coverage information is the same as the first beam coverage information. Therefore, the beam coverage information of the neighboring cell can be simplified, reducing signaling overheads.

[0017] In some embodiments, beam cover information includes a parameter related to a beam scan pattern of the beam plurality. Therefore, the signaling of beam cover information is reduced.

[0018] In some embodiments, the parameter includes at least one of the following: beam plurality shape information, a number of beams on the longer side in a region of Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 20 / 115 6 / 65 rectangular beam plurality coverage, a number of beams on the shorter side in the rectangular coverage region, a number of beams per circle present when the beam scanning pattern is circular scanning, a number of beams on one side of a square present when the beam scanning pattern is square scanning, position information of an initial beam, a beam plurality scanning method or a beam coverage radius or a beam coverage diameter of the beam plurality. Therefore, different scanning patterns can be represented by different parameters.

[0019] In some embodiments, based on the determination that the parameter includes the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, the terminal device determines, based on the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, a beam to be measured; or based on the determination that the parameter does not include the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, the terminal device determines the beam to be measured based on a beam selected in an access procedure. Therefore, the terminal device can determine the beam to be measured in different ways.

[0020] In some embodiments, beam coverage information includes: indication information indicating whether a change between beams in the beam plurality is gradual, where gradual indicates a change between beams with adjacent beam numbers or between geographically adjacent beams. In this gradual manner, a second beam in the beam plurality is represented by displacement information relative to a central point of a first beam. Therefore, beam coverage information can be provided as a relative or absolute value, reducing signaling overheads.

[0021] In some modalities, beam coverage information is compressed based on mathematical cross-correlation between beams in beam plurality. Therefore, this reduces the Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 21 / 115 7 / 65 redundancy of beam coverage information and improved communication efficiency.

[0022] In some embodiments, the terminal device sends a measurement result of the radio resource management measurement to the network device. Therefore, the network device can perform beam switching based on the measurement result.

[0023] In some modes, the terminal device performs random access to the network device based on beam coverage. Therefore, the performance of random access is improved.

[0024] In some embodiments, the implementation of random access includes: The terminal device determines, based on beam coverage, a coverage beam that covers the terminal device; and the terminal device sends a random access request to the network device on a random access occasion corresponding to the coverage beam. Therefore, random access can be initiated on a resource corresponding to an optimal beam.

[0025] In some embodiments, performing random access includes: The terminal device determines a plurality of beams corresponding to the beam coverage; and the terminal device sends a random access request to the network device on a plurality of random access occasions corresponding to the plurality of beams. Therefore, the terminal device can initiate random access on resources corresponding to the plurality of beams, increasing the success rate of a random access procedure.

[0026] In some embodiments, the communication method also includes: If the coverage beam fails when the random access request is initiated, the terminal device obtains a new coverage beam. Therefore, this prevents the terminal device from selecting an incorrect resource for random access due to a change in the optimal beam. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 22 / 115 8 / 65

[0027] According to a second aspect of this application, a communication method is provided. The method includes: A network device determines the beam coverage information of the network device, where the beam coverage information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams; and the network device sends the beam coverage information to a terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can determine, based on the beam coverage information, the spatial coverage of the beam in which the terminal device is located, further implementing precise radio resource management measurement.

[0028] In some embodiments, beam coverage information includes at least one of the following: a beam plurality spatial coverage scan sequence, a geographic region covered by the beam plurality spatial coverage, a spatial filtering parameter of the beam plurality spatial coverage, or beam plurality spatial coverage shape information. Therefore, a plurality of comprehensive beam-related spatial information types can be provided, improving beam measurement accuracy.

[0029] In some embodiments, beam coverage information includes at least one of the following: a beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter of the plurality of beams, a beam center point and / or a beam center angle of the plurality of beams, or beam coverage angle information of the plurality of beams. Therefore, beam coverage information is represented in different forms so that the terminal device can obtain a plurality of types of beam coverage information.

[0030] In some embodiments, the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, and the beam center point, Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 23 / 115 9 / 65 and / or the beam center angle are determined with reference to the ground or to a reference plane at a predetermined height. Therefore, a parameter has a plurality of reference planes, increasing the flexibility of the parameter representation.

[0031] In some embodiments, coverage angle information includes at least one of the following: a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto the ground, a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto a reference plane at a predetermined height, or a beam angle present when the beam is sent from the network device. Therefore, coverage angle information can be in different forms, and the terminal device can obtain the angle information in a more flexible and accurate way.

[0032] In some embodiments, in beam cover information, one of the plurality of beams or at least two of the plurality of beams are used as a granularity for arrangement. Therefore, providing beam cover information using a plurality of beams as a granularity reduces the overheads for representing beam cover information.

[0033] In some embodiments, the communication method further includes: The network device determines a beam measurement time window configuration, where the measurement time window configuration indicates a periodicity and duration of measurement for radio resource management measurement performed by the terminal device; and the network device sends the beam measurement time window configuration to the terminal device. Therefore, the beam is determined with reference to the beam measurement time window configuration, so that the measurement range can be further narrowed and the measurement overheads can be further reduced.

[0034] In some embodiments, the grid device is a first grid device, beam coverage information Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 24 / 115 10 / 65 is the first beam coverage information, and the method also includes: The first network device sends second beam coverage information from a second network device to the terminal device. Therefore, beam coverage information from a neighboring cell can be sent to the terminal device to better select an optimal beam.

[0035] In some embodiments, the second beam coverage information includes indication information, where the indication information indicates whether the second beam coverage information is the same as the first beam coverage information. Therefore, the beam coverage information of the neighboring cell can be simplified, reducing signaling overheads.

[0036] In some embodiments, beam cover information includes a parameter related to a beam scan pattern of the beam plurality. Therefore, the signaling of beam cover information is reduced.

[0037] In some embodiments, the parameter includes at least one of the following: beam plurality shape information, a number of beams on the longer side in a rectangular beam plurality coverage region, a number of beams on the shorter side in a rectangular coverage region, a number of beams per circle present when the beam scanning pattern is circular scanning, a number of beams on one side of a square present when the beam scanning pattern is square scanning, initial beam position information, a beam plurality scanning method, or a beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter of the beam plurality. Therefore, different scanning patterns can be represented by different parameters.

[0038] In some embodiments, beam coverage information includes: indication information indicating whether a change between beams in beam plurality is gradual, where Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 25 / 115 11 / 65 The gradual manner indicates a change between beams with adjacent beam numbers or between geographically adjacent beams. In this gradual manner, a second beam in the beam plurality is represented by displacement information relative to a central point of a first beam. Therefore, beam coverage information can be provided as a relative or absolute value, reducing signaling overheads.

[0039] In some modes, beam coverage information is compressed based on the mathematical correlation between beams in beam plurality. Therefore, this reduces the redundancy of beam coverage information and improves communication efficiency.

[0040] In some embodiments, the network device receives a measurement result from the radio resource management measurement of the terminal device; and the network device sends, to the terminal device based on the measurement result, an indication of beam switching completion. Therefore, the performance of the radio resource management measurement can be improved.

[0041] In some embodiments, the network device receives a random access request from the terminal device, where the random access request is transmitted on a random access occasion that corresponds to one or more beams corresponding to beam coverage. Therefore, the success rate of a random access procedure can be increased.

[0042] According to a third aspect of this application, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus includes a processor and a memory that stores instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the communication apparatus is enabled to perform any method according to any of the first and second aspects and their implementations. According to a fourth aspect of this application, a machine-readable storage medium is provided. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 26 / 115 12 / 65 computer. The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by an electronic device, the electronic device is enabled to perform any method according to either of the first aspect and the second aspect and their implementations.

[0043] According to a fifth aspect of this application, a chip is provided. The chip includes a processing circuit, configured to perform any method according to any of the first and second aspects and their implementations.

[0044] According to a sixth aspect of this application, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes instructions and, when the instructions are executed by an electronic device, the electronic device is enabled to perform any method according to either of the first and second aspects and their implementations.

[0045] It should be understood that the content described in the summary is not intended to limit the main or important features of this application or to limit the scope of this application. The following descriptions facilitate the understanding of other features of this application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] FIG. 1A is a diagram of a communication system in which one embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented; FIG. 1B is a diagram of a communication system architecture related to one aspect of the present disclosure; FIG. 1C is a transparent NTN payload transmission diagram related to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 1D is a regenerative NTN load transmission diagram related to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a signaling diagram of NTN beam measurement interaction according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 27 / 115 13 / 65 FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of beam coverage information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a diagram of another example of beam coverage information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 5 is a diagram of yet another example of beam coverage information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 6 is a diagram in which a terminal device performs initial access according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 7 is a beam projection diagram according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 8 is a diagram of a fixed scenario on earth in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented; FIG. 9 is a diagram of an earthmoving scenario in which some modalities of the present disclosure can be implemented; FIG. 10 is a beam scan diagram according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 11 is another beam scan diagram according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of a method implemented by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a method implemented by a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 14 is a simplified block diagram of an example device in a possible implementation according to an embodiment of this application; and FIG. 15 is a simplified block diagram of a Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 28 / 115 14 / 65 example device in a possible implementation according to an embodiment of this application.

