A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The application relates to a communication method and device. An access network device receives a first paging message from a core network device, the first paging message comprising an identifier of a first terminal device, and the first paging message further indicating a first group to which the first terminal device belongs. The access network device determines a second group corresponding to the first group, and pages the first terminal device according to a first paging mode corresponding to the second group. The terminal device is grouped in the embodiment of the application, different paging modes can be used for terminal devices in different groups, so that the power consumption of the terminal device can be saved, and the probability of false alarm can be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] Terminal devices listen for paging schedules during paging occasions (POs) and detect paging messages based on the schedules. A PO is a special subframe within a paging frame (PF). After determining the PF, the terminal device can determine the PO by looking up a table. Currently, terminal devices determine the PF using their unique identifier (ID) and corresponding configuration. Multiple terminal devices may determine the same PF, and consequently, multiple terminal devices may determine the same PO.

[0003] In addition, to reduce the power consumption of the terminal in listening to paging scheduling and detecting paging messages, a wake-up signal (WUS) is introduced before each PO. Only when the terminal device detects the WUS before the PO does it need to listen to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in the corresponding PO in the traditional way, and then listen to the paging message.

[0004] As mentioned earlier, it's possible for multiple terminal devices to correspond to the same Page Receiver (PO), leading to paging false alarms. For example, if 100 terminal devices in a cell identify the same PO, all 100 devices will listen to that PO or its corresponding Message Usage Information (WUS). If the base station needs to page one or more of these 100 devices, it must send the corresponding WUS before the PO. In this situation, other unpaged terminal devices will also hear the WUS and be woken up to listen to the PDCCH and paging messages, resulting in a paging false alarm. For unpaged terminal devices, listening to the PDCCH and paging messages after the WUS is meaningless and only incurs additional power loss. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method and apparatus for reducing power consumption of terminal devices caused by paging.

[0006] In a first aspect, a first communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving a first paging message from a core network device, the first paging message including an identifier of a first terminal device, and the first paging message further indicating a first group to which the first terminal device belongs; determining a second group corresponding to the first group; and paging the first terminal device according to a first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0007] This method can be executed by a first communication device, which can be a communication device or a communication device capable of supporting the functions required for the method to be implemented, such as a chip. Exemplarily, the first communication device is a network device, or a chip disposed within a network device for implementing the functions of the network device, or other components for implementing the functions of the network device. In the following description, the first communication device is exemplified as a network device. Exemplarily, the network device is an access network device, such as a base station.

[0008] In this embodiment, the terminal devices are grouped, and different paging methods can be used for terminal devices in different groups. For a single terminal device, if it is determined through listening that the paging method is not the paging method of the group to which the terminal device belongs, then the terminal device does not need to listen for paging messages, etc. In this way, the power consumption of the terminal device can be saved and the probability of false alarms can be reduced.

[0009] Furthermore, access network devices are not limited to the core network devices' grouping; they can set up new groups themselves, requiring only the establishment of a mapping relationship between the two grouping methods, thus imposing fewer restrictions on the access network devices. Moreover, if the core network devices have finer grouping granularity—for example, grouping according to the probability values ​​corresponding to paging probability parameters, with a granularity of 5%—then the core network devices can divide into 20 groups. If the access network devices do not set up new groups themselves, paging methods need to be configured for each of these 20 groups, and the access network devices may not support so many paging methods. In this embodiment, the access network devices can further group according to a second grouping method. For example, the access network devices also group according to the probability values ​​corresponding to paging probability parameters, but with a granularity of 25%, then the core network devices can divide into 4 groups, and the access network devices can establish a mapping relationship between the two grouping methods. Therefore, the access network devices only need to support a fewer paging methods to complete paging, making it more flexible, and the access network devices can determine the corresponding paging method for each terminal device included in each group divided by the core network devices.

[0010] In one optional implementation, the first paging message indicates the first group to which the first terminal device belongs, including:

[0011] The first paging message includes information about the first packet; or,

[0012] The first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs.

[0013] The first paging message indicating the first group can include different scenarios. For example, one scenario is that the first paging message includes information about the first group. In this case, the first group is a group under the first grouping method. For instance, if the core network device determines that the first terminal device belongs to the first group under the first grouping method, the core network device can include the information of the first group in the first paging message. Another scenario is that the first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs. In this case, the first group is considered a default group (e.g., called the second default group), meaning that terminal devices that do not belong to any group under the first grouping method can be considered to belong to the first group. For instance, if the core network device does not determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs under the first grouping method, or if the core network device determines that the first terminal device does not belong to any group under the first grouping method, then the first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs. Through the methods provided in this application embodiment, even if the core network device does not determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs under the first grouping method, or if the core network device determines that the first terminal device does not belong to any group under the first grouping method, the first terminal device can still be considered to belong to the first group (second default group), thus enabling each terminal device to be assigned to the corresponding group.

[0014] In one optional implementation, the first paging message includes information about the first group, and determining the second group corresponding to the first group includes:

[0015] The second group is determined based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group.

[0016] If the first paging message includes information about the first packet, and the mapping relationship between the first packet mode and the second packet mode includes information about the first packet, then the access network device can determine the second packet corresponding to the first packet in the mapping relationship, that is, determine the second packet corresponding to the first terminal device under the second packet mode.

[0017] In one optional implementation, the first paging message does not include information about the first group, and determining the second group corresponding to the first group includes:

[0018] Based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group, it is determined that the first terminal device does not correspond to any group;

[0019] Determine the second group.

[0020] For example, if the first paging message includes information about the first packet, and the mapping relationship between the first packet method and the second packet method does not include information about the first packet, then the access network device can determine the second packet corresponding to the first packet. Alternatively, if the first paging message does not include information about the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet method, it can also be considered that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet under the first packet method. In this case, the access network device can also determine that the first terminal device corresponds to the second packet.

[0021] In one alternative implementation,

[0022] The second group is the default group; or,

[0023] Determining that the first group corresponds to the second group includes: determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on a second parameter.

[0024] For example, the second group is the first default group. The first default group can be understood as any terminal device that cannot be mapped to this relationship being considered to belong to the first default group. The first default group can correspond to a default paging method, or a default paging method. The default paging method corresponding to the first default group can be specified through a protocol or pre-configured in the access network device and the terminal device. Alternatively, the access network device can determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs based on a second parameter. That is, even if there is no group corresponding to the first group in the mapping relationship, the access network device can still determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs under the second grouping method. For example, if the access network device determines that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on the second parameter, then the access network device can listen for paging control information according to the paging method corresponding to the second group. This "fallback" approach allows more terminal devices to be paged.

[0025] In one optional implementation, paging the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group includes:

[0026] Send the first paging control information corresponding to the second group to page the first terminal device.

[0027] In the embodiments of this application, different paging methods can correspond to different paging control information, or it can be understood that different paging control information sent by the access network device indicates the use of different paging methods. For example, paging method 1 corresponds to paging control information 1, paging method 2 corresponds to paging control information 2, and so on. The paging control information is, for example, WUS (or WUS sequence), or for example, PDCCH (or DCI) used to schedule paging messages. Of course, the paging control information can also be other information, and there are no specific limitations.

