Communication method and related device

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application discloses a communication method and a related device, the method comprising: a terminal device receives first indication information sent by a network device; when the first indication information indicates the channel occupation time of the network device, if the network device configures the corresponding downlink resource (for example, downlink transmission beam or service cell) for the terminal device, the terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data during the channel occupation time; when the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupied time of the network device, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid during the channel non-occupied time. By adopting the embodiment of the present application, unnecessary measurements can be reduced, downlink measurement failures caused by the failure of the network side to grab the channel can be eliminated, and the measurement efficiency and the accuracy of the measurement results can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] Since the unlicensed spectrum is a shared spectrum resource, there are many different air interface technologies in the unlicensed spectrum. Therefore, in order to ensure the coexistence of different air interface technologies in the unlicensed spectrum, a listen-before-talk (LBT) channel competition access mechanism is adopted to avoid mutual interference between different air interface technologies. Because the availability of channels on the unlicensed spectrum cannot be guaranteed at all times, LBT requires that before transmitting data, the channel must be monitored and a clear channel assessment (CCA) must be performed. Data transmission can only be performed when the channel is ensured to be idle. CCA determines whether the channel is idle by detecting the signal strength on the unlicensed spectrum resources.

[0003] At present, LBT can be divided into omnidirectional LBT and direction-based LBT. Omnidirectional LBT means that the device receives signals from all directions, and then measures these signals to obtain signal strength. If the signal strength is greater than the preset threshold, it means that the channel is idle. If the signal strength is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it means that the channel is busy. Direction-based LBT means that the device only receives signals in some directions, and then measures the signals in these partial directions to obtain the signal strength in some directions. If the signal strength in some directions is greater than the preset threshold, it means that the channel is idle in this partial direction. If the signal strength in some directions is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it means that the channel is busy in this partial direction. When the channel is idle, the device can obtain the channel occupancy time (COT) of this channel, and can indicate the COT in the form of broadcasting, so that other devices will not access the channel within the COT after receiving the indication. However, at present, the indication of channel occupancy time is only applicable to omnidirectional LBT, not to direction-based LBT. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and related devices, which can provide direction-based channel occupancy indication information. When the indication information indicates that the channel is occupied, no downlink measurement is performed, and when the indication information indicates that the channel is not occupied, downlink measurement is performed. This can reduce unnecessary measurements, eliminate downlink measurement failures caused by the network side not grabbing the channel, and improve measurement efficiency and the accuracy of measurement results.

[0005] The present application is introduced below from different aspects. It should be understood that the implementation methods and beneficial effects of the following different aspects can be referenced to each other.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to a terminal device, and the method includes: the terminal device receives first indication information sent by a network device, and the first indication information is used to indicate channel occupancy information of the network device, and the channel occupancy information includes channel occupied time and / or channel unoccupied time; when the first indication information indicates the channel occupied time of the network device, if the network device configures corresponding downlink resources (for example, downlink transmission beam or service cell) for the terminal device, the terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data during the channel occupied time; when the first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid during the channel unoccupied time.

[0007] Optionally, the first indication information may include at least one beam identifier and channel occupancy information corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. The beam identifier included in the first indication information may be used to notify the terminal device of which beam the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. The channel occupancy information corresponding to the beam identifier included in the first indication information may be used to notify the terminal device of the LBT result of the network device. The channel occupancy time may include the start time and occupancy duration of the channel occupancy. The channel unoccupied time may include the unoccupied duration of the channel.

[0008] Optionally, the first indication information may also include a cell identifier and channel occupancy information.

[0009] In the embodiment of the present application, when the network side seizes the channel and the network side configures the corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device, the terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data within the channel occupancy time indicated by the first indication information; when the network side fails to seize the channel, even if the network side configures the corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device, the terminal device does not need to perform downlink measurement, receive downlink data, send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result is invalid within the channel non-occupancy time indicated by the first indication information. This reduces unnecessary measurements, eliminates downlink measurement failures caused by the network side failing to seize the channel, and improves measurement efficiency and the accuracy of measurement results.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. The terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data during the channel occupancy time, including: if there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the above first indication information, the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and / or receives downlink semi-persistent scheduling (DL SPS) from the first beam. Since the terminal device can use the configured SPS resources to receive and send data after activating the SPS resources, the terminal device receives DL SPS from the first beam, that is, receives downlink data from the first beam.

[0011] Optionally, the above first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. The terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time, including: if there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the above first indication information, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement on the first beam, does not receive downlink data from the first beam, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam.

[0012] In the embodiment of the present application, when the first indication information includes the channel occupancy time of the first beam and the network device configures corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device (the first beam is the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device), the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and / or receives downlink data from the first beam, providing a direction-based channel occupancy indication information (i.e., the first indication information), which can reduce unnecessary measurements, improve the measurement efficiency and the accuracy of the measurement results.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information may further include the identifier of the TRP to which each beam identified by the above at least one beam identifier belongs, and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each of the beams. The identifier of the TRP included in the first indication information is used to notify the terminal device which TRP the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. The identifier of the serving cell included in the first indication information is used to notify the terminal device which cell the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. Among them, a cell can be covered by multiple beams in different directions. A cell can include multiple TRPs, and a TRP can have multiple beams.

[0014] The first indication information in the embodiments of the present application not only includes the beam identifier and the channel occupancy information, but also may include the identifier of the TRP and / or the identifier of the serving cell, which can enable the terminal device to more accurately locate which TRP and / or which beam on the serving cell the channel occupancy or channel non-occupancy is for. In the case where the beam identifiers are multiplexed, the beam with channel occupancy or the beam with channel non-occupancy can also be accurately located, thereby improving the accuracy of subsequent downlink measurements and ensuring the reception of subsequent downlink data.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information includes the cell identifier and the channel occupancy time. The terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data during the channel occupancy time, including: if the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device receives DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier and / or performs downlink measurement for the serving cell during the channel occupancy time.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information includes the cell identifier and the channel non-occupancy time. The terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time, including: if the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device does not receive DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the DL SPS, does not perform downlink measurement for the serving cell, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time.

[0017] When the embodiment of the present application indicates the channel unoccupied time by the first indication information, even if the network device configures corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device (that is, the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device included in the downlink resources), the terminal device does not receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by this cell identifier during this channel unoccupied time, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, does not perform downlink measurement for this serving cell, or determines that the downlink measurement result for this serving cell is invalid. A kind of omnidirectional channel occupancy indication information is provided, which can reduce unnecessary measurements and reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information may be carried on the GC-PDCCH and sent.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above downlink measurement may include downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement. The downlink signal measurement may include one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

[0020] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method, which is applicable to a network device. The method includes: The network device performs LBT, obtains an LBT result, and sends first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information is used to indicate the channel occupancy information of the network device, and the channel occupancy information includes channel occupancy time and / or channel unoccupied time. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data during the channel occupancy time; when the first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid during the channel unoccupied time.

[0021] Optionally, the above first indication information may include at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy information corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. The beam identifier included in the first indication information may be used to notify the terminal device which beam the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. The channel occupancy information corresponding to the beam identifier included in the first indication information may be used to notify the terminal device of the LBT result of the network device. The channel occupancy time may include the start time of channel occupancy and the occupancy duration. The channel unoccupied time may include the unoccupied duration of the channel.

[0022] Optionally, the above first indication information may also include a cell identifier and channel occupancy information.

[0023] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate that: when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the first beam and / or receives DL SPS from the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam.

[0024] Optionally, the above first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. When the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the network device, the first indication information is further specifically used to indicate that: when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement on the first beam, does not receive downlink data from the first beam, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam.