[0047] In all attached drawings, identical or similar reference numbers represent identical or similar components. DESCRIPTION OF THE MODALITIES

[0048] The embodiments of this disclosure are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although some embodiments of this disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that this disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be interpreted as limited to the embodiments described in this document and, instead, these embodiments are provided for a fuller and more complete understanding of this disclosure. It should be understood that the accompanying drawings and embodiments of this disclosure are used merely as examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0049] In the descriptions of embodiments in this disclosure, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as non-exclusive inclusions, i.e., including but not limited to. The term "based on" should be understood as at least partially based on. The term "an embodiment" or "this embodiment" should be understood as at least one embodiment. The terms "first," "second," and similar terms may indicate different objects or the same object. The following may include further explicit and implicit definitions.

[0050] The embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in accordance with any appropriate communication protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols such as 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), 5th generation (5G) and future communication protocols (e.g., 6th generation (6G)), wireless local area network communication protocols such as the Institute of Electrical Engineers and Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 29 / 115 15 / 65 Electronics (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE) 802.11 and / or any other protocols currently known or developed in the future.

[0051] Technical solutions in embodiments of this disclosure are applied to a communication system that conforms to any suitable communication protocol, for example, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), an Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE) system, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) system, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, a Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000) system, a Time Division-Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access (Time Division-Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access) system,TD-SCDMA), a frequency division duplex (FDD) system, a time division duplex (TDD) system, a 5th generation (5G) system (e.g., a new radio (NR) system), and a future communication system (e.g., a 6th generation (6G) system).

[0052] For illustrative purposes, embodiments of this disclosure are described below in the context of a 5G communication system over 3GPP. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to this communication system, but may be applied to any communication system that has a similar problem, for example, a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wired communication system, or another communication system developed in the future. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 30 / 115 16 / 65

[0053] The term terminal or terminal device used in this disclosure means any terminal device that can perform wired or wireless communication with a network device or any terminal devices that can perform wired or wireless communication with each other. The terminal device may sometimes be called user equipment or UE. The terminal device may be any type of mobile terminal, fixed terminal, or portable terminal. The terminal device may be various wireless communication devices that have a wireless communication function.With the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, more devices that previously lacked communication capabilities—for example, but not limited to, household appliances, transportation tools, tool devices, service devices, and service installations—are beginning to acquire wireless communication functionality by being configured with wireless communication units to access a wireless communication network and accept remote control. Devices of this type have wireless communication functionality because they are configured with wireless communication units. Therefore, devices of this type also fall within the scope of wireless communication devices.For example, a terminal device may include a mobile phone, a cordless phone, a mobile terminal (MT), a mobile station, a mobile device, a wireless terminal, a portable device, a client, a subscription station, a portable subscription station, an Internet node, a communicator, a desktop computer, a laptop, a notebook, a tablet, a personal communication system device, a personal navigation device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless data card, a wireless modem (Modulator demodulator, Modem), a positioning device, a radio broadcast receiver, an e-book device, a gaming device, a... Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 31 / 115 17 / 65 IoT device, a vehicle-mounted device, an aircraft, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch), a terminal device on a 5G network or any terminal device on an evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), another device that can be used for communication, or any combination thereof.

[0054] The term network node or network device used in this disclosure is an entity or node that can be configured to communicate with a terminal device, for example, it may be an access network device. The access network device may be an appliance deployed in a radio access network that provides a wireless communication function to a mobile terminal. For example, the access network device may be a Radio Access Network (RAN) device. The access network device may include various types of base stations. The base station is configured to provide a wireless access service to the terminal device. Specifically, each base station corresponds to a service coverage area, and a terminal device entering the area can communicate with the base station using a radio signal to receive a radio access service provided by the base station.The service coverage areas of base stations can overlap, and a terminal device in an overlapping area can receive radio signals from a plurality of base stations. Therefore, a plurality of base stations can simultaneously provide services to the terminal device. Based on the size of the service coverage area provided, the access network device may include a macro base station to provide a macro cell, a micro base station to provide a micro cell, and a pico base station to provide a micro cell. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 32 / 115 18 / 65 provides a pico cell and a femto base station to provide a femto cell. In addition, the access network device may also include various forms of relay stations, access points, remote radio units (RRUs), radio heads (RHs), remote radio heads (RRHs), and the like. In systems using different radio access technologies, the access network device may have different names. For example, the access network device is called an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system network, a NodeB (NB) in a 3G network, and may be called a gNodeB (gNB) or NR NodeB (NR NB) in a 5G network.In some implementations, the access network device may include a satellite or an unmanned aerial vehicle platform and may be used in, for example, scenarios such as low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), or geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) / unmanned aircraft system (UAS). For ease of description, in subsequent embodiments of this disclosure, the foregoing devices that provide a wireless communication function for the mobile terminal are collectively referred to as a network device. This is not specifically limited in embodiments of this disclosure.

[0055] In a terrestrial communication system, due to movement, a terminal performs access selection and transfer between different base stations, and the determination of a status related to the transfer generally depends on mobility management. Mobility management mainly means a measurement procedure related to Radio Resource Management (RRM) and a mobility signaling procedure activated with Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 33 / 115 19 / 65 based on a measurement result. During mobility management, a base station or one side of the network delivers an RRM measurement task to the endpoint, including two basic measurement configurations: • Measurement object: specifies a frequency band for measurement, a shape of a reference signal, a position in the time domain of a reference signal to be measured, and similar elements. • Measurement report: specifies a condition to activate the measurement, a way to report a measurement result, and so on.

[0056] In an NR system, there are primarily two types of reference signals that can be used for RRM measurement: a Synchronization Signal and PBCH Block (SS / PBCH Block, SSB) and a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS). In some embodiments of this disclosure, SSB-based mobility management is primarily described. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to SSB-based mobility management, but are also applicable to CSI-RS-based mobility management or other similar mobility management solutions.

[0057] During RRM measurement, if the SSBs of two measurement cells have the same center frequency and the same subcarrier spacing, the measurement between the two cells is called intrafrequency measurement; if the SSBs of two measurement cells do not have the same center frequency or the same subcarrier spacing, the measurement between the two cells is called interfrequency measurement. For SSB-based mobility management, since SSBs are not contiguous in the time domain in most cases, when performing the measurement, the terminal does not need to continuously search and measure. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 34 / 115 20 / 65 SSBs in the time domain, but only needs to perform an operation within a time window in which these SSBs can be blocked. Therefore, a concept of SSB measurement time window (SS / PBCH Block Measurement Time Configuration, SMTC) is introduced in a measurement configuration provided by one side of the network in an NR protocol. The SMTC is configured at intervals based on a specific periodicity (minimum periodicity is 5 ms and maximum periodicity is 160 ms) in the time domain. An SMTC measurement window maintains a fixed duration (minimum duration is 1 ms and maximum duration is 5 ms). From the measurement point of view, the terminal searches for and measures SSBs only within the SMTC measurement window and considers that there is no SSB outside the SMTC. The network side configures an SMTC for each SSB measurement frequency.For intrafrequency measurement, SSBs that need to be measured in a plurality of cells are included in the SMTC, and the SMTC is delivered by one side of the service cell network to the terminal. Furthermore, for a specific cell on the SSB frequency, the network side can configure another SMTC with a shorter periodicity, but the measurement window duration of the two SMTCs needs to be consistent.

[0058] In R17, an NTN is included in the scope of the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). NTN coverage is used to further expand coverage. A satellite is used as an example. Because satellites have advantages such as being less susceptible to natural disasters or external damage, research on the use of satellites as an access network device (e.g., a base station) for a mobile communication system is ongoing, to provide communication services to regions such as oceans and forests. Unlike a terrestrial base station, a satellite has a higher speed of movement and a greater signal propagation distance, resulting in greater signal loss from the satellite used as a base station. A communication mechanism designed for a terminal device. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 35 / 115 21 / 65 and a terrestrial base station in a current mobile communication system cannot be directly applied between the terminal device and a satellite base station.

[0059] Compared to a terrestrial communication system, a satellite communication system offers a wider single satellite coverage area, greater transmission loss, and higher speed of movement. Unlike a terrestrial system that can cover a single base station service area with a maximum of 8 SSB beams (FR1) or 64 SSB beams (FR2), a satellite communication system may require hundreds or even thousands of SSB beams. For example, in a satellite communication system at an orbital altitude of 600 km, a single satellite can serve an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. To overcome the impact of path loss caused by transmission distance and ensure the quality of communication service, the satellite typically uses a large-scale antenna array to provide higher array gain. However, this also results in a narrower main beam lobe.For example, a coverage radius of a 3 dB beamwidth is only about 10 kilometers, and a coverage area is about hundreds of square kilometers. Therefore, thousands of beams are needed to implement perfect coverage of a single satellite service area using narrow beams. Furthermore, even if specific beam widening is performed to ensure a certain level of gain, hundreds of beams are still needed to achieve coverage.

[0060] In a satellite communication system, since a LEO satellite moves at high speed and the terminal may frequently transfer data between a plurality of satellites, mobility management is particularly important. A satellite has a large coverage area and a large number of beams. Many SSB beams from the satellite Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 36 / 115 22 / 65 significantly extends the time for the terminal to search for and measure SSBs in mobility management. Furthermore, since the distances between a service satellite and an adjacent satellite to the terminal are different, the delays in SSB transmission to the terminal are also different. To ensure that the SMTC can include SSB measurement from both the service satellite and the adjacent satellite, a longer measurement window needs to be configured. However, an excessively long SMTC window significantly reduces the terminal's measurement efficiency. Power consumption overheads for continuous SSB searching by the terminal increase significantly. Additionally, the overheads of the time-frequency resources occupied by the terminal for SSB measurement also increase, severely limiting the terminal's data transmission.Therefore, it is very important to design an efficient SSB-based mobility management procedure for the satellite communication system. It should be understood that the modalities of this disclosure are not limited to an SSB or satellite scenario. The satellite scenario is only one of the application scenarios, and the implementations are still applicable to the future evolution of 6G.