[0028] In one alternative implementation,

[0029] The first paging control information is the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0030] The first paging control information is the first DCI, which is scrambled by the first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or,

[0031] The first paging control information is a first DCI, which includes a first bit map, wherein the bit in the first bit map corresponding to the second group has a first value; or,

[0032] The first paging control information is the first DCI, and the first DCI includes the identifier of the second group.

[0033] If the paging control information is a WUS sequence, then different paging control information can refer to different WUS sequences (which can be understood as different codewords constituting the WUS sequence), or it can refer to different resource positions of the WUS sequence. The resource positions of the WUS sequence include, for example, one or more of the following: time domain resource positions of the WUS sequence, frequency domain resource positions of the WUS sequence, or code domain resource positions of the WUS sequence.

[0034] Alternatively, if the paging control information is DCI, then a difference in paging control information could refer to differences in the sub-mapping relationships included in the DCI, or differences in the RNTI used to scramble the DCI. If the difference in DCI refers to differences in the sub-mapping relationships included in the DCI, or in other words, differences in the information of the packets included in the DCI, then the packets refer to packets under the second packet mode. The information of the packets included in the DCI can include a bitmap, or it can include a packet identifier (e.g., a packet ID), or it can include both a bitmap and a packet identifier. For example, if the packet information includes a bitmap, then the DCI can include a first bitmap, which can include one or more bits, each of which corresponds to one or more packets under the second packet mode. If a bit in the first bitmap takes the first value, it indicates that one or more packets corresponding to that bit are being paged, or in other words, it indicates that the terminal devices included in one or more packets corresponding to that bit are being paged. For example, if the packet information includes the packet identifier, then if a DCI includes the identifier of the second packet, it indicates that the terminal device included in the second packet has been paged, while if a DCI does not include the identifier of the second packet, it indicates that the terminal device included in the second packet has not been paged.

[0035] In an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0036] Send a broadcast message, the broadcast message including the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group.

[0037] Essentially, the access network device can send a mapping relationship between the first and second packet modes, allowing the terminal device to obtain this mapping relationship and determine the corresponding paging mode. For example, the access network device can send this mapping relationship via a broadcast message, enabling multiple terminal devices to obtain the mapping relationship while saving signaling overhead. This broadcast message can be, for example, a system message, or other broadcast messages.

[0038] In one optional implementation, the broadcast message further includes information about the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0039] For example, if the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship (or sub-mapping relationship) between a first group and a second group, then the broadcast message may include the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group. The terminal device receiving the broadcast message can then determine the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group. Optionally, if the mapping relationship includes paging method information, the broadcast message may also include information about the paging method corresponding to the second group (e.g., the first paging method). For example, if the first paging method is a paging method scrambled using the RNTI corresponding to the second group, then the broadcast message may indicate this RNTI. However, if the paging method information corresponding to each group under the second group method is defined by a protocol, then the broadcast message may not need to include the paging method information corresponding to the second group. If the mapping relationship also includes other sub-mapping relationships, the access network device sends each sub-mapping relationship in a similar manner.

[0040] Secondly, a second communication method is provided, the method comprising: determining, based on first information indicating that the first terminal device belongs to the first group, the second group corresponding to the first group; and listening to first paging control information according to a first paging mode corresponding to the second group.

[0041] This method can be executed by a second communication device, which can be a communication device or a communication device capable of supporting the functions required for the method to be implemented, such as a chip. Exemplarily, the second communication device is a terminal device, or a chip disposed in a terminal device for implementing the functions of the terminal device, or other components for implementing the functions of the terminal device. In the following description, the second communication device is assumed to be a first terminal device.

[0042] The first terminal device can determine the second group to which it belongs, and thus determine the paging method corresponding to that group, such as the first paging method, which corresponds to the first paging control information. The first terminal device can then listen to the first paging control information. If it detects the first paging control information, it indicates that the first terminal device has been paged, and it can continue listening to paging messages. However, if the detected paging control information is not the first paging control information, the terminal device does not need to continue listening to paging messages. This method saves power consumption and reduces the probability of false alarms.

[0043] In one optional implementation, the first information is the information of the first group, and determining the second group corresponding to the first terminal device and the first group based on the first group information includes:

[0044] The second group is determined based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group.

[0045] In one optional implementation, the first information does not include any group information, and determining the second group corresponding to the first group for the first terminal device based on the first group information includes:

[0046] Based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group, it is determined that the first terminal device does not correspond to any group;

[0047] The first group is determined to correspond to the second group.

[0048] In one alternative implementation,

[0049] The second group is the default group; or,

[0050] Determining that the first group corresponds to the second group includes: determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on a second parameter.

[0051] In one optional implementation, listening to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group includes:

[0052] Listen to the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0053] The monitoring includes the first DCI of the first RNTI, the first RNTI corresponding to the second packet; or,

[0054] The monitoring includes a first DCI comprising a first bitmap, wherein the bit in the first bitmap corresponding to the second packet has a first value; or,

[0055] Listen to the first DCI that includes the identifier of the second packet.

[0056] In an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0057] Listen for paging messages based on the first paging control information.

[0058] If the first paging control information is detected, it indicates that the first terminal device has been paged. The first terminal device can continue to listen for paging messages, etc., so as to be able to receive the paging messages of the first terminal device and thus be able to perform corresponding operations according to the paging messages, such as entering the RRC connection state to send or receive data, etc.

[0059] For the technical effects of the second aspect or various alternative implementation methods, please refer to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementation methods.

[0060] Thirdly, a communication device is provided, such as the first communication device as described above. The first communication device is used to perform the methods described in the first aspect or any possible implementation. Specifically, the first communication device may include modules for performing the methods in the first aspect or any possible implementation, such as a processing module, and optionally, a transceiver module. Exemplarily, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, which may be different functional modules or the same functional module capable of performing different functions. Exemplarily, the first communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component disposed in a communication device. Exemplarily, the communication device is a network device. Exemplarily, the network device is an access network device. The following example uses an access network device as an example. For example, the transceiver module may also be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module may also be implemented by a processor (or processing circuitry). Alternatively, the sending module may be implemented by a transmitter, and the receiving module may be implemented by a receiver; the transmitter and receiver may be different functional modules or the same functional module capable of performing different functions. If the first communication device is a communication equipment, the transceiver is implemented, for example, through an antenna, feeder, and codec within the communication equipment. Alternatively, if the first communication device is a chip housed within the communication equipment, then the transceiver (or transmitter and receiver) is, for example, a communication interface within the chip that connects to the radio frequency transceiver components in the communication equipment to transmit and receive information via the radio frequency transceiver components. In the description of the third aspect, the first communication device will continue to be described using the example of an access network device, and specifically, the processing module and the transceiver module.

[0061] The transceiver module is configured to receive a first paging message from a core network device, the first paging message including an identifier of a first terminal device, and the first paging message further indicating a first group to which the first terminal device belongs;

[0062] The processing module is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first group;

[0063] The transceiver module is also used to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0064] In one optional implementation, the first paging message indicates the first group to which the first terminal device belongs, including:

[0065] The first paging message includes information about the first packet; or,

[0066] The first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs.

[0067] In one optional implementation, the first paging message includes information about the first group, and the processing module is configured to determine the second group corresponding to the first group in the following manner:

[0068] The second group is determined based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group.