[0025] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information may further include the identifier of the TRP to which each beam identified by the at least one beam identifier belongs, and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam. The identifier of the TRP included in the first indication information is used to notify the terminal device which TRP the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. The identifier of the serving cell included in the first indication information is used to notify the terminal device which cell the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. Among them, one cell can be covered by multiple beams in different directions. One cell can include multiple TRPs, and one TRP can have multiple beams.

[0026] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel occupancy time. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate that: when the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device receives DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier and / or performs downlink measurement on the serving cell during the channel occupancy time.

[0027] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the above first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel unoccupied time. When the first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, the first indication information is further specifically used to indicate that: when the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device does not receive DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier during the channel unoccupied time, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the DL SPS, does not perform downlink measurement for the serving cell, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell is invalid.

[0028] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the above first indication information may be carried and sent on the GC-PDCCH.

[0029] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the above downlink measurement may include downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement. The downlink signal measurement may include one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

[0030] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, which includes units and / or modules for executing the communication method provided in the first aspect and / or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. Therefore, it can also achieve the beneficial effects (or advantages) of the communication method provided in the first aspect.

[0031] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, which includes units and / or modules for executing the communication method provided in the second aspect and / or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. Therefore, it can also achieve the beneficial effects (or advantages) of the communication method provided in the second aspect.

[0032] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another terminal device, which may include a processor, a transceiver, and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the transceiver is used to transmit and receive various information and / or data. The computer program includes program instructions. When the processor runs the program instructions, the terminal device executes the communication method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. The transceiver may be a radio frequency module in the terminal device, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input / output interface of a chip or a circuit.

[0033] Sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another network device, which may include a processor, a transceiver, and a memory. Among them, the memory is used to store computer programs, the transceiver is used to send and receive various information and / or data, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the processor runs the program instructions, the network device is enabled to execute the communication method according to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. Among them, the transceiver may be a radio frequency module in the network device, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input / output interface of a chip or a circuit.

[0034] Seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including a terminal device and a network device, where: the terminal device is the terminal device described in the third aspect or the fifth aspect above, and the network device is the network device described in the fourth aspect or the sixth aspect above.

[0035] Eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which computer program instructions are stored. When it runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0036] Ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another computer-readable storage medium, on which computer program instructions are stored. When it runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0037] Tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a program product containing instructions. When it runs, the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect is executed.

[0038] Eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a program product containing instructions. When it runs, the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect is executed.

[0039] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, including a processor. The processor is configured to read and execute a program stored in a memory to execute one or more of the above first aspect or second aspect, or, one or more of the communication methods provided in any possible implementation manner of the above first aspect or the above second aspect. Optionally, the chip further includes a memory, and the memory is circuit-connected to the processor. Further optionally, the chip further includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is configured to receive data and / or information that needs to be processed, the processor obtains the data and / or information from the communication interface, processes the data and / or information, and outputs a processing result through the communication interface. The communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0040] Optionally, the above-mentioned processor and memory may be physically independent units, or the memory may also be integrated with the processor.

[0041] Implementing the embodiments of the present application, on the one hand, can provide a direction-based channel occupancy indication information; on the other hand, when the indication information indicates channel occupancy, downlink measurement is not performed, and when the indication information indicates that the channel is not occupied, downlink measurement is performed, thereby reducing unnecessary measurements, eliminating downlink measurement failures caused by the network side not seizing the channel, and improving the measurement efficiency and the accuracy of measurement results. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the accompanying drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below.

[0043] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of the mobile communication system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of the 5G network architecture provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an idle beam on the network side provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 4 is another schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 6It is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 7 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0051] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0052] To facilitate the understanding of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, some terms (nouns) involved in the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be briefly described below:

[0053] I. Listen-before-talk (LBT)

[0054] The LBT technology is also known as Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA). It means that the transmitting station first listens to the channel to determine whether there are other stations transmitting data. If the channel is idle, the transmitting station can transmit data; otherwise, the transmitting station will avoid for a period of time and then try again. The LBT mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be direction-based LBT, that is: the transmitting station listens to whether there are other stations transmitting data on the channel in different directions (or beams). If it is detected that there are other stations transmitting data on the channel in a certain direction, it is considered that the channel is busy in that direction; if it is detected that there are no other stations transmitting data on the channel in a certain direction, it is considered that the channel is idle in that direction; if the channel is idle in a certain direction, the transmitting station can transmit data in that direction.

[0055] II. Channel state information (CSI)

[0056] In the field of wireless communication, the channel state information CSI is the channel attribute of the communication link. CSI describes the attenuation factor of the signal on each transmission path, that is, the value of each element in the channel gain matrix H, such as signal scattering, environmental attenuation, distance attenuation and other information. CSI can enable the communication system to adapt to the current channel conditions and provide guarantees for high-reliability and high-rate communication in a multi-antenna system. Generally, the receiving end receives the reference signal, evaluates the CSI based on the reference signal and quantifies and feeds it back to the transmitting end.

[0057] III. Physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)

[0058] The PDCCH is a set of physical resource particles that carry uplink and downlink control information. Depending on its scope of action, the information carried by the PDCCH is divided into common control information (common search space) and dedicated control information (dedicated search space). The search space defines the starting position of blind detection and the channel search method. The PDCCH mainly carries channel control information (including control information such as resource allocation, frequency hopping type, and transmission mode) for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), that is, downlink control information (DCI). DCI contains resource allocation and other control information for one or more terminals. The PDCCH information of different terminals is distinguished by their corresponding radio network temporary identity (RNTI) information, that is, the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of its DCI is scrambled by the RNTI corresponding to the terminal.

[0059] IV. Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP)

[0060] RSRP is the average of the signal powers received on all resource elements (REs) carrying the reference signal within a certain symbol. Beam RSRP refers to the RSRP on the beam.

[0061] V. Beam Failure Detecting

[0062] Beam failure means that the quality of the serving beam is lower than the threshold. Beam failure detection is to detect the block error rate (BLER) on the beam. When the BLER on a certain beam is higher than the threshold value, it is considered that the beam is faulty at this time.

[0063] VI. Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ)

[0064] In a wireless transmission environment, channel noise, fading caused by mobility, and interference from other users result in poor channel transmission quality. Therefore, data packets should be protected to suppress various interferences. This protection mainly uses forward error correction coding to transmit additional bits in the packets. However, excessive forward error correction coding will reduce the transmission efficiency. HARQ can efficiently compensate for the bit errors caused by link adaptation, improve the data transmission rate, and reduce the data transmission delay. The HARQ mechanism mainly saves the received data when the decoding at the receiving end fails, requests the sending end to retransmit the data, and the receiving end combines the retransmitted data with the previously received data and then decodes it. Thus, the number of retransmissions is reduced, and the delay is further reduced.

[0065] The above content briefly elaborates on some of the terms (nouns) involved in the communication method provided by the embodiments of this application. Next, the system architecture of the communication method provided by the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0066] The communication method provided by the embodiments of this application can be applied to a mobile communication system operating in unlicensed spectrum, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4.5G, the fifth generation mobile communication system (5G), or future mobile communication systems. Among them, the unlicensed spectrum can include the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency bands. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of this application will first briefly introduce the system architecture of the mobile communication system.