[0061] We describe this application in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Specific operating methods, function descriptions and the like in method embodiments may also be applied to apparatus embodiments or system embodiments.

[0062] As mentioned above, there are still some problems to be solved in measuring the beamwidth of an NTN communication system, for example, how to design an SSB measurement method for an NTN network that is applied to measuring local cells and neighboring cells, in order to implement accurate position-based measurement: - In a measurement setup in a technology Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 37 / 115 In a conventional 23 / 65 system, one side of the UE does not detect an SSB array pattern. The network-side configuration is not flexible, leading to measurement redundancy and increased overhead for UE measurement. Another problem is how to further simplify and compress the signaling to reduce the signaling overheads of an SSB measurement setup. After the UE side detects the SSB scan information, more accurate position-based measurement can be implemented. However, when the network-side SSB scan information is delivered, the signaling overheads are excessively high. How to further simplify and compress the signaling to reduce the configuration's signaling overheads is a problem to be solved.

[0063] In view of this, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method of communication. The method includes: A terminal device receives beam coverage information from a network device, where the beam coverage information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a beam plurality; the terminal device determines, from the spatial coverage of the beam plurality, the beam coverage in which the terminal device is located; and the terminal device performs radio resource management measurement based on the beam coverage.

[0064] In this way, the terminal device receives beam coverage information from the network device, to determine, based on the beam coverage information, the spatial coverage of the beam in which the terminal device is located, implementing an accurate beam measurement.

[0065] FIG. 1A is a diagram of a communication system 100 in which an embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1A, the system 100 may include a terminal device 110, a network device 120 Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 38 / 115 24 / 65 and a network device 130. The terminal device can communicate with network device 120 within range 102 of network device 120. Similarly, the terminal device can communicate with network device 130 within range 103 of network device 130. A link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 is an uplink, and a link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 is called a downlink.

[0066] It should be understood that the quantities of terminal devices and network devices shown in FIG. 1A are used only as an example. There may be more or fewer terminal devices and network devices. This is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0067] Furthermore, it should be understood that communication system 100 can be used in various scenarios. For example, an application scenario for communication system 100 includes, but is not limited to, an LTE system, a 5G system, a New Radio (NR) system, and a future communication system, such as a 6th generation mobile communication system. This is not limited to embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, it should also be understood that the above communication can conform to any appropriate communication technology and a corresponding communication standard.

[0068] FIG. 1B is a diagram of an architecture of a communication system 100 related to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1B, the communication system 100 may include at least one terminal (110a to 110g in FIG. 1B) and may also include at least one access network device (120a, 120b and 120c in FIG. 1B). The access network devices may be connected to each other by wire or wirelessly. FIG. 1B is only a diagram. The communication system may also include another network device, for example, it may also include a wireless relay device. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 39 / 115 25 / 65 wire and a wireless backhaul device. In an NTN network, a satellite can implement transparent payload transmission or regenerative payload transmission.

[0069] FIG. 1C is a transparent payload transmission diagram related to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1C, the communication system may include at least one 110f user device and may further include at least one network device, for example, a 120d satellite, an NTN 120e gateway, a 120f base station, or a 120g core network (CN). The 110f user device communicates with the 120f ground base station via a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network User (Uu) interface. The 120d satellite may implement transparent payload transmission between the 110f user device and the 120f ground base station. Satellite 120d and gateway NTN 120e can be considered as remote radio units (RMUs) of ground base station 120f to implement transparent signal forwarding.In other words, the 120d satellite only supports functions such as radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification, and the signal waveform remains unchanged. The 120d satellite's routing is transparent to the user's equipment. The 120f ground base station can communicate with the 120g core network via a Next Generation (NG) network interface and exchange, through the NG interface, Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling from the core network and UE service data.

[0070] FIG. 1D is a regenerative NTN payload transmission diagram related to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1D, the communication system may include at least one user device. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 40 / 115 26 / 65 110g and may also include at least one network device, for example, a 120h satellite, an NTN 120i gateway, a 120j base station, or a 120k core network (CN). The 120h satellite has some or all of the functions of an access network device and may be referred to as a satellite base station. The 120h satellite may provide a wireless access service and scale a radio resource to a terminal device accessing a network using the satellite base station. The satellite base station communicates with the 110g user equipment via a Uu interface. The satellite base station may communicate with the CN 120k via an NG interface, and the satellite base station and the 120k core network may exchange NAS signaling and UE service data via the NG interface. A satellite radio interface (SRI) is a feeder link between an NTN gateway and the satellite. (Fig. ...)In the 1D model, the SRI interface can be used as part of the NG interface to implement communication and interaction between the 120h satellite and the 120k core network.

[0071] FIG. 2 is a signaling diagram of NTN beam measurement interaction according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For greater clarity of the discussion without any limitation, a process 200 is discussed with reference to FIG. 1A.

[0072] In process 200, network device 120 determines 201 beam coverage information from the network device, where the beam coverage information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams, and then network device 120 sends 203 beam coverage information 202 to terminal device 110.

[0073] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include one or more of the following: a scan sequence of the spatial coverage of the beam plurality, a geographic region covered by the spatial coverage of the plurality Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 41 / 115 27 / 65 beams, a spatial filtering parameter of the spatial coverage of beam plurality or shape information of the spatial coverage of beam plurality.

[0074] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include one or more of the following: a beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter of the plurality of beams, a beam center point and / or a beam center angle of the plurality of beams, or beam coverage angle information of the plurality of beams.

[0075] In some embodiments, coverage angle information may include one or more of the following: a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto the ground, a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto a reference plane at a predetermined height, and / or a beam angle or beam width angle present when the beam is sent from the network device.

[0076] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include a parameter related to a beam sweep pattern of the beam plurality. In some embodiments, the parameter related to the beam sweep pattern may include one or more of the following: beam plurality shape information, a number of beams on the longer side in a rectangular beam plurality coverage region, a number of beams on the shorter side in a rectangular coverage region, a number of beams per circle present when the beam sweep pattern is circular sweep, a number of beams on one side of a square present when the beam sweep pattern is square sweep, initial beam position information, a beam plurality sweep mode, or a beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter of the beam plurality.

[0077] In some embodiments, the 120 network device is Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 42 / 115 28 / 65 a first network device, and the beam coverage information is the first beam coverage information. The first network device can send 205 second beam coverage information 204 from a second network device to the terminal device 110.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 2, terminal device 110 receives beam coverage information 202 from network device 120, where beam coverage information 202 is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams.

[0079] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may further determine beam coverage based on one or more of the following: a position of the terminal device, a satellite ephemeris associated with the network device, or a beam that is previously determined by the terminal device and that previously covers the terminal device.

[0080] As shown in FIG. 2, in process 200, terminal device 110 determines 211, from the spatial coverage of the plurality of beams, the beam coverage in which terminal device 110 is located.

[0081] In some embodiments, based on the determination that the parameter includes the beam coverage radius or the beam coverage diameter, terminal device 110 determines a beam to be measured based on the beam coverage radius or the beam coverage diameter. Based on the determination that the parameter does not include the beam coverage radius or the beam coverage diameter, terminal device 110 determines the beam to be measured based on a beam selected in an access procedure.

[0082] In process 200, terminal device 110 performs 213 radio resource management measurement based on beam coverage. In some embodiments, performing radio resource management measurement includes: The Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 43 / 115 29 / 65 terminal device 110 determines, based on beam coverage, a coverage beam 211 that covers the terminal device; the terminal device determines at least one beam to be measured based on a beam scan pattern of the network device and the coverage beam; and performs the radio resource management measurement based on at least one beam to be measured.

[0083] As shown in FIG. 2, network device 120 determines 215 a beam measurement time window configuration 206, where the measurement time window configuration indicates a periodicity and measurement duration for radio resource management measurement performed by terminal device 110. Then, network device 120 sends 217 the beam measurement time window configuration 206 to terminal device 110.

[0084] In some embodiments, the determination of the at least one beam to be measured includes: Terminal device 110 receives 219 a beam measurement time window configuration 206 from network device 120, where the measurement time window configuration indicates a periodicity and duration of measurement, determined by the network device, for the radio resource management measurement performed by the terminal device; and terminal device 110 determines the at least one beam to be measured based on the beam scan pattern of network device 120, the beam coverage and the beam measurement time window configuration.

[0085] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 sends 221 a measurement result 208 of the radio resource management measurement to network device 120. After receiving 223 the measurement result 208 of the radio resource management measurement from terminal device 110, network device 120 sends 225, to terminal device 110 based on measurement result 208, an indication 210 of completion of Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 44 / 115 30 / 65 beam switching. Correspondingly, terminal device 110 receives 227 indication 210 of beam switching being performed.

[0086] As shown in FIG. 2, terminal device 110 performs, based on beam coverage, random access 229 to the network device. In some embodiments, performing random access includes: Terminal device 110 determines, based on beam coverage, a coverage beam that covers terminal device 110; and terminal device 110 sends 231 a random access request 212 to network device 120 on a random access occasion corresponding to the coverage beam.