[0069] In an optional implementation, the first paging message does not include information about the first group, and the processing module is configured to determine the second group corresponding to the first group in the following manner:

[0070] Based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group, it is determined that the first terminal device does not correspond to any group;

[0071] Determine the second group.

[0072] In one alternative implementation,

[0073] The second group is the default group; or,

[0074] The processing module is used to determine that the first group corresponds to the second group by determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on the second parameter.

[0075] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is configured to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0076] Send the first paging control information corresponding to the second group to page the first terminal device.

[0077] In one alternative implementation,

[0078] The first paging control information is the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0079] The first paging control information is the first DCI, which is scrambled by the first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or,

[0080] The first paging control information is a first DCI, which includes a first bit map, wherein the bit in the first bit map corresponding to the second group has a first value; or,

[0081] The first paging control information is the first DCI, and the first DCI includes the identifier of the second group.

[0082] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to send a broadcast message, the broadcast message including the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group.

[0083] In one optional implementation, the broadcast message further includes information about the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0084] For information on the technical effects of the third aspect or various alternative implementation methods, please refer to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementation methods.

[0085] Fourthly, a communication device is provided, such as the second communication device as described above. The second communication device is used to perform the methods described in the second aspect or any possible implementation. Specifically, the second communication device may include modules for performing the methods in the second aspect or any possible implementation, such as a processing module, and optionally, a transceiver module. Exemplarily, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, which may be different functional modules or the same functional module capable of performing different functions. Exemplarily, the second communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component disposed in a communication device. Exemplarily, the communication device is a terminal device, such as a first terminal device. The following example uses the second communication device as a first terminal device. For example, the transceiver module may also be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module may also be implemented by a processor (or processing circuitry). Alternatively, the transmitting module may be implemented by a transmitter, and the receiving module may be implemented by a receiver; the transmitter and receiver may be different functional modules or the same functional module capable of performing different functions. If the second communication device is a communication device, the transceiver may be implemented, for example, by an antenna, feeder, and codec in the communication device. Alternatively, if the second communication device is a chip located within a communication device, then the transceiver (or transmitter and receiver) is, for example, a communication interface within the chip that connects to the radio frequency transceiver components in the communication device to transmit and receive information via the radio frequency transceiver components. In the description of the fourth aspect, the second communication device will continue to be described using the example of a first terminal device, and taking the processing module and the transceiver module as examples.

[0086] The processing module is used to determine, based on the first information and the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group, that the first terminal device corresponds to the second group, wherein the first information is used to indicate that the first terminal device belongs to the first group;

[0087] The transceiver module is used to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0088] In one optional implementation, the first information is the information of the first group, and the processing module is used to determine the first terminal device corresponding to the second group based on the first group information and the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group in the following manner:

[0089] It is determined that in the mapping relationship, the first group corresponds to the second group.

[0090] In an optional implementation, the first information does not include any group information, and the processing module is configured to determine that the first terminal device corresponds to the second group based on the first group information and the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group in the following manner:

[0091] It is determined that, in the mapping relationship, the first group does not correspond to any group;

[0092] The first group is determined to correspond to the second group.

[0093] In one alternative implementation,

[0094] The second group is the default group; or,

[0095] The processing module is used to determine that the first group corresponds to the second group by determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on the second parameter.

[0096] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is configured to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0097] Listen to the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0098] The monitoring includes the first DCI of the first RNTI, the first RNTI corresponding to the second packet; or,

[0099] The monitoring includes a first DCI comprising a first bitmap, wherein the bit in the first bitmap corresponding to the second packet has a first value; or,

[0100] Listen to the first DCI that includes the identifier of the second packet.

[0101] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to listen for paging messages based on the first paging control information.

[0102] For the technical effects of the fourth aspect or various alternative implementation methods, please refer to the introduction of the technical effects of the second aspect or corresponding implementation methods.

[0103] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, such as the first communication device described above. The communication device includes a processor (or processing circuitry) and a communication interface for communicating with other devices or equipment. Optionally, a memory may also be included for storing computer instructions. The processor and memory are coupled to each other to implement the methods described in the first aspect or various possible embodiments. Alternatively, the first communication device may not include a memory, which may be located externally to the first communication device. The processor, memory, and communication interface are coupled to implement the methods described in the first aspect or various possible embodiments, or to perform the methods described in the twelfth aspect or any possible embodiment described below. For example, when the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory, the first communication device performs the methods described in the first aspect or any possible embodiment, or performs the methods described in the twelfth aspect or any possible embodiment described below. Exemplarily, the first communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component disposed in a communication device. Exemplarily, the communication device is a network device. Exemplarily, the network device is an access network device, such as a base station.

[0104] Wherein, if the first communication device is a communication equipment, the communication interface is implemented, for example, through a transceiver (or transmitter and receiver) in the communication equipment, such as through an antenna, feeder, and codec in the communication equipment. Alternatively, if the first communication device is a chip disposed in the communication equipment, then the communication interface is, for example, the chip's input / output interface, such as input / output pins, which is connected to the radio frequency transceiver component in the communication equipment to realize the transmission and reception of information through the radio frequency transceiver component.

[0105] A sixth aspect provides a communication device, such as the second communication device described above. The communication device includes a processor (or processing circuitry) and a communication interface for communicating with other devices or equipment. Optionally, it may also include a memory for storing computer instructions. The processor and memory are coupled to each other to implement the methods described in the second aspect or various possible embodiments. Alternatively, the second communication device may not include a memory, which may be located externally to the second communication device. The processor, memory, and communication interface are coupled to implement the methods described in the second aspect or various possible embodiments, or to perform the methods described in the thirteenth aspect or any possible embodiment described below. For example, when the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory, the second communication device performs the methods described in the second aspect or any possible embodiment, or performs the methods described in the thirteenth aspect or any possible embodiment described below. Exemplarily, the second communication device is a communication device, or a chip or other component disposed in a communication device. Exemplarily, the communication device is a terminal device, such as a first terminal device.

[0106] If the second communication device is a communication equipment, the communication interface is implemented, for example, through a transceiver (or transmitter and receiver) within the communication equipment. The transceiver may be implemented through an antenna, feeder, and codec within the communication equipment. Alternatively, if the second communication device is a chip within a communication equipment, the communication interface is, for example, the chip's input / output interface, such as input / output pins. This communication interface connects to the radio frequency transceiver components within the communication equipment to enable the transmission and reception of information via the radio frequency transceiver components.

[0107] In a seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the communication device described in the third aspect or the communication device described in the fifth aspect, as well as the communication device described in the fourth aspect or the communication device described in the sixth aspect.

[0108] Eighthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0109] A ninth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the second aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above.

[0110] In a tenth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, the computer program product being used to store a computer program that, when the computer program is run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in any of the possible embodiments of the first aspect above.

[0111] Eleventhly, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, the computer program product being used to store a computer program that, when the computer program is run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in the second aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above.

[0112] In a twelfth aspect, a third communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving a first paging message from a core network device, the first paging message including an identifier of a first terminal device; if the first paging message does not include information about the group of the first terminal device, determining that the terminal device corresponds to a second group, the second group being a default group; and paging the first terminal device according to a first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0113] This method can be executed by the first communication device.