[0067] See Figure 1A , Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of the mobile communication system provided by the embodiments of this application. As Figure 1A shown, this mobile communication system may include at least one terminal device ( Figure 1A terminal device 110) and at least one network device ( Figure 1A network device 120 and network device 130). Optionally, this mobile communication system may further include at least one core network device, such as Figure 1A core network device 140 and core network device 150. The terminal device 110 can be connected to the network device 120 and / or the network device 130 wirelessly. The terminal device can be fixed in position or movable. The network device 120 can access the core network device 140, and the network device 130 can access the core network device 150. Optionally, the network device 120 and the network device 130 can also jointly access a core network device. Figure 1A This is just a schematic diagram. This mobile communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices. In Figure 1AIt is not shown in the figure. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of terminal devices, network devices, and / or core network devices included in the mobile communication system.

[0068] Among them, the terminal device 110 can be an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, such as a mobile phone UE. The terminal device can also be referred to as a terminal, UE, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal device.

[0069] The network device can be an entity on the network side for transmitting or receiving signals, such as a gNB. The network device can also be an access device for the terminal device to access the mobile communication system wirelessly. For example, the network device can be a base station NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the network device.

[0070] In some feasible embodiments, the network device 120 and the network device 130 can be network devices of different operators and can operate in the same unlicensed frequency band. At the same time, the terminal device 110 can communicate with one network device (the network device 120 or the network device 130).

[0071] The core network device can be a 4G core network device or a 5G core network device.

[0072] In some feasible embodiments, the terminal devices and network devices in the mobile communication system can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle-mounted.

[0073] Specifically, if Figure 1A both the core network device 140 and the core network device 150 are 5G core network devices, then refer to Figure 1B , Figure 1B which is a schematic diagram of the 5G network architecture provided by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 1BAs shown in the figure, the network architecture of 5G mainly includes a 5G access network (i.e., the next generation radio access network (NG-RAN)) and a 5G core network (5G core, 5GC). Among them, the 5G access network (i.e., NG-RAN) mainly includes two types of nodes: gNB and ng-eNB. A gNB is a node that provides a new radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol termination to the UE. An ng-eNB is a node that provides an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol termination to the UE. The gNB and gNB, gNB and ng-eNB, and ng-eNB and ng-eNB are all connected through the Xn interface. The Xn interface is the network interface between NG-RAN nodes. The gNB and 5GC (core network), and ng-eNB and 5GC (core network) are all connected through the NG interface. Specifically, it is connected to the access and mobility management function (AMF) through the NG-C interface and to the user plane function (UPF) through the NR-U interface. The NG-C interface refers to the control plane interface between NG-RAN and 5GC, and the NG-U interface refers to the user plane interface between NG-RAN and 5GC.

[0074] The above content describes the system architecture of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. Next, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail in combination with the scenarios involved in the present application.

[0075] The basis of wireless communication is spectrum resources. Spectrum resources can be classified into two categories according to type: licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum. The licensed spectrum can only be used by a specific operator in a certain place, while the unlicensed spectrum can be used by any operator and is a shared spectrum resource. In the unlicensed spectrum, multiple devices (such as base stations, terminals, or wireless Internet devices, etc.) can share the same unlicensed spectrum based on the LBT channel contention access mechanism.

[0076] For example, Device 1, Device 2, and Device 3 share the same unlicensed frequency band (such as 5.925 GHz - 6.425 GHz). Assume that both Device 1 and Device 2 want to send data to Device 3. To reduce data transmission collisions and retransmission attempts, both Device 1 and Device 2 need to perform LBT before sending data to listen for whether the channel is idle. If Device 1 detects that the channel is idle, Device 1 can obtain the channel occupancy time. To ensure the success rate of data transmission for Device 1, Device 1 can inform other devices (such as Device 2 and Device 3) of the channel occupancy time of the preempted channel, so that Device 2 and Device 3 know that this channel occupancy time belongs to Device 1 and do not send data during this channel occupancy time.

[0077] Since the frequency band used by 5G is relatively high and the path loss of high frequencies is large, to compensate for the path loss, directional transmission (i.e., beam-based transmission) is adopted. Different directions (or beams) are independent of each other and there is basically no interference. Therefore, in 5G, the LBT of devices operating in the unlicensed frequency band may be based on direction (or beam). However, the channel occupancy time informed by Device 1 to other devices is only applicable to omnidirectional LBT and not applicable to direction (or beam)-based LBT. That is, Device 1 does not inform other devices of the direction information regarding this channel occupancy time.

[0078] Therefore, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which provides a direction-based channel occupancy indication information in the communication method. When the indication information indicates that the channel on a certain beam is occupied, downlink measurement is not performed, and when the indication information indicates that the channel on a certain beam is not occupied, downlink measurement is performed on that beam, which can improve the downlink measurement efficiency and the accuracy of the downlink measurement result.

[0079] It can be understood that the devices (including terminal devices and network devices) in the embodiments of the present application can all operate in the unlicensed spectrum and need to perform direction-based LBT before sending data. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be Figure 1A the terminal device 110 in Figure 1A ; the network device can be the network device 120 or network device 130 in Figure 1B , or the network device can also be any gNB or ng-eNB in

[0080] Refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 which is a schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 2 shown, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0081] S201, the network device performs beam-based listen-before-talk LBT to obtain the LBT result.

[0082] In some feasible embodiments, the network device may receive signals of each channel on each beam (or direction), and may measure the signal strength of the signals of each channel on each beam (or direction). The network device may obtain a preset signal strength threshold value. If the measured signal strength of a certain channel on a certain beam (or direction) is greater than the signal strength threshold value, it indicates that there is no data transmission on this channel on this beam (or direction) at this time. Then the network device determines that this channel is idle on this beam (or direction), and determines the channel occupancy time of the network device on this beam (or direction) of this channel. If the measured signal strength of a certain channel on a certain beam (or direction) is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold value, it indicates that there is data transmission on this channel on this beam (or direction) at this time. Then the network device determines that this channel is busy on this beam (or direction), and determines the backoff time (i.e., the channel unoccupied time) of the network device on this beam (or direction) of this channel. Among them, the backoff time (i.e., the channel unoccupied time) may be a preset time. For example, the backoff time or the channel unoccupied time is 5 ms (milliseconds). The channel occupancy time may be determined based on the size of the data to be transmitted. After the network device performs LBT on each beam (or direction) of each channel, the LBT results (i.e., channel idle or channel busy, channel occupancy time or channel unoccupied time) on each beam of each channel are obtained.

[0083] For example, assume that a network device needs to monitor two channels, namely Channel 1 and Channel 2; Channel 1 has 4 beams in different directions, namely beam1, beam2, beam3, and beam4; Channel 2 also has 4 beams in different directions, namely beam5, beam6, beam7, and beam8. For Channel 1, the network device can receive the signals on beam1, beam2, beam3, and beam4 respectively, and measure the signal strength of the signals on beam1, beam2, beam3, and beam4 respectively. If the measured signal strengths on beam1 and beam2 are greater than the signal strength threshold, the network device determines that Channel 1 is idle on beam1 and beam2, and determines the channel occupancy time of the network device itself on beam1 and beam2 of Channel 1 based on the size of the data to be transmitted. If the measured signal strengths on beam3 and beam4 are less than or equal to the signal strength threshold, the network device determines that Channel 1 is busy on beam3 and beam4, and obtains the preset channel unoccupied time (i.e., backoff time) on beam3 and beam4 of Channel 1. Similarly, for Channel 2, the network device can receive the signals on beam5, beam6, beam7, and beam8 respectively, and measure the signal strength of the signals on beam5, beam6, beam7, and beam8 respectively. If the measured signal strength on beam7 is greater than the signal strength threshold, the network device determines that Channel 1 is idle on beam7, and determines the channel occupancy time of the network device itself on beam7 of Channel 2 based on the size of the data to be transmitted. If the measured signal strengths on beam5, beam6, and beam8 are less than or equal to the signal strength threshold, the network device determines that Channel 2 is busy on beam5, beam6, and beam8, and obtains the preset channel unoccupied time (i.e., backoff time) on beam5, beam6, and beam8 of Channel 2. In summary, the LBT results of the network device for each beam of each channel can be: Channel 1 is idle and the channel occupancy time on beam1 and beam2, Channel 1 is busy and the channel unoccupied time on beam3 and beam4; Channel 2 is idle and the channel occupancy time on beam7, Channel 2 is busy and the channel unoccupied time on beam5, beam6, and beam8.