[0087] In some embodiments, the realization of random access includes: The terminal device determines a plurality of beams corresponding to the beam coverage; and the terminal device sends 231 a random access request 212 to the network device 120 on a plurality of random access occasions corresponding to the plurality of beams.

[0088] In some embodiments, if the coverage beam fails when the random access request is initiated, the terminal device obtains a new coverage beam.

[0089] In some embodiments, network device 120 receives 219 a random access request 212 from terminal device 110, where the random access request is transmitted on a random access occasion that corresponds to one or more beams corresponding to beam coverage.

[0090] In this way, the terminal device obtains beam coverage information from the network device to determine, based on the beam coverage information, the spatial coverage of the beam in which the terminal device is located, implementing an accurate radio resource management measurement. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 45 / 115 31 / 65

[0091] To understand this disclosure more fully, Modality 1 is described below with reference to FIG. 2. It should be noted that each part of the content of Modality 1 can be used independently or randomly combined with the content of another modality, and is used merely as an example, but is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Mode 1

[0092] In Mode 1, a network device provides beam coverage information, and a terminal device restores the beam coverage information, so that the terminal device can determine the beam coverage in which the terminal device is located, implementing an accurate SSB measurement. The specific steps and procedures are as follows:

[0093] Step 1: Network device 120 provides beam coverage information using broadcast information, where beam coverage information may include a coverage region of a satellite beam or may include a coverage region of a set of beams. Beam coverage information is information about the beam coverage of the network device. An SSB beam is used as an example. Beam coverage information includes a sequence of scanned SSB beams, regions covered by different scanned SSB beams, and the like. FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of beam coverage information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, a general satellite coverage diagram is a rectangle. Optionally, the coverage area of ​​each beam is also a rectangle. FIG.Figure 4 is a diagram of another example of beam coverage information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, a general satellite coverage diagram is a square. Optionally, the area of... Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 46 / 115 32 / 65 coverage of each beam is also a square. It should be understood that the coverage diagram is used only as an example, and a longer side and a shorter side of the coverage diagram are not limiting. Beam coverage information for SSB scanning can be provided using an SSB beam (an SSB beam corresponds to an SSB index) as a granularity.

[0094] Optionally, beam coverage information for SSB scanning can alternatively use a plurality of SSB beams as a granularity, i.e., use a beamset (a piece of beam coverage information corresponds to a plurality of SSB beams / SSB indices) as a granularity. For example, eight SSBs shown in FIG. 3 are a beamset group, and the 120 network device provides a large piece of beam coverage information using a beamset as a granularity. To be more specific, an SSB 0 to an SSB 7 is a beamset, and is represented by a piece of beam coverage information; and an SSB 8 to an SSB 15 is a beamset and is represented by a piece of beam coverage information. Furthermore, the coverage information of a beamset can be divided based on a positional region. FIG.Figure 5 is a diagram of yet another example of beam coverage information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, SSB beams {0, 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24} are a set of beams, and SSB beams {3, 4, 5, 14, 15, 16, 25, 26, 27} are a set of beams. The SSB beams {0, 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24} have adjacent coverage or are located in adjacent position regions, and the SSB beams {3, 4, 5, 14, 15, 16, 25, 26, 27} have adjacent coverage or are located in adjacent position regions.

[0095] The previous description is just an example. Beam coverage information may alternatively be other beam coverage information and is not limited to a beam. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 47 / 115 33 / 65 SSB.

[0096] Step 2: Terminal device 110 receives beam coverage information provided by network device 120, to restore the beam coverage status of a current service cell. For example, the terminal device can restore a coverage region diagram for each SSB of the current cell.

[0097] Network device 120 provides coverage information, a covered geographic location region, and similar information for each SSB beam on the ground. In this case, the terminal device can directly restore the specific coverage of each SSB beam based on the coverage information.

[0098] Optionally, network device 120 provides weight information for each beam or beamform sent by network device 120. Terminal device 110 needs to calculate, with reference to a satellite ephemeris and an optimum SSB (with an index of the optimum SSB) where terminal device 110 is currently located, a geographical position region covered on the ground corresponding to a corresponding beam. Terminal device 110 needs to maintain the optimum SSB where terminal device 110 is currently located. For example, the terminal device searches for an SSB in an initial access procedure and detects and maintains an optimum SSB to determine an index of the optimum SSB where terminal device is currently located.Alternatively, after access, the terminal device performs at least one round of SSB measurement, performs a round of measurement on an SSB within an SSB scan periodicity range, and selects and maintains an optimal SSB based on a measurement result.

[0099] In addition, terminal device 110 calculates precise beam information from a current service position with reference to a position of terminal device 110, a Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 48 / 115 34 / 65 beam coverage information, satellite ephemeris, current optimum SSB and similar, determines an index of a current optimum SSB, determines, based on an SSB scan pattern, an SSB index corresponding to a receiving beam to be measured, determines a precise range that needs to be measured by the terminal device 110 and performs the SSB measurement on a corresponding time-frequency resource. The SSB scan pattern includes an SSB beam scan sequence, a beam scan starting point and similar. For example, the scan is performed from 0 to 231 in ascending order along the shorter side of a rectangle. The SSB scan pattern determines a coverage sequence of the SSB beams on the ground.

[00100] When determining the precise range for SSB measurement, terminal device 110 can determine, with reference to an SMTC window configuration, an index of an SSB to be measured within an SMTC window range configured by the network device and measure the SSB at a time-frequency resource corresponding to the index of the SSB to be measured in the SMTC window. In this case, the terminal device's SSB measurement is enabled by the network device. Optionally, the terminal device may not be limited to the SMTC window configuration, and the terminal device may determine an index of an SSB to be measured from the terminal device and enable the measurement.

[00101] Step 3: Terminal device 110 reports the measurement result to the network device to assist the network device in beam switching. Terminal device 110 enables, based on the measurement result, a subsequent procedure such as cell reselection or cell transfer. Specifically, after terminal device 110 reports the measurement result to the network device, if the current optimal SSB of terminal device 110 changes, network device 120 can subsequently determine a subsequent beam scaling for terminal device 110 with Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 49 / 115 35 / 65 based on an updated optimal SSB. If terminal device 110 detects, through measurement, that the SSB signal quality of an adjacent satellite is better, terminal device 110 subsequently performs a cell reselection or cell transfer procedure based on a measured optimal SSB of the adjacent satellite. Additionally, the terminal device can initiate an initial access procedure from the adjacent satellite based on the adjacent satellite's optimal SSB, initiate random access, and so on.

[00102] Beam coverage information can be carried in the broadcast information sent by the network device, for example, a System Information Block 1 (SIB1), a System Information Block 19 (SIB19), or RRC signaling.

[00103] Beam coverage information can be delivered as a list in a sequence of SSB indices. For example: BeamCoverageInfo:: = SEQUENCE { beamindex SSB-Index or Beam-Index coverageinfo CoverageInfo}

[00104] Coverage information can be used in SSB measurement in an idle state and in a connected state, and is used to determine an accurate index of the SSB to be measured.

[00105] Optionally, coverage information can be used alternatively in the initial access procedure and is used to assist the terminal device in better selecting a Random Access Channel Occasion (RO) resource to send a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). For example, this can resolve a problem where, due to an inaccurate optimal SSB maintained by the UE, a PRACH sent on an RO resource corresponding to the SSB cannot be successfully received by the network device. Specifically, in an initial access procedure, the UE Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 50 / 115 36 / 65 receives an SSB, selects an optimal SSB, and receives system information based on the SSB. The terminal device obtains beam coverage information from a cell and / or a neighboring cell from the received system information. Based on the beam coverage information, the terminal device can restore an SSB scan pattern and a region covered by an SSB beam. With reference to the UE's position and ephemeris information, the UE can learn more accurately about the UE's SSB beam range. This can help in selecting an RO resource to send uplink random access and improve initial access performance.

[00106] For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in an initial access procedure, the UE is located on the edges of an SSB #15 and an SSB #26, and an optimal SSB that can be measured by the UE is SSB #26. However, as a satellite moves, the optimal SSB coverage must be SSB#15 when the UE needs to send random access. If the UE does not obtain beam coverage information, the UE sends an uplink random access request on an RO resource corresponding to SSB #26. Since a service is actually provided by SSB #15, the access fails. Optionally, with reference to beam coverage information, the terminal device can learn, based on the satellite ephemeris and the current GNSS position of the terminal device, that a currently serviced SSB beam is SSB #15.In this case, the terminal device changes a selected RO resource to send the PRACH and sends the PRACH on a corresponding RO resource to SSB #15, ensuring a random access procedure for the UE.

[00107] Optionally, after determining the UE's SSB beam reach based on beam coverage information, the UE can send a random access request to RO resources corresponding to a plurality of SSBs, further improving access performance. For example, the UE can Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 51 / 115 37 / 65 determine, based on the SSB scan pattern, that the UE's SSB beam range includes {SSB#3, SSB#4, SSB#5, SSB#14, SSB#15, SSB#16, SSB#25, SSB#26, SSB#27}, and the UE can send PRACH on the RO resources corresponding to the plurality of SSB beams, improving access performance.