[0114] In one optional implementation, determining that the terminal device corresponds to a second group includes: determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on a second parameter.

[0115] In one optional implementation, paging the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group includes:

[0116] Send the first paging control information corresponding to the second group to page the first terminal device.

[0117] In one alternative implementation,

[0118] The first paging control information is the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0119] The first paging control information is the first DCI, which is scrambled by the first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or,

[0120] The first paging control information is a first DCI, which includes a first bit map, wherein the bit in the first bit map corresponding to the second group has a first value; or,

[0121] The first paging control information is the first DCI, and the first DCI includes the identifier of the second group.

[0122] In an optional implementation, the method further includes:

[0123] Send a broadcast message, the broadcast message including the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group.

[0124] In one optional implementation, the broadcast message further includes information about the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0125] For information on the technical effects of the twelfth aspect or various alternative embodiments, please refer to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding embodiments.

[0126] In a thirteenth aspect, a fourth communication method is provided, the method comprising: if there is no group information to which the first terminal device belongs, determining that the first terminal device corresponds to a second group, the second group being a default group; and listening to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0127] This method can be executed by the second communication device.

[0128] In one optional implementation, determining that the first terminal device corresponds to the second group includes: determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on a second parameter.

[0129] In one optional implementation, listening to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group includes:

[0130] Listen to the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0131] The monitoring includes the first DCI of the first RNTI, the first RNTI corresponding to the second packet; or,

[0132] The monitoring includes a first DCI comprising a first bitmap, wherein the bit in the first bitmap corresponding to the second packet has a first value; or,

[0133] Listen to the first DCI that includes the identifier of the second packet.

[0134] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: listening to paging messages based on the first paging control information.

[0135] For information on the technical effects of the thirteenth aspect or various alternative implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects of the second aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0136] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, such as the first communication device described above, or the first communication device described in the fourth aspect.

[0137] The transceiver module is used to receive a first paging message from a core network device, wherein the first paging message includes the identifier of a first terminal device;

[0138] The processing module is configured to determine that the terminal device corresponds to a second group if the first paging message does not include the information of the group of the first terminal device, and the second group is a default group.

[0139] The transceiver module is also used to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0140] In one optional implementation, the processing module is configured to determine that the terminal device corresponds to the second group by determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on a second parameter.

[0141] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is configured to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0142] Send the first paging control information corresponding to the second group to page the first terminal device.

[0143] In one alternative implementation,

[0144] The first paging control information is the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0145] The first paging control information is the first DCI, which is scrambled by the first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or,

[0146] The first paging control information is a first DCI, which includes a first bit map, wherein the bit in the first bit map corresponding to the second group has a first value; or,

[0147] The first paging control information is the first DCI, and the first DCI includes the identifier of the second group.

[0148] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to send a broadcast message, the broadcast message including the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group.

[0149] In one optional implementation, the broadcast message further includes information about the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0150] For information on the technical effects of the fourteenth aspect or various alternative embodiments, please refer to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding embodiments.

[0151] In a fifteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, for example, the second communication device as described above, such as the second communication device described in the fifth aspect.

[0152] The processing module is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first terminal device if there is no group information to which the first terminal device belongs, and the second group is the default group;

[0153] The transceiver module is also used to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0154] In one optional implementation, the processing module is configured to determine that the first terminal device corresponds to the second group by determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on a second parameter.

[0155] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is configured to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0156] Listen to the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0157] The monitoring includes the first DCI of the first RNTI, the first RNTI corresponding to the second packet; or,

[0158] The monitoring includes a first DCI comprising a first bitmap, wherein the bit in the first bitmap corresponding to the second packet has a first value; or,

[0159] Listen to the first DCI that includes the identifier of the second packet.

[0160] In one optional implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to listen for paging messages based on the first paging control information.

[0161] For information on the technical effects of the fifteenth aspect or various alternative embodiments, please refer to the description of the technical effects of the second aspect or corresponding embodiments.

[0162] In a sixteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising the communication device described in the fourteenth aspect or the communication device described in the fifth aspect, and the communication device described in the fifteenth aspect or the communication device described in the sixth aspect.

[0163] In a seventeenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in the twelfth aspect or any possible embodiment described above.

[0164] A ninth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the thirteenth aspect or any of the possible embodiments described above.

[0165] In a tenth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, the computer program product being used to store a computer program that, when the computer program is run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in any of the possible embodiments of the twelfth aspect above.

[0166] Eleventhly, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, the computer program product being used to store a computer program that, when the computer program is run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in any of the thirteenth aspects or any possible embodiments thereof.

[0167] In this embodiment, the terminal devices are grouped, and different paging methods can be used for terminal devices in different groups, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal devices and reducing the probability of false alarms. Attached Figure Description

[0168] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the paging process for core network equipment;

[0169] Figure 2 A flowchart of the paging process for core network equipment;

[0170] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between PO and WUS within a PTW;

[0171] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an application scenario according to an embodiment of this application;

[0172] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0173] Figure 6 A schematic block diagram of an access network device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0174] Figure 7 A schematic block diagram of a first terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0175] Figure 8 A schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0176] Figure 9 Another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0177] Figure 10 Another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0178] Figure 11 This is another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0179] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application clearer, the embodiments of this application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0180] The following explanations of some terms used in the embodiments of this application are provided to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0181] 1) Terminal equipment, including equipment that provides voice and / or data connectivity to users, specifically including equipment that provides voice to users, or equipment that provides data connectivity to users, or equipment that provides both voice and data connectivity to users. For example, it may include a handheld device with wireless connectivity or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. This terminal equipment can communicate with the core network via a radio access network (RAN), exchanging voice or data with the RAN, or interacting with the RAN for both voice and data. The terminal equipment may include user equipment (UE), wireless terminal equipment, mobile terminal equipment, device-to-device (D2D) terminal equipment, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) terminal equipment, machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal equipment, Internet of Things (IoT) terminal equipment, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, access point (AP), remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device, etc. For example, it may include mobile phones (or "cellular" phones), computers with mobile terminal devices, portable, pocket-sized, handheld, or computer-embedded mobile devices, etc. Examples include personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). It also includes limited devices, such as those with low power consumption, limited storage capacity, or limited computing power. Examples include information sensing devices such as barcode scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), and laser scanners.

[0182] By way of example and not limitation, in this embodiment, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices or smart wearable devices, are a general term for devices that utilize wearable technology to intelligently design and develop everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not merely hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are feature-rich, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches or smart glasses, as well as those that focus on a specific type of application function and require the use of other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets, smart helmets, and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0183] The various terminal devices described above, if located in a vehicle (e.g., placed inside or installed inside a vehicle), can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices, also known as on-board units (OBUs).

[0184] In this embodiment, the terminal device may further include a relay. Alternatively, it can be understood that anything capable of data communication with a base station can be considered a terminal device.