[0084] Optionally, the preset channel unoccupied times (i.e., backoff times) on different beams can be the same or different. For example, the preset channel unoccupied time on beam5 of Channel 2 is 5 ms, the preset channel unoccupied time on beam6 of Channel 2 is 7 ms, and the preset channel unoccupied time on beam8 of Channel 2 is 4 ms.

[0085] S202, the network device sends first indication information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

[0086] In some possible embodiments, the above first indication information may be used to indicate the channel occupancy information of the network device, and the channel occupancy information may be used to characterize the occupancy situation of the channel obtained after the network device performs beam-based LBT. For example, the channel occupancy information may include the channel occupancy time on a certain beam, and / or the channel non-occupancy time on a certain beam. The first indication information may include at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy information corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. The beam identifier included in the first indication information may be used to notify the terminal device which beam the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. The channel occupancy information corresponding to the beam identifier included in the first indication information may be used to notify the terminal device of the LBT result of the network device. The channel occupancy information may include the channel occupancy time and / or the channel non-occupancy time. Among them, the channel occupancy time may include the start time and the occupancy duration of the channel occupancy. The channel non-occupancy time may include the non-occupancy duration of the channel.

[0087] Optionally, the above first indication information may further include the identifier of the transmission reception point (TRP) to which each beam identified by the at least one beam identifier belongs, and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam. The identifier of the TRP included in the first indication information is used to notify the terminal device which TRP the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. The identifier of the serving cell included in the first indication information is used to notify the terminal device which cell the channel occupancy information of the network device is for. Among them, a cell may be covered by multiple beams in different directions. A cell may include multiple TRPs, and a TRP may have multiple beams. The first indication information in the embodiments of the present application not only includes the beam identifier and the channel occupancy information, but may also include the identifier of the TRP and / or the identifier of the serving cell, which can enable the terminal device to more accurately locate which TRP and / or which beam on which serving cell the channel occupancy or channel non-occupancy is for. In the case where the beam identifier is multiplexed, the beam with channel occupancy or the beam with channel non-occupancy can also be accurately located, thereby improving the accuracy of subsequent downlink measurements and ensuring the reception of subsequent downlink data.

[0088] In some feasible embodiments, after obtaining the above LBT result, the network device may send the first indication information in a broadcast manner. Correspondingly, the terminal device may receive the first indication information. Optionally, the network device may also send the first indication information to the terminal device in a unicast manner. Correspondingly, the terminal device may receive the first indication information. Among them, if the network device sends the first indication information in a broadcast manner, the first indication information may be carried on the group common physical downlink control channel (GC-PDCCH) and sent. If the network device sends the first indication information in a unicast manner, the first indication information may be a dedicated PDCCH. The first indication information may be used to indicate the channel occupancy information of the network device, and the channel occupancy information may include the channel occupancy time and / or the channel non-occupancy time. It can be understood that when the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device in a unicast manner, the idle beam in the LBT result is used for sending.

[0089] In some feasible embodiments, since one gNB can manage multiple cells and the coverage range of each cell can be provided by multiple TRPs, the network device may send the first indication information to the terminal device through the TRP. Specifically, the network device may send the first indication information to a certain TRP within the cell it manages. After receiving the first indication information, the TRP may forward the first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information may be used to indicate the channel occupancy information of the network device, and the channel occupancy information includes the channel occupancy time or the channel non-occupancy time.

[0090] S203. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, the terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data within the channel occupancy time.

[0091] In some feasible embodiments, the above downlink measurement may include downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement. The downlink signal measurement may include one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

[0092] In some feasible embodiments, after receiving the above first indication information, the terminal device may parse the first indication information. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, if it is parsed that the first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier, the terminal device may detect whether there is downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. If there are downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device may detect whether there is a beam identifier of a first beam in the at least one beam identifier. The first beam may be the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. If there is a beam identifier of the first beam in the at least one beam identifier, it indicates that the first beam preempted by the network device is the one preempted by this terminal device, then the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and / or receives downlink Semi-Persistent Scheduling (DL SPS) from the first beam. Since after activating the SPS resources, the terminal device can use the configured SPS resources to receive and send data, so the terminal device receives DL SPS from the first beam, that is, receives downlink data from the first beam. Wherein, the channel occupancy time may include the start time of channel occupancy and the occupancy duration. Optionally, if there are no downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement and / or does not receive downlink data.

[0093] In the embodiment of the present application, when the first indication information includes the channel occupancy time of the first beam and the network device configures corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device (the first beam is the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device), the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and / or receives downlink data from the first beam, which can reduce unnecessary measurements, improve the measurement efficiency and the accuracy of the measurement results.

[0094] It can be understood that the terminal device performing downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam specifically includes: the network device sends a downlink reference signal or PDCCH to the terminal device using the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam. The terminal device receives the downlink reference signal on the first beam and performs CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement or beam failure detection on the first beam based on the downlink reference signal on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam. Or, the terminal device receives the PDCCH on the first beam and performs PDCCH detection on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam.

[0095] It can also be understood that before the terminal device receives downlink data from the first beam, the network device uses the first beam to send downlink data to the terminal device during the channel occupancy time of the first beam.

[0096] For example, as Figure 3 shown, Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the idle beam on the network side provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 3 shown, if beam1, beam2, and beam3 on the network side are all idle, the first indication information includes 3 beam identifiers beam1, beam2, and beam3, and the channel occupancy time corresponding to each of these 3 beam identifiers (assuming that the channel occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier is the same), such as the start time of channel occupancy is 1 ms and the occupancy duration is 5 ms. Assume that the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device is beam3 (i.e., the first beam is beam3). Since it is parsed that the first indication information includes beam identifiers beam1, beam2, and beam3, and the channel occupancy time corresponding to beam1, beam2, and beam3 respectively, the terminal device detects whether there are downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. When the terminal device detects that there are downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device detects whether the downlink transmission beam beam3 included in the downlink resources exists in the beam identifiers included in the first indication information. Since beam3 is included in the first indication information, it indicates that the beam3 preempted by the network device is preempted for this terminal device. Therefore, the terminal device performs downlink measurement on beam3 during the channel occupancy time of beam3 (i.e., from the 1st ms to the 6th ms), and / or receives downlink data from beam3.

[0097] S204, in the case where the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the network device, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback corresponding to downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time.

[0098] In some feasible implementation manners, the above downlink measurement may include downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement. The downlink signal measurement may include one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

[0099] In some feasible embodiments, when the above first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, if it is parsed that the first indication information includes one or more beam identifiers and the channel unoccupied time corresponding to the one or more beam identifiers, the terminal device may detect whether there is downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. If there are downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device and the beam identifier of the first beam included in the downlink resources exists in the one or more beam identifiers, it indicates that the network device fails to preempt the first beam for this terminal device. Then, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement for the first beam during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam, does not receive DL SPS from the first beam, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the DL SPS, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid. Since the terminal device can use the configured SPS resources to receive and send data after activating the SPS resources, the terminal device does not receive DL SPS from the first beam, that is, does not receive downlink data from the first beam; does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the DL SPS, that is, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data. Wherein, the first beam may be the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. The channel unoccupied time may include the unoccupied duration of the channel.