[00108] Optionally, a valid time T (a validity period T) of the SSB is defined, i.e., it is specified that a time difference between an RO selected by the UE and the valid time of the SSB is less than or equal to T. The optimal SSB measured by the UE and the RO used by the UE to send the PRACH need to meet the validity period T constraint. If the validity period T expires, the UE needs to continue measuring and maintaining an optimal SSB, increasing the UE's access success rate. With the valid time constraint, this prevents the UE from selecting an incorrect RO to send the PRACH due to a change in the optimal SSB and therefore prevents an access failure caused by the PRACH sent on the RO not being successfully received by the network device.

[00109] Optionally, the solution in this mode can also be applied to adjacent satellite measurement.

[00110] Optionally, the network device can provide beam coverage information from the adjacent satellite. A specific delivery method and signal carrier can be the same as the beam coverage information delivered by a service satellite.

[00111] In addition, simplification of the adjacent satellite beam coverage information can be considered. For example, a one-bit BeamCoverageSame is added to indicate whether the service satellite beam coverage information and the adjacent satellite beam coverage information are the same. If the service satellite beam coverage information and the adjacent satellite beam coverage information are the same, the value will be 1. If the service satellite beam coverage information and the adjacent satellite beam coverage information are the same, the value will be 2. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 52 / 115 If the beam coverage of the adjacent satellite (38 / 65) is different, the value will be 0.

[00112] In this mode, the network device provides the beam coverage information, and the terminal device restores the beam coverage information, so that the terminal device can determine the beam coverage in which the terminal device is located, implementing an accurate SSB measurement.

[00113] To understand this disclosure more thoroughly and completely, Modality 2 is described below with reference to FIG. 2. It should be noted that each part of the content of Modality 2 can be used independently or randomly combined with the content of another modality, and is used merely as an example, but is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Mode 2

[00114] This embodiment further defines, based on Embodiment 1, a specific way in which a network device provides beam coverage information. In this embodiment, the grid device provides a parameter such as a beam coverage radius R or a beam coverage diameter D, or a beam center point C(x, y) to represent the beam coverage information, so that a terminal device is enabled to obtain the beam coverage information based on the parameter provided.

[00115] The steps and procedures in this mode and in Mode 3 are the same as those in Mode 1. One application scenario and one additional extension in Mode 1 are applicable to Mode 2 and Mode 3. In Mode 2 and Mode 3, only one specific parameter contained in the beam coverage information is extended.

[00116] Step 1: The 120 network device provides a beam radius R, or a beam diameter D, and a center point of Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 53 / 115 39 / 65 beam C using broadcast information.

[00117] Step 2: Terminal device 110 determines beam coverage information (a beam coverage area) based on R or D and C, calculates precise beam information for a current service position based on the position of terminal device 110 and a satellite ephemeris, determines a service SSB beam and / or an SSB beam to be measured, and performs the SSB measurement on a corresponding time-frequency resource. Optionally, the precise SSB measurement can be performed on a corresponding time-frequency resource within a measurement window configured in an SMTC window.

[00118] Step 3: Terminal device 110 reports a measurement result to the network device to assist the network device in beam switching. Terminal device 110 enables, based on the measurement result, a subsequent procedure such as cell reselection or cell transfer. Specifically, after terminal device 110 reports the measurement result to network device 120, if a current optimal SSB of terminal device 110 changes, network device 120 can subsequently determine a subsequent beam scaling for terminal device 110 based on an updated optimal SSB. If terminal device 110 detects, through measurement, that the SSB signal quality of an adjacent satellite is better, terminal device 110 subsequently performs a cell reselection or cell transfer procedure based on a measured optimal SSB of the adjacent satellite.Furthermore, the terminal device can initiate an initial access procedure to the adjacent satellite based on the adjacent satellite's optimal SSB, initiate random access, and so on.

[00119] The beam center point is a position where the beam is projected onto the ground in a beam center direction. FIG. 7 is a beam projection diagram according to some Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 54 / 115 40 / 65 modalities of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, a beam center angle Θ means that an included angle between the beam center point and the vertical ground is Θ. The beam width is determined based on a point where the gain decreases by x dB (e.g., points A and B), starting from the beam center point (a point of a signal with the highest received reference signal power). A beam width angle is [Θ+α1, Θ-α2]. x dB can be defined based on a real-world situation, and can commonly be 3 dB, i.e., the beam width or beam coverage is determined based on a point where a gain decreases by 3 dB from the beam center point.

[00120] Optionally, the beam radius R, or beam diameter D, and beam center point C provided by the grid device can directly indicate beam coverage information of the beam projected onto the ground using the ground as a reference. Optionally, the beam coverage radius R or beam diameter D and beam center point C delivered by the grid device can be beam coverage information present when the beam sent by the grid device is projected at a height h from a reference point. The terminal device needs to calculate, based on the height h of the reference point, the coverage information, the satellite position, the terminal device position, and similar factors, a coverage area of ​​the beam projected onto the ground.

[00121] Optionally, a way of providing the beam radius R, or the beam diameter D, and the beam center point C in this embodiment can be applied to an Earth-Fixed scenario. FIG. 8 is a diagram of an Earth-Fixed scenario in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 8, the Earth-Fixed scenario means that the ground is fixed. To be more specific, as a satellite moves, the number of beams covering the same region on the ground remains unchanged, and the weights of the Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 55 / 115 41 / 65 corresponding beams change.

[00122] Compared to conventional technology, this embodiment further defines, based on Embodiment 1, a specific way in which the grid device provides beam coverage information. In this embodiment, the grid device provides a parameter such as beam coverage radius R or beam coverage diameter D, or beam center point C(x, y) to represent beam coverage information, so that the terminal device is enabled to obtain beam coverage information based on the parameter provided.

[00123] To understand this disclosure more thoroughly and completely, Modality 3 is described below with reference to FIG. 2. It should be noted that each part of the content of Modality 3 can be used independently or randomly combined with the content of another modality, and is used merely as an example, but is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Mode 3

[00124] Both this mode and Mode 2 are more detailed based on the beam cover information in Mode 1. In this mode, a network device provides beam cover angle information used to represent beam cover information, so that a terminal device is enabled to obtain beam cover information based on a provided parameter.

[00125] The steps and procedures in this mode and in Mode 2 are the same as those in Mode 1. One application scenario and one additional extension in Mode 1 are applicable to Mode 2 and Mode 3. In Mode 2 and Mode 3, only one specific parameter contained in the beam coverage information is extended.

[00126] Step 1: Network device 120 provides information Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 56 / 115 42 / 65 beam coverage angle using broadcast information.

[00127] Step 2: Terminal device 110 determines beam coverage information (a beam coverage area) based on angle information and a satellite ephemeris, calculates precise beam information from a current service position based on a terminal device 110 position, determines a service SSB beam and / or a beam to be measured, and performs the SSB measurement at a corresponding time-frequency resource position. Optionally, after the SSB beam to be measured is determined, a precise SSB measurement can be performed at a corresponding time-frequency resource in a measurement window configured in an SMTC window.

[00128] Step 3: Terminal device 110 reports a measurement result to network device 120 to assist network device 120 in beam switching. Terminal device 110 enables, based on the measurement result, a subsequent procedure such as cell reselection or cell transfer. Specifically, after terminal device 110 reports the measurement result to network device 120, if a current optimal SSB of terminal device 110 changes, the network device can subsequently determine a subsequent beam scaling for terminal device 110 based on an updated optimal SSB. If terminal device 110 detects, through measurement, that the SSB signal quality of an adjacent satellite is better, terminal device 110 subsequently performs a cell reselection or cell transfer procedure based on a measured optimal SSB of the adjacent satellite.Furthermore, the terminal device can initiate an initial access procedure to the adjacent satellite based on the adjacent satellite's optimal SSB, initiate random access, and so on.

[00129] Optionally, one way to provide beam coverage angle information in this mode could be Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 57 / 115 43 / 65 applied to an Earth-Moving scenario. The Earth-Moving scenario means that a satellite moves. To be more specific, as the satellite moves, the number of beams covering the same region on the ground changes, and the weights of the corresponding beams from the network device remain unchanged. FIG. 9 is a diagram of an Earth-Moving scenario in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[00130] Optionally, the beam coverage angle provided by the network device can directly indicate a beam coverage angle of a beam projected onto the ground using the ground as a reference, for example, α0, α1, and α2 as shown in FIG. 9.

[00131] Optionally, the beam coverage angle provided by the network device can be beam coverage angles of beams sent by the network device that are projected to the height h of the reference point: α0, α1, and α2. The terminal device needs to calculate, based on the height h of the reference point, the coverage information, the satellite position, the terminal device position, and the like, a beam coverage area projected onto the ground.

[00132] Optionally, the beam coverage angle provided by the network device can be beam angles sent by the network device: β1 and β2. The terminal device needs to calculate, based on the beam coverage angle information, the satellite position, the terminal device position, and similar factors, a beam coverage area of ​​the beam projected onto the ground.

[00133] In this embodiment, beam cover angle information is used to represent beam cover information, and the terminal device can obtain beam cover information based on the information provided, to determine a beam to be measured with reference to the ephemeris of Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 58 / 115 44 / 65 satellite and the terminal device position, to perform an accurate SSB measurement.

[00134] To understand this disclosure more thoroughly and completely, Modality 4 is described below with reference to FIG. 2. It should be noted that each part of the content of Modality 4 can be used independently or randomly combined with the content of another modality, and is used merely as an example, but is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Mode 4

[00135] In this mode, how to reduce the overhead of signaling information transmission with reference to a beam sweep pattern is considered in more detail based on Mode 1, Mode 2 and Mode 3.