[0185] In this application embodiment, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device itself, or it can be a device capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing the functions, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device. In this application embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the terminal device is used as an example to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0186] 2) Network devices, including access network (AN) devices such as base stations (e.g., access points), can refer to devices in the access network that communicate with wireless terminal devices over the air interface via one or more cells, or, for example, network devices in a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology such as roadside units (RSUs). Base stations can be used to convert received air frames to and from IP packets, acting as routers between terminal devices and the rest of the access network, which may include IP networks. RSUs can be fixed infrastructure entities supporting V2X applications and can exchange messages with other entities supporting V2X applications. Network devices can also coordinate the management of air interface attributes. For example, network equipment may include evolved base stations (NodeB, eNB, or e-NodeB) in LTE systems or long term evolution-advanced (LTE-A), or may include next-generation node B (gNB) in the 5th generation (5G) NR system (also referred to as NR system), or may include centralized units (CU) and distributed units (DU) in cloud radio access network (Cloud RAN) systems. The embodiments of this application are not limited.

[0187] Network equipment may also include core network equipment, such as mobility management entity (MME) in 4G systems, or access and mobility management function (AMF) or user plane function (UPF) in 5G systems.

[0188] In this application embodiment, the device for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device itself, or it can be a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing that function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the example of a network device being used to implement the function of the network device is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0189] 3) Radio Resource Control (RRC) status: Terminal devices have three RRC statuses: RRC connected, RRC idle, and RRC inactive.

[0190] RRC connected state (or simply connected state; in this article, "connected state" and "RRC connected state" are the same concept and the two terms can be used interchangeably): The terminal device has established an RRC connection with the network and can transmit data.

[0191] RRC idle state (or simply idle state; in this article, "idle state" and "RRC idle state" are the same concept and the two terms are interchangeable): The terminal device has not established an RRC connection with the network, and the base station has not stored the context of the terminal device. If the terminal device needs to transition from the RRC idle state to the RRC connected state, it needs to initiate an RRC connection establishment process.

[0192] RRC inactive state (or, can also be simply called inactive state. In this article, "deactivated state," "inactive state," "RRC inactive state," or "RRC deactivated state" are all the same concept and these terms are interchangeable): The terminal device previously entered the RRC connected state at the anchor base station, and then the anchor base station released the RRC connection, but the anchor base station saved the context of the terminal device. If the terminal device needs to re-enter the RRC connected state from the RRC inactive state, it needs to initiate an RRC connection recovery process (or RRC connection re-establishment process) at the currently camped base station. Because the terminal device may be in a mobile state, the base station currently camped by the terminal device and the anchor base station of the terminal device may be the same base station or different base stations. The RRC recovery process has shorter latency and lower signaling overhead than the RRC establishment process. However, the base station needs to save the context of the terminal device, which will consume the base station's storage overhead.

[0193] 4) Discontinuous reception (DRX): Simply put, under the DRX mechanism, the terminal device can periodically enter a sleep state without listening to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0194] 5) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of this application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0195] Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority, or importance of the multiple objects. For example, "first paging message" and "second paging message" are only used to distinguish different paging messages, and do not indicate that the size, content, sending order, priority, or importance of the two paging messages are different.

[0196] The preceding text introduced some terms and concepts involved in the embodiments of this application. The following text introduces the technical features involved in the embodiments of this application.

[0197] Mobile communication has profoundly changed people's lives, but the pursuit of higher-performance mobile communication has never ceased. To cope with the explosive growth of mobile data traffic, massive device connections, and the continuous emergence of new services and application scenarios, the fifth-generation mobile communication (5G) system will emerge. As a component of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT) is also experiencing rapid market demand growth.

[0198] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, based on cellular networks, have proposed solutions tailored to the characteristics of the Internet of Things (IoT), such as Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and Enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) networks. These leverage the characteristics of narrowband technology to carry IoT services. NB-IoT networks employ a new air interface technology independent of existing cellular networks (such as Long Term Evolution, LTE), resulting in lower cost for terminal devices and support for lower speeds and mobility. eMTC networks, as a sub-feature of existing cellular networks (such as LTE), can provide IoT service support within LTE networks specifically designed for the IoT. Compared to traditional cellular networks, IoT services and terminal devices have the following characteristics:

[0199] (1) Low data rate and long cycle: Compared with traditional cellular networks, IoT services generate smaller data packets and are usually not very sensitive to latency.

[0200] (2) Massive connectivity requirements: For large-scale deployment of smart water / electricity meters, smart homes, automobiles, wearable devices and other IoT terminal devices, there may be a large number of such terminal devices (more than tens of thousands) under one NB-IoT base station.

[0201] (3) Low cost requirement: Compared with existing cellular network terminals, NB-IoT requires lower cost of terminal devices in order to achieve massive deployment of terminal devices. The requirement of low cost requires that the implementation complexity of terminal devices be very low.

[0202] (4) Low power consumption requirement: NB-IoT requires terminal devices to consume less power, thereby saving battery power and ensuring long standby time, thus saving manpower costs for battery replacement.

[0203] (5) The service arrival rate is low. There is usually only one service every few hours or even more than a day. Moreover, a considerable portion of the services are triggered by uplink. That is, the network device will not page the terminal device. The network device will only send downlink response data when the terminal device has uplink services.

[0204] When a terminal device is in RRC idle or RRC inactive state, if the core network device needs to send downlink data to the terminal device, the core network device will first send a paging message to the terminal device to page it. After receiving the paging message, the terminal device will initiate an RRC connection establishment process to receive downlink data.

[0205] Terminal devices in the RRC idle or inactive state only "wake up" to receive paging messages during their own paging occasion (PO). At their PO, the terminal device first receives the PDCCH indicating the paging message, or in other words, receives the downlink control information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH. This DCI indicates the time and frequency resources for sending the paging message. After receiving the DCI, the terminal device receives the paging message according to its instructions. If the paging message carries the terminal device's ID, it indicates that the terminal device has been paged, and the terminal device needs to initiate an RRC connection establishment procedure to access the base station to receive downlink data. Alternatively, if the paging message does not carry the terminal device's ID, it indicates that the terminal device has not been paged, and the terminal device can continue to "sleep" until the next PO.

[0206] In the evolution of NB-IoT and eMTC networks, new features have been added to the standard in each version to continuously optimize system performance. For example, in version (Rel)-15, to reduce the power consumption of terminal devices listening to the PDCCH used for scheduling paging messages, WUS was introduced before each PO. Only when the terminal device detects WUS before the PO does it need to listen to the PDCCH in the corresponding PO in the traditional way, and then listen for paging messages.

[0207] In NB-IoT systems, paging is typically initiated by core network equipment, such as the MME or AMF. For example, the core network equipment sends a paging message to the base station containing information such as the ID of the paging terminal device. The base station then performs paging within the corresponding cell. If the terminal device receives the paging message, it sends a paging response to the core network equipment through the base station. To prevent unsuccessful paging on the first attempt, the core network equipment typically maintains a timer each time a paging message is sent. If no paging response is received from the terminal device when this timer expires, the core network equipment retransmits the paging message until a paging response is received. This process can be referenced in [reference needed]. Figure 1 .in, Figure 1 T3413 in the text refers to the aforementioned timer. As can be seen, during the first few paging processes, the core network device did not receive a paging response from the terminal device when timer T3413 expired. Therefore, the core network device would retransmit the signal line message when timer T3413 expired. Only when, after sending a paging message, the core network device received a paging response from the terminal device before timer T3413 expired, could the core network device stop sending paging messages.