[0100] Optionally, if there are no downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid.

[0101] When the first indication information in the embodiments of this application includes the channel unoccupied time of the first beam, even if the network device configures corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device (the first beam is the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device), the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement for the first beam during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam, does not receive downlink data from the first beam, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid. It can exclude the downlink measurement failure caused by the network side failing to seize the channel, further reduce unnecessary measurements, and improve the accuracy of the measurement result.

[0102] It can be understood that the terminal device does not perform downlink measurements on the first beam, does not receive DL SPS from the first beam, and does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the DL SPS during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam. Specifically, when the network device fails to preempt the first beam, the network device does not use the first beam to send downlink reference signals, PDCCH, or downlink data during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam. Since the network device does not send downlink data on the first beam, the terminal device cannot receive downlink data on the first beam. According to the HARQ mechanism, the terminal device will request the network device to retransmit. Therefore, the terminal device does not send HARQ feedback during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam, which can reduce signaling overhead.

[0103] It can also be understood that when the network device fails to preempt the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured for the terminal device, the network device cannot send reference signals, PDCCH, or downlink data through the downlink transmission beam configured for the terminal device. Therefore, the results of CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, beam failure detection, or PDCCH detection on the first beam by the terminal device during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam must be failures. These failures are caused by the network device failing to preempt the downlink transmission beam configured for the terminal device. Therefore, the results of the downlink measurements caused by these failures are invalid and do not conform to the actual situation.

[0104] For example, assume that the first indication information includes two beam identifiers, beam5 and beam8, and the channel unoccupied time corresponding to beam5 (e.g., 4 ms) and the channel unoccupied time corresponding to beam8 (e.g., 6 ms). Assume that the downlink transmission beam in the downlink resources configured for the terminal device by the network device is beam8 (i.e., the first beam is beam8). Since the network device has configured downlink resources for the terminal device and the beam identifier included in the first indication information includes the downlink transmission beam beam8 included in the downlink resources, it indicates that the network device has not preempted beam8 for this terminal device at this time. Therefore, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurements on beam8, does not receive downlink data from beam8, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the results of the downlink measurements performed on beam8 are invalid during the channel unoccupied time of beam8 (i.e., starting from the current time and lasting for 6 ms).

[0105] As an optional embodiment, the above first indication information may include N beam identifiers, channel occupancy times respectively corresponding to K beam identifiers among the N beam identifiers, and channel non-occupancy times respectively corresponding to N-K beam identifiers among the N beam identifiers. Therefore, in the case where the first indication information indicates both the channel occupancy time and the channel non-occupancy time, the terminal device can detect whether there is downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. If there are downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device can determine, based on the first indication information, the channel occupancy information corresponding to the downlink transmission beam (i.e., the first beam) included in the downlink resources. If it is determined that the channel occupancy information corresponding to the first beam is the channel occupancy time, the terminal device can perform downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and / or receive downlink data from the first beam. If it is determined that the channel occupancy information corresponding to the first beam is the channel non-occupancy time, the terminal device can refrain from performing downlink measurement on the first beam, refrain from receiving downlink data from the first beam, refrain from sending HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result performed on the first beam is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam. Here, N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0106] For example, assume that the first indication information includes eight beam identifiers beam1, beam2, beam3, beam4, beam5, beam6, beam7, and beam8, the channel occupancy time corresponding to each of three beam identifiers beam1, beam2, and beam7 among these eight beam identifiers, and the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to each of five beam identifiers beam3, beam4, beam5, beam6, and beam8 among these eight beam identifiers. Assume that the downlink transmission beam (i.e., the first beam) included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device is beam6. Since the network device configures downlink resources for the terminal device, the terminal device can determine the channel occupancy information corresponding to the downlink transmission beam beam6 included in the downlink resources based on this first indication information. Since the channel occupancy information corresponding to beam6 in this first indication information is the channel non-occupancy time, the terminal device can refrain from performing downlink measurements for beam6, refrain from receiving downlink data from beam6, refrain from sending HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result for beam6 is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time of beam6. Similarly, assume that the downlink transmission beam (i.e., the first beam) included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device is beam7. Since the channel occupancy information corresponding to beam7 in this first indication information is the channel occupancy time, the terminal device can perform downlink measurements for beam7 and / or receive downlink data from beam7 during the channel occupancy time of beam7.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device performs beam-based LBT, obtains an LBT result, and sends a first indication message to the terminal device; when the first indication message indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, if the terminal device parses the first indication message to include at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier, and the beam identifier included in the first indication message contains a downlink transmission beam (i.e., the first beam) included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, then the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and / or receives downlink data from the first beam. In the case where the first indication information indicates the channel occupation time of the network device, if the terminal device parses out that the first indication information includes one or more beam identifiers and the channel unoccupied time corresponding to the one or more beam identifiers, and the beam identifier included in the first indication information contains a downlink transmission beam (i.e., the first beam) included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, then the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam, does not receive downlink data from the first beam, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result performed on the first beam is invalid. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the downlink transmission beam and / or receives downlink data from the downlink transmission beam when the network side seizes the downlink transmission beam included in the downlink resources configured for the terminal device; when the network side does not seize the downlink transmission beam included in the downlink resources configured for the terminal device, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement on the downlink transmission beam or does not receive downlink data from the downlink transmission beam, etc. It not only provides a direction-based channel occupancy indication information, but also reduces unnecessary measurements, eliminates downlink measurement failures caused by failure to grab the channel on the network side, and improves measurement efficiency and the accuracy of measurement results.

[0108] As another optional embodiment, in the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, an omnidirectional channel occupancy indication information can also be provided. When the indication information indicates that the channel is occupied, no downlink measurement is performed, and when the indication information indicates that the channel is not occupied, downlink measurement is performed. This can reduce unnecessary downlink measurements and reduce the energy consumption of terminal equipment.

[0109] See also Figure 4 , Figure 4 FIG. 1 is another schematic flow chart of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0110] S401, the network device performs omnidirectional listen-before-talk LBT to obtain an LBT result.

[0111] In some feasible embodiments, the network device can receive signals of each channel in all directions and can measure the signal strength of the signals of each channel in all directions. The network device can obtain a preset signal strength threshold value. If the measured signal strength on a certain channel is greater than the signal strength threshold value, it indicates that there is no data transmission on this channel at this time. Then the network device determines that this channel is idle and determines the channel occupancy time of the network device on this channel. If the measured signal strength on a certain channel is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold value, it indicates that there is data transmission on this channel at this time. Then the network device determines that this channel is busy and determines the backoff time (i.e., the channel unoccupied time) of the network device on this channel. Among them, the backoff time (i.e., the channel unoccupied time) can be a preset time. For example, the backoff time or the channel unoccupied time is 5 ms (milliseconds). The channel occupancy time can be determined based on the size of the data to be transmitted. After the network device performs omnidirectional LBT on each channel, the LBT results (i.e., channel idle or channel busy, channel occupancy time or channel unoccupied time) of each channel are obtained.