[00136] In this mode, there is a limited number of beam sweep patterns and / or a beam sweep pattern is predefined. The beam sweep pattern can have different shapes, such as a circle, a rectangle, a square, an ellipse, or an irregular shape. When broadcast signaling overheads are reduced with reference to the beam sweep pattern, a specific beam coverage shape needs to be predefined or indicated.

[00137] Optionally, a rectangular beam coverage format is used as an example. As shown in FIG. 10, a general satellite coverage diagram is a rectangle. Optionally, the coverage area of ​​each beam is also a rectangle.

[00138] With reference to a scanning pattern shown in the figure, optionally, a 120 grid device can provide a quantity X (X=22) of beams from the longer side, a radius R1 of a beam from the longer side, a quantity Y (Y=11) of beams from the shorter side, and a radius R2 of a beam from the shorter side.

[00139] Optionally, the 120 network device can Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 59 / 115 45 / 65 provide a beam scan mode. For example, the 120 network device predefines that a list of scan ways is {starting along a longer side, starting along a shorter side} and / or {sequential numbering, serpentine numbering}, and indicates one of the ways using a bit. For example, starting along a longer side indicates that the beam / SSB indices are counted / numbered along the longer side. Starting along a shorter side indicates that the beam / SSB indices are numbered along the shorter side. As shown in FIG. 10, the beam / SSB indices are numbered from 0 to 10 along the shorter side. Sequential numbering indicates that the minimum beam numbers of all columns (with reference to the start along a shorter side) / rows (with reference to the start along a longer side) are in the same direction.For example, the minimum values ​​0, 11, 22, 33, 44, 66, 77, 88, 99, 110, 121, 132, 143, 154, 165, 176, 187, 198, 209, 220, and 231 of all columns are on a lower edge of the beam coverage, and the beam numbers are arranged in ascending order from the lower edge to the upper edge of a coverage area. Serpentine numbering indicates that the beam numbers of all columns (with reference to the start along a shorter side) / rows (with reference to the start along a longer side) are consecutive. For example, in the first column, the beam numbers go from 0 to 10, from bottom to top; And in the second column, the bundle numbers go from 21 to 11, from bottom to top (that is, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21, from top to bottom).

[00140] Optionally, a square beam coverage format is used as an example. As shown in FIG. 11, a general satellite coverage diagram is a square. Optionally, the coverage area of ​​each beam is also a square. A longer or shorter side can be any side. A beam scan pattern is a quantity of beams in a Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 60 / 115 46 / 65 side of a square for square sweep.

[00141] Optionally, the network device 120 can provide a quantity M of beams on one side and a beam radius R3. As shown in the figure, M=16, and the actual value of M is not limited.

[00142] Optionally, the 120 network device can provide a beam scan mode. For example, the 120 network device predefines that a list of scan ways is {starting along a longer side, starting along a shorter side} and / or {sequential numbering, serpentine numbering}, and indicates one of the ways using a bit. For example, starting along a longer side indicates that the beam / SSB indices are counted / numbered along the longer side. Starting along a shorter side indicates that the beam / SSB indices are numbered along the shorter side. The longer side or the shorter side can be either side. As shown in FIG. 11, the beam / SSB indices are numbered from 0 to 15 along one side. Sequential numbering indicates that the minimum number of beams from all columns / rows is in the same direction.For example, the minimum values ​​0, 16, 32, 48, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160, 176, 192, 208, 224, and 240 of all columns are on a lower edge of the beam coverage, and the beam numbers are arranged in ascending order from the lower edge to the upper edge of a coverage area. Serpentine numbering indicates that the beam numbers of all columns / rows are consecutive. For example, in the first column, the beam numbers go from 0 to 15, from bottom to top; And in the second column, the bundle numbers go from 31 to 16, from bottom to top (that is, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31, from top to bottom).

[00143] Optionally, the grid device 120 provides a starting position of a numbered beam 0. For example, a position Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 61 / 115 47 / 65 of an SSB #0 can be represented by an offset relative to a nadir. The initial position of the numbered beam 0 can be a specific position or a relative position, for example, a lower left corner, an upper left corner, an upper right corner, or a lower right corner of a rectangular pattern.

[00144] Step 1: The 120 network device provides a related parameter based on a beam scan pattern. Optionally, rectangular coverage is used as an example. The related parameter includes at least one or more of the following: an X number of beams on the longer side, a Y number of beams on the shorter side, the position of SSB #0, and a scan method (numbering along the longer side or the shorter side and / or sequential numbering or serpentine numbering). Additionally, there are the following methods depending on whether the beam radius is included: • Method 1: If the provided parameter includes the beam radius, a 110 terminal device can fully restore coverage status and deduce an SSB to be measured more accurately based on the current SSB beam range. • Method 2: If the delivered parameter does not include the beam radius, the terminal device 110 can deduce a surrounding SSB index based on an SSB selected in an access process as an anchor, to perform the SSB measurement.

[00145] Step 2: Terminal device 110 determines, based on the information provided, a number of surrounding beams that need to be measured, for example, one circle or two circles.

[00146] Step 3: Terminal device 110 reports a measurement result to network device 120 to assist network device 120 in beam switching. Terminal device 110 then enables, based on the measurement result, a subsequent procedure such as cell re-selection or cell transfer. Specifically, after the device Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 62 / 115 48 / 65 terminal 110 reports the measurement result to the network device. If the current optimum SSB of terminal device 110 changes, network device 120 can subsequently determine a subsequent scaling beam for terminal device 110 based on an updated optimum SSB. If terminal device 110 detects, through measurement, that the SSB signal quality of an adjacent satellite is better, terminal device 110 subsequently performs a cell reselection or cell transfer procedure based on a measured optimum SSB of the adjacent satellite. Furthermore, the terminal device can initiate an initial access procedure from the adjacent satellite based on the adjacent satellite's optimum SSB, initiate random access, and so on.

[00147] Optionally, different representation parameters need to be delivered for different scanning patterns. For rectangular scanning, the quantity X of beams on the longer side, the quantity Y of beams on the shorter side, a radius R1 of a beam on the longer side, a radius R2 of a beam on the shorter side, and the like can be used. For circular scanning, a quantity Z of beams per circle can be used. For square scanning, a quantity M of beams can be used on one side of a square.

[00148] In this mode, the overheads of broadcast information signaling are reduced with reference to the beam sweep pattern, so that low overhead beam coverage information can be delivered, and implementation overheads are reduced.

[00149] To understand the present disclosure more thoroughly and completely, Modality 5 is described below with reference to FIG. 2. It should be noted that each part of the content of Modality 5 can be used independently or randomly combined with the content of another modality, and is used merely as an example, but is not intended to limit the scope of Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 63 / 115 49 / 65 protection of this disclosure. Mode 5

[00150] In both this mode and Mode 4, the method for reducing broadcast signaling overheads is considered based on Mode 1, Mode 2, and Mode 3.

[00151] In this mode, beam correlation is considered based on Mode 4, to reduce broadcast signaling overheads. Specifically, the solutions may be as follows: Solution 1: A 120 network device determines a gradual or hopping manner of an SSB beam based on a scan pattern, to indicate beam coverage information. Two different methods are defined. The gradual manner means that the weights of adjacent beams are similar, and only relative information needs to be delivered, but not all information needs to be delivered. For example, beams with SSB indices from 0 to 7 are gradual and only relative information needs to be delivered. For example, only a base center point position a and an offset value coefficient b are delivered in beams with SSB indices from 0 to 7, and finally, a beam center point is restored for a beam=f(x)=a+bx. a can be a base beam, and the offset value b can be a variation characteristic.

[00152] Hopping mode means that adjacent beams are discontinuous, beam numbers change abruptly instead of remaining sequential, and absolute information delivery needs to be considered. When coverage regions corresponding to beams with adjacent beam numbers are not adjacent, absolute information needs to be delivered. For example, if the beam coverage between SSB indices is 10 and 11 hops, absolute beam coverage information needs to be delivered. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 64 / 115 50 / 65

[00153] Solution 2: Compress, using beam similarity, a quantity of bits that need to be occupied by beam cover information.

[00154] Specifically, in Method 1, beam similarity is considered, and the beam information of a plurality of beams is represented using a beam 1 and a characteristic parameter.

[00155] Optionally, in Method 2, the network device compacts and extracts characteristic quantities using artificial intelligence (AI), and a terminal device restores the beam information before compaction.

[00156] In this mode, a number of bits required for beam coverage information is further simplified by using correlation between adjacent beams with reference to a scan pattern and the correlation between adjacent beams, to reduce signaling overheads, so that low overhead beam coverage information is enabled to be delivered and implementation overheads are reduced. Compared to a conventional technology, in this mode, first, the network device provides the beam coverage information; second, when providing the beam coverage information, the grid device defines in detail, with reference to the scan pattern and the correlation between adjacent beams, a parameter delivered for the simplified beam coverage information by using the correlation between adjacent beams.For example, the base beam and a variation represent adjacent beams, and the absolute information represents a jump beam. Furthermore, a neural network / machine learning algorithm like AI can be used to extract a characteristic quantity from the beam cover information and represent and restore that characteristic quantity.

[00157] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method 1200 Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 65 / 115 51 / 65 implemented by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For clarity of discussion without any limitation, a process 1300 is discussed with reference to FIG. 1A. In one possible implementation, method 1200 can be implemented by terminal device 110 in communication system 100. In another possible implementation, method 1200 can alternatively be implemented by another communication device independent of communication system 100. For example, the following describes method 1200 using an example in which method 1200 is implemented by terminal device 110 in communication system 100.