[0208] The network element that actually uses wireless communication technology to page terminal devices over the air interface is the base station. In other words, the core network equipment sends the paging message to the base station, which then pages the terminal device over the air interface. For example, the paging process can be referenced... Figure 2 ,in, Figure 2 The process shown takes the MME as an example of a core network device.

[0209] S21. Whenever a terminal device enters the RRC connection state and communicates with the base station, it can send information to the base station about whether the terminal device supports the WUS feature. The base station can receive information from the terminal device about whether the terminal device supports the WUS feature.

[0210] Because not all terminal devices support WUS, some terminal devices may not support WUS detection. Therefore, terminal devices can send information about whether they support WUS to the network so that the network can use the appropriate paging method for that terminal device.

[0211] For example, this information can be carried in UE-RadioPagingInfo. After receiving this information, the base station can send it to the core network equipment so that the core network equipment can send it to the base station along with the paging message the next time it paging.

[0212] S22. The base station broadcasts the configuration information of WUS, and the terminal device receives the configuration information from the base station.

[0213] The configuration information for WUS includes, for example, the time-domain location of WUS or the duration of WUS. The terminal device can then receive WUS data based on this configuration information.

[0214] Steps 1 and 2 are preparatory steps.

[0215] S23. The MME sends a paging message. The MME sends the paging message to the base station, and the base station receives the paging message from the MME.

[0216] The paging message may include information such as the ID of the paged terminal device, and may also include information on whether the terminal device supports WUS features.

[0217] S24, Base station paging terminal equipment.

[0218] The base station can page terminal devices based on their WUS support capability. If the paged terminal device does not support WUS, the base station can use the traditional paging method, i.e., directly sending a PDCCH for scheduling paging messages on the PO. If the PDCCH schedules a paging message, then the paging message is sent subsequently; if the PDCCH does not schedule a paging message, then no paging message is sent subsequently, and the base station does not send WUS. If the paged terminal device supports WUS, the base station can send WUS before the PO to wake up the terminal device, and then send the PDCCH. Since sending WUS indicates that the PDCCH has scheduled a paging message, the base station will then send the paging message. Figure 2 Take WUS transmission from a base station as an example.

[0219] To further reduce power consumption, an extended DRX (eDRX) mechanism was introduced, extending the DRX cycle to a larger value. This allows terminal devices to "sleep" for a longer period before "waking up." A paging transmission window (PTW) is introduced in eDRX. One eDRX cycle includes one PTW, which contains one or more Points of Interest (POs). During an eDRX cycle, the terminal device will "wake up" at one or more POs in the PTW to receive paging messages until it successfully receives a paging message containing the terminal device's ID or the PTW ends.

[0220] For a terminal device, the relationship between PO and WUS within a PTW can be found by referring to [reference needed]. Figure 3 One WUS can correspond to one or more POs. The WUS is sent before the PO, according to the duration of the WUS as specified in the protocol (e.g., Figure 3 The maximum WUS duration and the duration of the gap before the point of origin (PO) are shown. After determining the PO, the terminal device can determine the time domain location of the WUS accordingly. Figure 3 T in DRX This represents the duration of one DRX cycle. The terminal device listens for the WUS at a defined time-domain location. If the WUS indicates that the terminal device will be paged at a subsequent PO, then the terminal device can listen for subsequent POs. If the WUS indicates that the terminal device will not be paged at a subsequent PO, then the terminal device does not need to listen for the PDCCH at the PO in the traditional way. Since the WUS is a simple sequence, for an unpaged terminal device, it only needs to listen for the WUS and does not need to listen for the PDCCH and perform the corresponding decoding operations. Therefore, the power consumption of listening for the WUS is less than the power consumption of listening for the PDCCH. Thus, the introduction of WUS helps save the power consumption of the terminal device listening for the PDCCH at the PO to receive paging messages.

[0221] A PO (Point of Interest) is a special subframe within a PF (Frame Context). After determining the PF, the terminal device can identify the PO by looking up a table. Currently, the terminal device determines the PF using its ID and corresponding configuration. For example, the system frame number (SFN) of the PF containing the PO detected by the terminal device in a DRX cycle, and the index of the PO within the PF corresponding to that SFN, can be determined using the following formula:

[0222] The SFN of PF satisfies:

[0223]

[0224] Index i of PO in this SFN s satisfy:

[0225]

[0226] In the formula above, SFN represents the system frame number of the paging frame, T represents the DRX period, and N represents the total number of PFs included in one DRX period. s This represents the number of POs contained in a PF, mod represents the modulo operation, UE_ID represents the quantity obtained based on the terminal device ID, and floor(x) represents rounding down x. Where T, N, and N... s The UE_ID is configured by the base station, while the UE_ID is determined based on the terminal device's ID. For example, the UE_ID can be the last 10 bits of the terminal device's 5G-short-temporary mobile subscriber identity (5G-S-TMSI).

[0227] Terminal devices can be based on i s and N s The Point of Purchase (PO) is determined by looking up a table. For example, for an FDD system, the PO for an NB-IoT system can be determined by looking up Table 1 below:

[0228] Table 1

[0229] <![CDATA[N s ]]> <![CDATA[PO(i s =0)]]> <![CDATA[PO(i s =1)]]> <![CDATA[PO(i s =2)]]> <![CDATA[PO(i s =3)]]> 1 9 N / A N / A N / A 2 4 9 N / A N / A 4 0 4 5 9

[0230] For example, N s =1, i s =0, then we can determine that the PO is a PF with the sequence number 9.

[0231] It is evident that the PF is related to the ID of the terminal device. Due to the modulo operation, the correspondence between the terminal device ID and the PF may be many-to-one, meaning that the same PF may correspond to the IDs of many terminal devices. Consequently, one PO may also correspond to the IDs of multiple terminal devices.

[0232] Since many terminal devices may correspond to the same Page Receiver (PO), paging false alarms can occur. For example, if 100 terminal devices in a cell identify the same PO, all 100 devices will listen to that PO or its corresponding Message Usage Information (WUS). If the base station needs to page one or more of these 100 devices, it needs to send the corresponding WUS before the PO. In this case, other unpaged terminal devices will also hear the WUS and be woken up to listen to the PDCCH and paging messages, which is the so-called paging false alarm. For unpaged terminal devices, listening to the PDCCH and paging messages after the WUS is meaningless and only incurs additional power loss.

[0233] Therefore, the technical solution of this application embodiment is provided. In this application embodiment, the terminal devices are grouped, and different paging methods can be used for terminal devices in different groups. For a terminal device, if it is determined by listening that the paging method is not the paging method of the group to which the terminal device belongs, then the terminal device does not need to listen to the paging message, etc. In this way, the power consumption of the terminal device can be saved and the probability of false alarms can be reduced.

[0234] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as LTE systems, or to 5G systems, such as NR systems, or to next-generation mobile communication systems or other similar communication systems, as long as one entity can initiate paging to another entity; no specific limitations are imposed. Furthermore, while this application describes the air interface communication process between network devices and terminal devices as an example, the technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to sidelinks (SL), as long as one terminal device can initiate paging to another terminal device. For example, the technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) scenarios, such as NR D2D or LTE D2D scenarios, or to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) scenarios, such as NR V2X or LTE V2X scenarios. For example, they can be applied to vehicle networking, such as V2X, LTE-V, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), or to fields such as intelligent driving and intelligent connected vehicles.