[0112] For example, assume that the network device needs to monitor 4 channels, namely channel 1, channel 2, channel 3, and channel 4. The network device can respectively receive the signals of channel 1, channel 2, channel 3, and channel 4 in all directions and can measure the signal strength of the signals of each channel in all directions. If the measured signal strength on channel 3 is greater than the signal strength threshold value, the network device determines that channel 3 is idle and determines the channel occupancy time of the network device itself on channel 3 based on the size of the data to be transmitted. If the measured signal strengths on channel 1, channel 2, and channel 3 are all less than or equal to the signal strength threshold value, the network device determines that channel 1, channel 2, and channel 3 are all busy and obtains the preset channel unoccupied time (i.e., the backoff time) on channel 1, channel 2, and channel 3.

[0113] Optionally, the preset channel unoccupied times (i.e., the backoff times) on different channels can be the same or different. For example, the preset channel unoccupied time on channel 1 is 3 ms, and the preset channel unoccupied time on channel 2 is 10 ms, etc.

[0114] S402, the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

[0115] In some feasible embodiments, the above first indication information may be used to indicate the channel occupancy information of a network device, and the channel occupancy information may be used to characterize the occupancy situation of a channel obtained by the network device after performing omnidirectional LBT. The first indication information may include a cell identifier and channel occupancy information. The channel occupancy information includes channel occupancy time or channel non-occupancy time. Among them, the channel occupancy time may include the start time and the occupancy duration of the channel occupancy. The channel non-occupancy time may include the non-occupancy duration of the channel.

[0116] In some feasible embodiments, after obtaining the LBT result, the network device may determine which cell the idle channel in the LBT result belongs to and which cell the non-idle channel (i.e., busy channel) belongs to. For example, if channel 3 is idle, the network device determines which cell's channel channel 3 belongs to; if channels 1, 2, and 4 are busy, the network device determines which cell's channels channels 1, 2, and 4 belong to respectively. After the network device determines the cell corresponding to the idle channel and / or the cell corresponding to the non-idle channel (i.e., busy channel) in the LBT result, it may send the first indication information to the network device in a broadcast form. Correspondingly, the terminal device may receive the first indication information. Optionally, the network device may also send the first indication information to the terminal device in a unicast form. Correspondingly, the terminal device may receive the first indication information. Among them, if the network device sends the first indication information in a broadcast form, the first indication information may be carried on the GC-PDCCH for transmission. If the network device sends the first indication information in a unicast form, the first indication information may be a dedicated PDCCH. The first indication information may be used to indicate the channel occupancy time and / or channel non-occupancy time of the network device. It can be understood that when the network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device in a unicast form, it is sent on the idle channel included in the LBT result.

[0117] In some feasible embodiments, since one gNB may manage multiple cells and the coverage range of each cell may be provided by multiple TRPs, the network device may send the first indication information to the terminal device through a TRP. Specifically, the network device may send the first indication information to a certain TRP within the cell it manages, and after receiving the first indication information, the TRP may forward the first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information may be used to indicate the channel occupancy time or channel non-occupancy time of the network device.

[0118] S403, when the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, the terminal device receives downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier included in the first indication information during the channel occupancy time or performs downlink measurement for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier.

[0119] In some feasible embodiments, the above downlink measurement may include downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement. The downlink signal measurement may include one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; and the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

[0120] In some feasible embodiments, after receiving the above first indication information, the terminal device may parse the first indication information. In the case where the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, if it is parsed that the first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel occupancy time, the terminal device may detect whether there is a downlink resource configured by the network device for the terminal device. For ease of description, the following describes an example where the first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel occupancy time. If there is a downlink resource configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device may detect whether the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device included in the downlink resource. If the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device included in the downlink resource, the terminal device receives DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier or performs downlink measurement for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier during the channel occupancy time. Since the terminal device can use the configured SPS resources to receive and send data after activating the SPS resources, the terminal device receives DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, that is, receives downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier. Wherein, the channel occupancy time may include the start time of channel occupancy and the occupancy duration.

[0121] Optionally, if there is no downlink resource configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement and / or does not receive downlink data.

[0122] Optionally, if the cell identifier included in the first indication information is not the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device included in the downlink resource, the terminal device does not receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier or does not perform downlink measurement for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier.

[0123] S404. In the case where the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the network device, the terminal device does not receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier included in the first indication information, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, does not perform downlink measurement for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier is invalid.

[0124] In some feasible embodiments, the above downlink measurement may include downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement. The downlink signal measurement may include one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; and the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

[0125] In some feasible embodiments, when the first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, if it is parsed that the first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel unoccupied time, the terminal device may detect whether there is downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. For ease of description, the following takes the first indication information including a cell identifier and a channel unoccupied time as an example for description. If there are downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device may detect whether the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device included in the downlink resources. If the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device included in the downlink resources, the terminal device does not receive DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier within the channel unoccupied time, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the DL SPS, does not perform downlink measurement on the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier is invalid. Since after activating the SPS resources, the terminal device can use the configured SPS resources to receive and send data, the terminal device does not receive DL SPS from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, that is, does not receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier; and does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the DL SPS, that is, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data. Wherein, the channel unoccupied time may include the unoccupied duration of the channel.

[0126] When the first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time in the embodiments of the present application, even if the network device configures corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device (that is, the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device included in the downlink resources), the terminal device does not receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by this cell identifier within this channel unoccupied time, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, does not perform downlink measurement on the serving cell identified by this cell identifier, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell identified by this cell identifier is invalid. This can reduce unnecessary measurements and lower the energy consumption of the terminal device.

[0127] It can be understood that the above first indication information may include multiple cell identifiers and channel occupancy information corresponding to each cell identifier among the multiple cell identifiers. For example, the first indication information includes M cell identifiers, the channel occupancy time corresponding to each of the Q cell identifiers among the M cell identifiers, and the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to each of the M - Q cell identifiers among the M cell identifiers.

[0128] Therefore, when the first indication information indicates both the channel occupancy time and the channel non-occupancy time, the terminal device can detect whether there is downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device. If there is downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device can determine, based on the first indication information, the channel occupancy information corresponding to the serving cell i of the terminal device included in the downlink resources. If it is determined that the channel occupancy information corresponding to the serving cell i is the channel occupancy time, the terminal device can perform downlink measurement for the serving cell i during this channel occupancy time, and / or receive downlink data from the serving cell i. If it is determined that the channel occupancy information corresponding to the serving cell i is the channel non-occupancy time, the terminal device can refrain from performing downlink measurement for the serving cell i, refrain from receiving downlink data from the serving cell i, refrain from sending HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell i is invalid during this channel non-occupancy time.

[0129] For example, assume that the first indication information includes three cell identifiers A1, A2, and A3, the channel occupancy time corresponding to the cell identifier A2 among the three cell identifiers, and the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to each of the two cell identifiers A1 and A3 among the three cell identifiers. Assume that the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device include the serving cell A1 of the terminal device. Since the network device configures downlink resources for the terminal device, the terminal device can determine, based on the first indication information, the channel occupancy information corresponding to the serving cell A1 of the terminal device included in the downlink resources. Since the channel occupancy information corresponding to the serving cell A1 in the first indication information is the channel non-occupancy time, the terminal device can refrain from performing downlink measurement for the serving cell A1, refrain from receiving downlink data from the serving cell A1, refrain from sending HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell A1 is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to the cell identifier A1. Similarly, assume that the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device include the serving cell A2 of the terminal device. Since the channel occupancy information corresponding to the serving cell A2 in the first indication information is the channel occupancy time, the terminal device can perform downlink measurement for the serving cell A2, and / or receive downlink data from the serving cell A2 during the channel occupancy time corresponding to the cell identifier A2.