[00158] In block 1210, terminal device 110 receives beam coverage information from a network device, where the beam coverage information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams. In block 1220, terminal device 110 determines, from the spatial coverage of the plurality of beams, the beam coverage in which terminal device 110 is located. In block 1230, terminal device 110 performs radio resource management measurement based on beam coverage.

[00159] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include one or more of the following: a beam plurality spatial coverage scan sequence, a geographic region covered by the beam plurality spatial coverage, a beam plurality spatial filtering parameter, or beam plurality spatial coverage shape information.

[00160] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include: a beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter of the plurality of beams, a beam center point and / or a beam center angle of the plurality of beams, or beam coverage angle information of the plurality of beams. In some embodiments, the beam coverage radius or Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, p. 66 / 115 52 / 65 the beam coverage diameter, and the beam center point, and / or the beam center angle can be determined with reference to the ground or to a reference plane at a predetermined height.

[00161] In some embodiments, coverage angle information may include one or more of the following: a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto the ground, a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto a reference plane at a predetermined height, or a beam angle present when the beam is sent from the network device.

[00162] In some embodiments, the terminal device may further determine beam coverage based on one or more of the following: a position of the terminal device, a satellite ephemeris associated with the network device, or a beam that is previously determined by the terminal device and that previously covers the terminal device.

[00163] In some embodiments, performing radio resource management measurement may include: The terminal device determines, based on beam coverage, a coverage beam that covers the terminal device; the terminal device determines at least one beam to be measured based on a beam scan pattern of the network device and the coverage beam; and performs radio resource management measurement based on at least one beam to be measured.

[00164] In some embodiments, the determination of at least one beam to be measured may include: The terminal device receives a beam measurement time window configuration from the network device, where the measurement time window configuration indicates a measurement periodicity and duration, determined by the network device, for the radio resource management measurement performed by the terminal device; and the terminal device determines at least one beam to be measured based on the beam scan pattern of the Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 67 / 115 53 / 65 network device, in the coverage beam and beam measurement time window configuration.

[00165] In some embodiments, the network device may be a first network device 120, the beam coverage information may be the first beam coverage information, and the method further includes: The terminal device receives second beam coverage information from a second network device 130 from the first network device. In some embodiments, the second beam coverage information may include indication information, where the indication information indicates whether the second beam coverage information is the same as the first beam coverage information.

[00166] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include a parameter related to a beam plurality sweep pattern. In some embodiments, the parameter may include one or more of the following: beam plurality shape information, a number of beams on the longer side in a rectangular beam plurality coverage region, a number of beams on the shorter side in a rectangular coverage region, a number of beams per circle present when the beam sweep pattern is circular sweep, initial beam position information, a beam plurality sweep mode, or a beam coverage radius or beam plurality coverage diameter.

[00167] In some embodiments, based on the determination that the parameter includes the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, the terminal device determines a beam to be measured based on the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter. Based on the determination that the parameter does not include the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, the terminal device determines the beam to be measured based on a beam selected in a procedure. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 68 / 115 54 / 65 access.

[00168] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include: indication information indicating whether a change between beams in the beam plurality is gradual, where gradual indicates a change between beams with adjacent beam numbers or between geographically adjacent beams. In this gradual manner, a second beam in the beam plurality is represented by displacement information relative to a central point of a first beam. In some embodiments, beam coverage information may be compacted based on mathematical cross-correlation between beams in the beam plurality.

[00169] In some embodiments, the terminal device can send a measurement result of the radio resource management measurement to the network device. In some embodiments, the terminal device can perform random access to the network device based on beam coverage.

[00170] In some embodiments, the implementation of random access may include: The terminal device determines, based on beam coverage, a coverage beam that covers the terminal device; and the terminal device sends a random access request to the network device on a random access occasion corresponding to the coverage beam. In some embodiments, the implementation of random access may include: The terminal device determines a plurality of beams corresponding to the beam coverage; and the terminal device sends a random access request to the network device on a plurality of random access occasions corresponding to the plurality of beams. In some embodiments, if the coverage beam fails when the random access request is initiated, the terminal device may obtain a new coverage beam.

[00171] Thus, a beam measurement method is Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 69 / 115 55 / 65 is designed for an NTN network and is applied to the measurement of local and neighboring cells, to implement precise position-based measurement. Furthermore, the signaling is further simplified and compacted to reduce the signaling overhead of a beam measurement configuration.

[00172] FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a method 1300 implemented by a network device 120 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For clarity of discussion without any limitation, the process 1300 is discussed with reference to FIG. 1A. In one possible implementation, the method 1300 can be implemented by the network device 120 in the communication system 100. In another possible implementation, the method 1300 can alternatively be implemented by another communication device independent of the communication system 100. For example, the method 1300 is described below using an example in which the method 1300 is implemented by the network device 120 in the communication system 100.

[00173] In block 1310, grid device 120 determines beam cover information from grid device 120, where beam cover information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams. In block 1320, grid device 120 sends the beam cover information to a terminal device 110.

[00174] In some embodiments, beam coverage information includes one or more of the following: a beam plurality spatial coverage scan sequence, a geographic region covered by the beam plurality spatial coverage, a beam plurality spatial filtering parameter, or beam plurality spatial coverage shape information.

[00175] In some embodiments, beam cover information may include one or more of the following: a beam cover radius or a beam cover diameter of the plurality of Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 70-115 56 / 65 beams, a beam center point and / or a beam center angle of the plurality of beams, or beam coverage angle information of the plurality of beams. In some embodiments, the beam coverage radius or beam coverage diameter, and the beam center point, and / or the beam center angle are determined with reference to the ground or to a reference plane at a predetermined height.

[00176] In some embodiments, the beam coverage angle information includes one or more of the following: a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto the ground, a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto a reference plane at a predetermined height, or a beam angle present when the beam is sent from the network device. In some embodiments, in the beam coverage information, one of the plurality of beams or at least two of the plurality of beams may be used as a granularity for arrangement.

[00177] In some embodiments, the network device may determine a beam measurement time window configuration, where the measurement time window configuration indicates a periodicity and duration of measurement for radio resource management measurement performed by the terminal device. Additionally, the network device may send the beam measurement time window configuration to the terminal device.

[00178] In some embodiments, the grid device may be a first 120 grid device, and the beam coverage information is the first beam coverage information. The first grid device may send second beam coverage information from a second 130 grid device to the terminal device. In some embodiments, the second beam coverage information may include indication information, where the indication information indicates whether the second beam coverage information is the same as the first. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 71 / 115 57 / 65 beam coverage information.

[00179] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include a parameter related to a beam plurality sweep pattern. In some embodiments, the parameter includes one or more of the following: beam plurality shape information, a number of beams on the longer side in a rectangular beam plurality coverage region, a number of beams on the shorter side in a rectangular coverage region, a number of beams per circle present when the beam sweep pattern is circular sweep, initial beam position information, a beam plurality sweep mode, or a beam coverage radius or beam plurality coverage diameter.

[00180] In some embodiments, beam coverage information may include: indication information indicating whether a change between beams in the beam plurality is gradual, where gradual indicates a change between beams with adjacent beam numbers or between geographically adjacent beams. In this gradual manner, a second beam in the beam plurality is represented by displacement information relative to a central point of a first beam. In some embodiments, beam coverage information may be compacted based on the mathematical correlation between beams in the beam plurality.

[00181] In some embodiments, the network device may receive a measurement result from the radio resource management measurement of the terminal device; and the network device may send, to the terminal device based on the measurement result, an indication of beam switching completion.

[00182] In some embodiments, the network device may receive a random access request from the terminal device, where the random access request is transmitted. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 72 / 115 58 / 65 on a random access occasion that corresponds to one or more beams corresponding to beam coverage.

[00183] Thus, a beam measurement method is designed for an NTN network that is applied to the measurement of local cells and neighboring cells, to implement a precise position-based measurement. In addition, the signaling is further simplified and compacted to reduce the signaling overheads of a beam measurement setup.

[00184] FIG. 14 is a diagram of a possible communication device structure according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device can implement functions of the terminal device or the network device in the previous method embodiments. Therefore, the beneficial effects of the previous method embodiments can also be implemented. In this embodiment of this application, the communication device can be the terminal device 110, the network device 120, or the network device 130 shown in FIG. 1, or a module (e.g., a chip) used in the terminal device 110, the network device 120, or the network device 130.

[00185] As shown in FIG. 14, the communication apparatus 1400 includes a processing unit 1410, a receiving unit 1420, and a sending unit 1430. The communication apparatus can be configured to implement the functions of the terminal apparatus or the network apparatus in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 12, or FIG. 13. In some embodiments, the processing unit can be a processor, the sending unit can be a transmitter, and the receiving unit can be a receiver.

[00186] As shown in FIG. 15, a communication device 1500 includes a processor 1510 and an interface circuit 1520. The processor 1510 and the interface circuit 1520 are coupled to each other. This can be understood to mean that the interface circuit 1520 can be a transceiver or a Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 73 / 115 59 / 65 input / output interface. Optionally, the 1500 communication device may also include a 1530 memory configured to store instructions executed by the 1510 processor, store input data that the 1510 processor needs to run the instructions, or store data generated after the 1510 processor runs the instructions.