[0235] Please see Figure 4 This is one application scenario of an embodiment of this application. Figure 4 In this system, access network equipment serves terminal equipment via wireless transmission. Core network equipment can initiate paging of terminal equipment.

[0236] Figure 4 The core network equipment in the network is, for example, an MME or an AMF. Figure 4 The access network equipment in this context is, for example, a base station. The base station corresponds to different devices in different systems; for example, in a 4G system, it may correspond to a 4G base station, such as an eNB, while in a 5G system, it may correspond to a 5G base station, such as a gNB. Of course, the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment can also be applied to future mobile communication systems. Figure 4 The access network equipment in this context can also correspond to the access network equipment in future mobile communication systems. Figure 4 Taking a base station as an example of access network equipment, as mentioned earlier, access network equipment can also include devices such as RSUs (Remote Units). Furthermore, Figure 4 Taking a mobile phone as an example, the terminal device in this application is not limited to mobile phones, as can be seen from the previous introduction of the terminal device.

[0237] The method provided in the embodiments of this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0238] This application provides a communication method, please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 5 Here is a flowchart of the method. In the following description, this method will be applied to... Figure 4 The network architecture shown is an example.

[0239] For ease of explanation, the following description will use the example of this method being executed by a network device and a terminal device. This embodiment is based on an application in… Figure 4 Taking the network architecture shown below as an example, the core network equipment described below can be... Figure 4 The core network devices shown in the network architecture, and the access network devices mentioned below, can be... Figure 4 The access network devices shown in the network architecture, and the terminal devices mentioned below, can be... Figure 4 The terminal devices in the network architecture shown.

[0240] S501, the first terminal device sends second information to the core network device, and the core network device receives the second information from the terminal device. The second information can be used to determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs under the first grouping method. The first grouping method is a grouping method based on a first parameter, or it can also be called a classification method, etc. It can be understood that the core network device roughly classifies multiple terminal devices, so when the core network device pagees a terminal device, it only needs to carry the information of the group to which the terminal device belongs in the paging message. For example, the core network device can page each terminal device individually, and the paging message can include the information of the group to which the terminal device belongs under the first grouping method, and of course, it can also include the terminal device's identifier and other information. Another example is that the core network device can page a group of terminal devices together, that is, by sending a paging message to page a group of terminal devices, it only needs to include the information of the group in the paging message, without needing to carry the information corresponding to each terminal device separately in the paging message, which helps to reduce signaling overhead.

[0241] The second information may include, for example, the first value, or information about the first group, or it may include other information.

[0242] The first value is the value of the first terminal device corresponding to the first parameter. The first value can be used to determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode. This can be understood as follows: after obtaining the first value, the network device (e.g., the core network device) can determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode based on the first value.

[0243] As an optional implementation of the first parameter, the first parameter may be, for example, a paging probability parameter, which indicates the probability that the first terminal device will be paged. Therefore, the first value can be a value of the paging probability parameter.

[0244] For example, the first value can be a specific probability value. For instance, a first value of 85% indicates that the probability of the first terminal device being paged is 85%. This specific probability value can be determined by the first terminal device based on historical information. For example, the first terminal device can statistically analyze the number of paged messages received within a first time period and determine the specific probability.

[0245] For example, the first value can also be a paging probability range. For instance, the first value could indicate whether the probability of the first terminal device being paged is high, medium, or low. If the first value is a paging probability range, the first terminal device can also determine this based on historical information. For example, the first terminal device can statistically analyze the number of paging messages received within a first time period, but it doesn't need to determine the specific probability; it only needs to roughly determine whether the probability of receiving a page is high or low. Alternatively, in this case, the first terminal device can first determine the specific probability value, and it also knows the correspondence between the paging probability range and the probability value beforehand. For example, the probability range corresponding to high probability is [70%, 100%], the probability range corresponding to medium probability is [40%, 70%], and the probability range corresponding to low probability is [0%, 40%]. Then, after determining the probability value of the first terminal device being paged, it can determine which paging probability range that probability value corresponds to, and the first value can indicate that paging probability range. The correspondence between the paging probability range and the probability value can be pre-configured in the first terminal device, for example, pre-configured when the first terminal device leaves the factory or is repaired, or it can be specified by a protocol, or it can be configured and sent to the first terminal device by network equipment (such as core network equipment).

[0246] As another optional implementation of the first parameter, the first parameter can also be a service parameter. This service parameter, for example, instructs the first terminal device to perform an uplink service or a downlink service, or it can be understood as indicating whether the first terminal device is an uplink service trigger type or a downlink service trigger type. If the service parameter instructs the first terminal device to perform an uplink service, or indicates that the first terminal device is an uplink service trigger type, it can be understood that the first terminal device only performs uplink services, or that the probability of the first terminal device performing uplink services is greater than the probability of performing downlink services. If the service parameter instructs the first terminal device to perform a downlink service, or indicates that the first terminal device is a downlink service trigger type, it can be understood that the first terminal device only performs downlink services, or that the probability of the first terminal device performing downlink services is greater than the probability of performing uplink services. For example, if the first terminal device only performs uplink services, or the probability of performing uplink services is greater than the probability of performing downlink services, then the first terminal device can determine that the service parameter instructs it to perform uplink services (or determines that the service parameter instructs it to be an uplink service trigger type). Alternatively, if the first terminal device only performs downlink services, or the probability of performing downlink services is greater than the probability of performing uplink services, then the first terminal device can determine that the service parameter instructs it to perform downlink services (or determines that the service parameter instructs it to be a downlink service trigger type). The first terminal device can determine the service parameter based on the number of communications it makes within a unit of time. For example, if the number of communications it makes within a unit of time is less than a preset threshold, then it can be determined that it is an uplink service trigger type. Conversely, if the number of communications it makes within a unit of time is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, then it can be determined that it is a downlink service trigger type.

[0247] For example, when determining the group to which the first terminal device belongs based on its service parameters, these service parameters can also indicate the probability that the first terminal device will be paged. Terminal devices with different service characteristics have different probabilities of being paged. Thus, based on these service characteristics, terminal devices with a higher probability of being paged and those with a lower probability can be grouped into different groups. Therefore, although the service parameters of a terminal device do not explicitly reflect the probability of it being paged, they can indirectly indicate this probability. Generally, if the service parameters indicate that a terminal device is triggered by an uplink service, it can be understood that the probability of that terminal device being paged is low; conversely, if the service parameters indicate that the terminal device is triggered by a downlink service, it can be understood that the probability of that terminal device being paged is high.

[0248] For example, if the first terminal device is a water meter or electricity meter, such a terminal device generally only needs to send reading information to the network device (e.g., access network device), and the network device generally does not send downlink information to such a terminal device. Therefore, for such a terminal device, the service parameters can be determined to instruct the first terminal device to perform uplink services, or to indicate that the first terminal device is an uplink service trigger type. As another example, if the first terminal device is a street light, the network device (e.g., access network device) will generally send on / off signaling to such a terminal device to control its opening or closing; the terminal device generally does not send uplink information to the network device. Therefore, for such a terminal device, the service parameters can be determined to instruct the first terminal device to perform downlink services, or to indicate that the first terminal device is a downlink service trigger type.