[0130] In an embodiment of the present application, a network device performs omnidirectional LBT to obtain an LBT result, and sends first indication information to a terminal device; in a case where the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, if the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device receives downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier or performs downlink measurement for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier within the channel occupancy time included in the first indication information. In a case where the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, if the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device does not receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, does not perform downlink measurement for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell identified by the cell identifier is invalid within the channel non-occupancy time included in the first indication information. In an embodiment of the present application, when the network side fails to preempt the channel of the serving cell included in the downlink resources configured for the terminal device, it does not receive downlink data from this serving cell, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, does not perform downlink measurement for this serving cell, or determines that the downlink measurement result for this serving cell is invalid. Thereby, unnecessary measurements are reduced, and the energy consumption of the terminal device is reduced.

[0131] The communication method of the embodiment of the present application is elaborated in detail above. To facilitate better implementation of the above solution of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a corresponding device or equipment.

[0132] See Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 5 shown, the terminal device 10 may include:

[0133] The first transceiver unit 11 is configured to receive first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate the channel occupancy information of the network device; a measurement unit 12 is configured to perform a downlink measurement within the channel occupancy time when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device; and / or, the first transceiver unit 11 is further configured to receive downlink data within the channel occupancy time when the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device; the measurement unit 12 is further configured to not perform a downlink measurement or determine that the downlink measurement result is invalid within the channel non-occupancy time when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the network device; and / or, the first transceiver unit 11 is further configured to not receive downlink data and not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data when the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the network device. Wherein, the channel occupancy information includes a channel occupancy time or a channel non-occupancy time.

[0134] In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy information corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier; or, the first indication information includes a cell identifier and channel occupancy information.

[0135] In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. Specifically, the measurement unit 12 is configured to, when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, and when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, perform a downlink measurement on the first beam within the channel occupancy time of the first beam; and / or, specifically, the first transceiver unit 11 is configured to, when the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, and when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, receive downlink data from the first beam within the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and the at least one beam identifier includes the beam identifier of the first beam.

[0136] In some feasible embodiments, the above first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel unoccupied time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. The measurement unit 12 is further specifically configured to, when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, and when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, not perform downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam or determine that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid; and / or, the first transceiver unit 11 is further specifically configured to, when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, and when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, not receive downlink data from the first beam or not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam.

[0137] In some feasible embodiments, the above first indication information further includes the identifier of the TRP to which each beam identified by the at least one beam identifier belongs and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam.

[0138] In some feasible embodiments, the above first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel occupied time. The measurement unit 12 is specifically configured to, when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel occupied time of the network device, and when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, perform downlink measurement on the serving cell identified by the cell identifier during the channel occupied time; and / or, the first transceiver unit 11 is specifically configured to, when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel occupied time of the network device, and when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier during the channel occupied time.

[0139] In some feasible implementations, the first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel occupied time. The measurement unit 12 is further specifically used for not performing downlink measurement on the service cell identified by the cell identifier during the channel unoccupied time or determining that the downlink measurement result on the service cell is invalid when the beam identifier included in the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit 11 indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, or when the beam identifier included in the first indication information includes the beam identifier of the first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device; and / or, the first transceiver unit 11 is further specifically used for receiving downlink data from the service cell identified by the cell identifier during the channel unoccupied time or not sending HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data.

[0140] In some feasible implementations, the first indication information is carried on a group common physical downlink control channel GC-PDCCH.

[0141] In some feasible implementations, the above-mentioned downlink measurement includes downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement, and the downlink signal measurement includes one or more of the following: channel state information CSI measurement, beam reference signal received power RSRP measurement or beam fault detection; the downlink channel measurement includes physical downlink control channel PDCCH detection.

[0142] The measuring unit 12 may be a processing unit.

[0143] In the specific implementation, the implementation of each module or unit can also refer to Figure 2 or Figure 4 The corresponding description of the terminal device in the illustrated embodiment executes the method and functions executed by the terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0144] In the embodiment of the present application, when the network side seizes the channel and the network side configures the corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device 10, the terminal device 10 performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data within the channel occupied time indicated by the first indication information; when the network side fails to seize the channel, even if the network side configures the corresponding downlink resources for the terminal device 10, the terminal device 10 does not need to perform downlink measurement, receive downlink data, send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result is invalid within the channel unoccupied time indicated by the first indication information. This reduces unnecessary measurements, eliminates downlink measurement failures caused by the network side failing to seize the channel, and improves measurement efficiency and the accuracy of measurement results.

[0145] See Figure 6 , Figure 6 which is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 6 shown, the network device 20 may include:

[0146] A second transceiver unit 21, configured to send first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate channel occupancy information of the network device, and the channel occupancy information includes channel occupancy time or channel non-occupancy time. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device performs downlink measurement and / or receives downlink data during the channel occupancy time. When the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the network device, the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement, does not receive downlink data, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time.

[0147] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned network device 20 further includes a listen-before-talk LBT unit 22. The LBT unit 22 is configured to perform beam-based LBT or omnidirectional LBT to obtain an LBT result.

[0148] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and channel occupancy information corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier; or, the first indication information includes a cell identifier and channel occupancy information.

[0149] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel occupancy time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the network device, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate that when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, the terminal device performs downlink measurement for the first beam and / or receives downlink data from the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and the at least one beam identifier includes the beam identifier of the first beam.

[0150] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information includes at least one beam identifier and the channel unoccupied time corresponding to each beam identifier in the at least one beam identifier. When the first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, the first indication information is further specifically used to indicate that: when there is a beam identifier of a first beam included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device among the beam identifiers included in the first indication information, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement on the first beam, does not receive downlink data from the first beam, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid during the channel unoccupied time of the first beam.

[0151] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information may further include the identifier of the TRP to which each beam identified by the at least one beam identifier belongs, and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam.

[0152] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel occupied time. When the first indication information indicates the channel occupied time of the network device, the first indication information is specifically used to indicate that: when the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device receives downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier or performs downlink measurement on the serving cell during the channel occupied time.

[0153] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information includes a cell identifier and a channel unoccupied time. When the first indication information indicates the channel unoccupied time of the network device, the first indication information is further specifically used to indicate that: when the cell identifier included in the first indication information is the identifier of the serving cell included in the downlink resources configured by the network device for the terminal device, the terminal device does not receive downlink data from the serving cell identified by the cell identifier, does not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, does not perform downlink measurement on the serving cell, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the serving cell is invalid during the channel unoccupied time.

[0154] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned first indication information may be carried on the GC-PDCCH.

[0155] In some feasible embodiments, the above-mentioned downlink measurement may include downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement. The downlink signal measurement may include one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

[0156] Among them, the above-mentioned LBT unit 22 may be a processing unit.

[0157] In specific implementation, the implementation of each module or unit can also correspondingly refer to Figure 2 or Figure 4 the corresponding description of the network device in the embodiments shown, and execute the methods and functions performed by the network device in the above embodiments.

[0158] Refer to Figure 7 , Figure 7 which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 7 shown, the communication device 1000 provided by the embodiment of the present application includes a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a transceiver 1003, and a bus system 1004. The communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device.

[0159] Among them, the above-mentioned processor 1001, memory 1002, and transceiver 1003 are connected through the bus system 1004.

[0160] The above-mentioned memory 1002 is used to store programs. Specifically, the program can include program codes, and the program codes include computer operation instructions. The memory 1002 includes but is not limited to a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). Figure 7 Only one memory is shown in , of course, the memory can also be set to multiple according to needs. The memory 1002 can also be the memory in the processor 1001, which is not limited here.