[00187] When the communication device 1500 is configured to implement the methods in the previous method modalities, the processor 1510 is configured to perform a function of the processing unit 1410, and the interface circuit 1520 is configured to perform functions of the receiver unit 1420 and the transmitter unit 1430.

[00188] When the communication device is a chip used in terminal device 110, network device 120 and network device 130, the chip in the device implements functions of terminal device 110, network device 120 and network device 130 in the embodiments of the previous method. The chip in the device receives information from another module (for example, a radio frequency module or an antenna) in terminal device 110, network device 120, and network device 130. The information can be sent by another terminal device 110, network device 120, and network device 130. Alternatively, the chip in the terminal device sends information to another module (for example, a radio frequency module or an antenna) in terminal device 110, network device 120, and network device 130, where the information is sent to another terminal device 110, network device 120, and network device 130.

[00189] It may be understood that the processor in embodiments of this application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or it may be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), or an application-specific integrated circuit. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 74 / 115 A 60 / 65 (application-specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[00190] One embodiment of this application provides a communication system. The communication system may include the communication apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, for example, terminal device 110, network device 120, and network device 130. Optionally, terminal device 110, network device 120, and network device 130 in the communication system may perform the communication method shown in any of FIG. 2, FIG. 12, and FIG. 13.

[00191] One embodiment of this application additionally provides a circuit. The circuit may be coupled to a memory and may be configured to perform a procedure related to terminal device 110, network device 120, and network device 130 in any of the embodiments of the preceding method. A chip system may include a chip and may also include another component, such as a memory or a transceiver.

[00192] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of this application may be a CPU, or it may be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or the like. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, any conventional processor, or similar. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 75 / 115 61 / 65

[00193] It may be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of this application 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 (EPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), used as an external cache.By way of example, but not as a limiting description, many forms of RAM can be used, for example, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchlink dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus dynamic random access memory (DR RAM).

[00194] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate, a transistor logic device or a discrete hardware component, the memory (a storage module) is integrated into the processor.

[00195] It should be noted that the memory described in this descriptive report aims to include, but is not limited to, these memories and any other appropriate type of memory.

[00196] It should be understood that sequence numbers from previous processes do not signify execution sequences in Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 76 / 115 62 / 65 various modalities of this request. The execution sequences of the processes must be determined according to the functions and internal logic of the processes and should not be interpreted as any limitation to the implementation processes of modalities of this request.

[00197] A person with ordinary knowledge of the art may be aware that, in combination with the examples described in embodiments disclosed in this descriptive report, algorithm modules and steps may be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on particular applications and design constraints of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but it should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond the scope of this application.

[00198] It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, for the sake of convenient and brief description, for a detailed working process of the preceding system, apparatus and module, refer to a corresponding process in the preceding method embodiments, and the details are not described here again.

[00199] In the various embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the communication methods and devices may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiment described is only one example. For example, module division is merely a logical division of function and may be another division during actual implementation. For example, a plurality of modules or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. Furthermore, the mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections shown or discussed may be implemented using some interfaces. The Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 77 / 115 63 / 65 Indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units can be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[00200] The modules described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and the parts displayed as modules may or may not be physical modules; they may be located in one position or may be distributed across a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on the actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the modal solutions.

[00201] In addition, the functional modules in the modalities of this application may be integrated into a processing module, or each of the modules may exist physically on its own, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module.

[00202] When functions are implemented in the form of a functional software module and sold or used as a standalone product, the functions may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of this application essentially, or the part that contributes to the conventional technology, or some of the technical solutions, may be implemented in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored on a storage medium and includes various instructions to instruct a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to perform all or some of the steps of the methods described in embodiments of this application. The foregoing computer-readable storage medium may be any usable medium that can be accessed by a computer.The following is an example, but it does not impose a limitation: Computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), and electrically programmable and erasable read-only memory. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 78 / 115 64 / 65 (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a universal serial bus flash disk, a removable hard disk or other optical disk storage or disk storage medium, or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can carry or store expected program code in the form of an instruction or a data structure and can be accessed by a computer.

[00203] As used in this descriptive report, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as non-exclusive inclusions, i.e., including but not limited to. The term "based on" should be understood as at least partially based on. The term "a modality" or "this modality" should be understood as at least one modality. Terms such as "first," "second," and similar terms may indicate different objects or the same object, and are used only to distinguish between specified objects, but do not imply a specific spatial order, a temporal order, an order of importance, or anything similar of the specified objects. In some modalities, a value, a process, a selected item, a determined item, a device, an apparatus, a means, a part, a component, or similar is referred to as optimal, smallest, largest, minimum, maximum, or similar.It should be understood that such a description is intended to indicate that a selection can be made from among many available functional selections and that such a selection need not be better, inferior, superior, smaller, larger, or otherwise preferred than other selections in other respects or in all respects. As used in this descriptive report, the term determination can encompass a variety of actions. For example, determining can include operation, calculation, processing, export, investigation, research (e.g.,...). Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, page 79 / 115 65 / 65 example, searching in a table, database, or other data structure), discovery, and similar actions. Furthermore, determining can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and similar actions. Additionally, determining can include analysis, selection, choice, establishment, and similar actions.

[00204] The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application. Any variation or substitution that a person skilled in the art can readily discover within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of this application will fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application may be subject to the scope of protection of the claims. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 80 / 115

Claims

1 / 5 CLAIMS 1. A communication method, implemented by a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device, CHARACTERIZED in that it comprises: receiving beam coverage information from a network device, wherein the beam coverage information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams; determining, from the spatial coverage of the plurality of beams, the beam coverage in which the terminal device is located; and performing radio resource management measurement based on beam coverage.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the beam coverage information comprises at least one of the following: a beam plurality spatial coverage scan sequence, a geographic region covered by the beam plurality spatial coverage, a beam plurality spatial filtering parameter, or beam plurality spatial coverage shape information.

3. Method according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the beam coverage information comprises at least one of the following: a beam coverage radius or a beam coverage diameter of the plurality of beams, a beam center point and / or a beam center angle of the plurality of beams, or beam coverage angle information of the plurality of beams. Petition 870250085365, dated 22 / 09 / 2025, p. 103 / 115 2 / 5 4. Method according to claim 3, CHARACTERIZED in that the coverage angle information comprises at least one of the following: a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto the ground, a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto a reference plane at a predetermined height, or a beam angle or beam width angle of the beam present when the beam is transmitted from the network device.

5. Method according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the terminal device further determines beam coverage based on at least one of the following: a position of the terminal device, a satellite ephemeris associated with the network device, or a beam that is previously determined by the terminal device and that previously covers the terminal device.

6. Method, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that performing the radio resource management measurement comprises: determining, based on beam coverage, a coverage beam that covers the terminal device; determining at least one beam to be measured based on a beam scan pattern of the network device and the coverage beam; and performing the radio resource management measurement based on at least one beam to be measured.

7. Method according to claim 6, CHARACTERIZED in that the determination of at least one beam to be measured comprises: receiving a beam measurement time window configuration from the network device, wherein the measurement time window configuration indicates a periodicity and duration of measurement, determined by the network device, for radio resource management measurement performed by the terminal device; and determining at least one beam to be measured based on the network device's beam scan pattern, beam coverage, and beam measurement time window configuration.

8. A communication method, performed by a network device or a chip in the network device, CHARACTERIZED in that it comprises: determining beam coverage information from the network device, wherein the beam coverage information is used to determine the spatial coverage of a plurality of beams; and sending the beam coverage information to a terminal device.

9. Method according to claim 8, CHARACTERIZED in that the beam coverage information comprises at least one of the following: a scan sequence of the spatial coverage of the beam plurality, a geographic region covered by the spatial coverage of the beam plurality, a spatial filtering parameter of the spatial coverage of the beam plurality, or shape information of the spatial coverage of the beam plurality.

10. Method, according to claim 8, CHARACTERIZED in that the beam coverage information comprises at least one of the following: a beam coverage radius or a beam coverage diameter of the plurality of beams, a beam center point and / or a beam center angle of the plurality of beams, or beam coverage angle information of the plurality of beams.

11. Method according to claim 10, CHARACTERIZED in that the coverage angle information comprises at least one of the following: a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto the ground, a beam coverage angle of the beam projected onto a reference plane at a predetermined height, or a beam angle or beam width angle of the beam present when the beam is transmitted from the network device.

12. Method according to claim 8, CHARACTERIZED in that it further comprises: determining a beam measurement time window configuration, wherein the measurement time window configuration indicates a measurement periodicity and duration for the radio resource management measurement performed by the terminal device; and sending the beam measurement time window configuration to the terminal device.

13. Method according to claim 8, CHARACTERIZED in that the network device is a first network device, the beam coverage information is the first beam coverage information, and the method further comprises: sending second beam coverage information from a second network device to the terminal device.

14. Communication apparatus, comprising a processor and a memory that stores instructions, CHARACTERIZED in that when the instructions are executed by the processor, the communication apparatus is enabled to perform the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7 or any one of claims 8 to 13.

15. Chip, CHARACTERIZED in that the chip comprises a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is configured to perform the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7 or as defined in any of claims 8 to 13.

16. Computer-readable storage medium, CHARACTERIZED in that the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions and, when the instructions are executed by a communication device, the communication device is enabled to perform the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7 or any one of claims 8 to 13. Petition 870250085365, dated 09 / 22 / 2025, pp. 107 / 115

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