[0161] The memory 1002 stores the following elements, executable units or data structures, or subsets thereof, or extended sets thereof:

[0162] Operation instructions: including various operation instructions for implementing various operations.

[0163] Operating system: including various system programs for implementing various basic services and processing hardware-based tasks.

[0164] The above-mentioned processor 1001 controls the operation of the communication device 1000. The processor 1001 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs). When the processor 1001 is a single CPU, the CPU can be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0165] In a specific application, each component of the communication device 1000 is coupled together through a bus system 1004. In addition to including a data bus, the bus system 1004 may further include a power bus, a control bus, a status signal bus, etc. However, for the sake of clear illustration, in Figure 7 all kinds of buses are labeled as the bus system 1004. For ease of representation, Figure 7 it is only schematically shown in

[0166] The above-mentioned method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 2 or Figure 4 any one of them, or the method of the terminal device disclosed in each of the above embodiments; or the above-mentioned method provided by the embodiments of the present application Figure 2 or Figure 4 any one of them, or the method of the network device in each of the above embodiments can be applied to or implemented by the processor 1001. The processor 1001 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit in the hardware of the processor 1001 or the instructions in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor 1001 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by the hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. This storage medium is located in the memory 1002, and the processor 1001 reads the information in the memory 1002 and combines its hardware to execute Figure 2 or Figure 4 any one of the described method steps of the terminal device; or combine its hardware to execute Figure 2 or Figure 4 any one of the described method steps of the network device.

[0167] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which includes computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute Figure 2 or Figure 4 the method steps of the terminal device described; or when the computer program code runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute Figure 2 or Figure 4 the method steps of the network device described.

[0168] The embodiments of the present application further provide a device, and the device may be a chip. The chip includes a processor. The processor is used to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory to execute Figure 2 or Figure 4 the communication method in any possible implementation manner. Optionally, the chip further includes a memory, and the memory is connected to the processor through a circuit or a wire. Further optionally, the chip further includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive data and / or information that needs to be processed. The processor obtains the data and / or information from the communication interface, processes the data and / or information, and outputs the processing result through the communication interface. The communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0169] Optionally, the above-mentioned processor and memory may be physically independent units, or the memory may also be integrated with the processor.

[0170] In another embodiment of the present application, a communication system is further provided. The communication system includes a terminal device and a network device. Exemplarily, the terminal device may be Figure 2 or Figure 4 the terminal device in the shown embodiment, and the network device may be Figure 2 or Figure 4 the network device in the shown embodiment.

[0171] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the methods of the above embodiments can be completed by relevant hardware instructed by a computer program. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it may include the processes of the above method embodiments. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media such as ROM or random access memory RAM, magnetic disk, or optical disc that can store program code.

[0172] As mentioned above, the above is only the specific implementation manner of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present application can easily think of changes or substitutions, which should all be covered by the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, it includes: A terminal device receives first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information includes N beam identifiers, channel occupancy times corresponding to K of the N beam identifiers respectively, and channel non-occupancy times corresponding to N-K of the N beam identifiers respectively; the N beam identifiers include the beam identifier of a first beam; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 1; When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the first beam, the terminal device performs downlink measurement on the first beam and / or receives downlink data from the first beam within the channel occupancy time of the first beam; When the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam, the terminal device does not perform downlink measurement on the first beam, does not receive downlink data from the first beam, does not send hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determines that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid within the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the first indication information further includes the identifier of the transmission and reception point TRP to which each beam identified by the N beam identifiers belongs and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, the first indication information is carried on a group common physical downlink control channel GC-PDCCH.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, the downlink measurement includes downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement, and the downlink signal measurement includes one or more of the following: channel state information CSI measurement, beam reference signal received power RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes physical downlink control channel PDCCH detection.

5. A communication method, characterized in that, it includes: A network device sends first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information includes N beam identifiers, channel occupancy times corresponding to K of the N beam identifiers respectively, and channel non-occupancy times corresponding to N-K of the N beam identifiers respectively; the N beam identifiers include the beam identifier of a first beam, N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 1; When the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the first beam, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform downlink measurement on the first beam and / or receive downlink data from the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam. When the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device not to perform downlink measurement on the first beam, not to receive downlink data from the first beam, not to send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, the first indication information further includes the identifier of the TRP to which each beam identified by the N beam identifiers belongs and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein, the first indication information is carried on the GC-PDCCH.

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein, the downlink measurement includes downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement, and the downlink signal measurement includes one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

9. A terminal device, wherein, comprising: a first transceiver unit, configured to receive first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information includes N beam identifiers, the channel occupancy time corresponding to each of the K beam identifiers among the N beam identifiers, and the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to each of the N-K beam identifiers among the N beam identifiers; the N beam identifiers include the beam identifier of the first beam; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 1; a measurement unit, configured to perform downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit indicates the channel occupancy time of the first beam; and / or, the first transceiver unit is further configured to receive downlink data from the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam when the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the first beam; the measurement unit is further configured to not perform downlink measurement on the first beam during the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam or determine that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid when the first indication information received by the first transceiver unit indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam; and / or, the first transceiver unit is further configured to not receive downlink data from the first beam and not send HARQ feedback corresponding to the downlink data when the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam.

10. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein, The first indication information further includes the identifier of the TRP to which each beam identified by the N beam identifiers belongs and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam.

11. The terminal device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein, the first indication information is carried on a group common physical downlink control channel GC-PDCCH.

12. The terminal device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein, the downlink measurement includes downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement, and the downlink signal measurement includes one or more of the following: channel state information CSI measurement, beam reference signal received power RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes physical downlink control channel PDCCH detection.

13. A network device, wherein, comprising: A second transceiver unit, configured to send first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information includes N beam identifiers, the channel occupancy time corresponding to each of the K beam identifiers among the N beam identifiers, and the channel non-occupancy time corresponding to each of the N-K beam identifiers among the N beam identifiers; the N beam identifiers include the beam identifier of a first beam, N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 1; when the first indication information indicates the channel occupancy time of the first beam, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform downlink measurement and / or receive downlink data from the first beam during the channel occupancy time of the first beam, and when the first indication information indicates the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device not to perform downlink measurement, not to receive downlink data from the first beam, not to send HARQ feedback corresponding to downlink data, or determine that the downlink measurement result for the first beam is invalid during the channel non-occupancy time of the first beam.

14. The network device according to claim 13, wherein, the first indication information further includes the identifier of the TRP to which each beam identified by the N beam identifiers belongs and / or the identifier of the serving cell covered by each beam.

15. The network device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, the first indication information is carried on the GC-PDCCH.

16. The network device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein, the downlink measurement includes downlink signal measurement and / or downlink channel measurement, and the downlink signal measurement includes one or more of the following: CSI measurement, beam RSRP measurement, or beam failure detection; the downlink channel measurement includes PDCCH detection.

17. A terminal device, wherein, comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to transmit and receive information or messages, and the computer program includes program instructions, and when the processor runs the program instructions, the terminal device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-4.

18. A network device, characterized in that, it includes a processor, a transceiver, and a memory. Among them, the memory is used to store computer programs, the transceiver is used to send and receive information or messages, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the processor runs the program instructions, the network device executes the method according to any one of claims 5-8.

19. A communication system, characterized in that, it includes a terminal device and a network device, where: the terminal device is the terminal device according to any one of claims 9-12; the network device is the network device according to any one of claims 13-16.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, on which computer program instructions are stored. When it runs on a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1-4.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, on which computer program instructions are stored. When it runs on a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 5-8.

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