[0249] Of course, the first parameter can also be other parameters, such as the ID of the terminal device, in which case the first value would be the ID of the first terminal device. There are no restrictions on what kind of parameter the first parameter can be.

[0250] Alternatively, the second information can also include information about the first group. The terminal device sends the second information to the core network device so that the core network device can determine the group to which the terminal device belongs under the first grouping method. In one scenario, the core network device informs the first terminal device of the grouping criteria under the first grouping method beforehand. After obtaining the first value of the first parameter corresponding to the first terminal device, the first terminal device can determine its group according to the grouping criteria under the first grouping method. That is, the first terminal device can determine the information of the first group, and the information of the first group indicates that the first terminal device belongs to the first group; the first group is the group under the first grouping method. The first grouping method can be a way of grouping terminal devices according to the value of the first parameter. The first terminal device sends the information of the first group to the core network device, and the core network device can determine that the first terminal device belongs to the first group without needing to perform further grouping operations, thus reducing the workload of the core network device. It should be noted that the first group can refer to any group under the first grouping method, not just the first group arranged in a certain order (e.g., according to the probability value). The "second group," etc., discussed later, have a similar meaning.

[0251] For example, if the first parameter is a paging probability parameter, and the first terminal device determines that the first value of the first parameter corresponding to the first terminal device is 65%, the core network device informs the first terminal device in advance that the probability value range of [80%, 100%) corresponds to packet 1, the probability value range of [60%, 80%) corresponds to packet 2, the probability value range of [40%, 60%) corresponds to packet 3, the probability value range of [20%, 40%) corresponds to packet 4, and the probability value range of [0%, 20%) corresponds to packet 5. Then, the first terminal device can determine that it belongs to packet 1, and can send the packet 1 information to the core network device. Thus, the core network device can determine that the first terminal device belongs to packet 1.

[0252] For example, the first terminal device can send the first information to the core network device through a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

[0253] S502, the core network equipment determines the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode. For example, if the core network equipment determines that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet under the first packet mode, then S502 can also be understood as the core network equipment determining the first packet information of the first terminal device, and the first packet information can indicate that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet.

[0254] If the core network device receives a first value from the first terminal device, it can assign the first terminal device to the corresponding group based on that first value. The first grouping method can be based on a first parameter, and the core network device can predetermine the criteria for dividing the F groups under this first grouping method. Alternatively, the criteria for dividing the F groups under this first grouping method can be specified through a protocol, where F is an integer greater than or equal to 1. For example, if the first parameter is a paging probability parameter, F = 5, the criteria for dividing the F groups are: group 1 has a probability value range of [80%, 100%]; group 2 has a probability value range of [60%, 80%]; group 3 has a probability value range of [40%, 60%]; group 4 has a probability value range of [20%, 40%]; and group 5 has a probability value range of [0%, 20%]. As another example, if the first parameter is a paging probability parameter, F = 3, the criteria for dividing the M groups are: high probability corresponds to group 1, medium probability corresponds to group 2, and low probability corresponds to group 3. For example, prior to S501, the core network equipment could inform the first terminal device in advance what type of first value (such as probability value or paging probability range) to send to the core network equipment, so that the first value sent by the terminal device could be used by the core network equipment to classify the first terminal device into one of the F packets.

[0255] For example, the classification criteria for F groups are as follows: group 1 corresponds to a probability value range of [80%, 100%]; group 2 corresponds to a probability value range of [60%, 80%]; group 3 corresponds to a probability value range of [40%, 60%]; group 4 corresponds to a probability value range of [20%, 40%]; and group 5 corresponds to a probability value range of [0%, 20%]. The core network device can then inform the first terminal device in advance that it needs to send a probability value to the core network device. For example, if the first terminal device sends a probability value of 85%, the core network device can classify the first terminal device into group 1.

[0256] For example, if the F groups are divided as follows: high probability corresponds to group 1, medium probability to group 2, and low probability to group 3, then the core network device can inform the first terminal device in advance of the probability range for sending a paging request. For instance, if the first terminal device sends a paging request with a low probability value, the core network device can assign the first terminal device to group 3.

[0257] Alternatively, if the core network device receives information from the first packet from the first terminal device, the core network device can determine that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, and no further subdivision is required.

[0258] Alternatively, since the core network equipment stores the registration information of the first terminal device, this information may include the service characteristics of the first terminal device. For example, the registration information can determine the probability (probability value or paging probability range) of the first terminal device being paged. Therefore, the core network equipment can also determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode based on its registration information. Alternatively, the core network equipment may store statistical information about the first terminal device. This statistical information may indicate, for example, the probability of the first terminal device being paged, or the service characteristics of the first terminal device. Therefore, the core network equipment can also determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode based on its statistical information. If either of these two cases applies, the first terminal device does not need to send the second information to the core network equipment; that is, S501 does not need to be executed, thus reducing signaling overhead.

[0259] S503, the core network equipment sends the information of the first packet to the first terminal equipment, and the first terminal equipment receives the information of the first packet from the access network equipment.

[0260] If the core network device determines that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet, it can send the information of the first packet to the first terminal device, thus enabling the terminal device to clearly understand that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet under the first packet method. For example, the core network device can send the information of the first packet to the first terminal device through a NAS message. If the second information sent by the terminal device is information of the first packet, the core network device can either send the information of the first packet to the first terminal device again, or it may choose not to send the information of the first packet to the first terminal device.

[0261] It should be noted that S501 to S503 can be viewed as a process by which the first terminal device and the core network device negotiate the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode. This negotiation process can be transparent to the access network device, meaning the access network device does not need to be aware of this negotiation process. Multiple terminal devices can determine their respective packet groups through the above negotiation process. Figure 5 In this example, the terminal device is the first terminal device. Furthermore, steps S501 to S503 are optional and not mandatory. Figure 5 The middle part is represented by a dashed line.

[0262] S504. The access network device determines M packets under the first packetization method based on the first parameter, and determines N packets under the second packetization method based on the second parameter. M and N are both integers greater than or equal to 1.

[0263] S504 can occur before S501 to S503, or S504 can occur after S501 to S503, or S504 and one of the steps in S501 to S503 can occur simultaneously.

[0264] For example, the second grouping method groups data based on a second parameter, while the first grouping method groups data based on a first parameter. The first parameter could be, for example, a paging probability parameter, a service parameter, or the ID of the terminal device, and the second parameter could be, for example, a paging probability parameter, a service parameter, or the ID of the terminal device.

[0265] Although the first packet method is the packet method adopted by the core network equipment, and the process of packet negotiation between the terminal equipment and the core network equipment is transparent to the access network equipment, the first packet method can be specified through a protocol, or the core network equipment can inform the access network equipment, meaning the access network equipment can know the first packet method. For example, M=F, the M packets divided by the access network equipment are the same as the F packets divided by the core network equipment. That is to say, the access network equipment and the core network equipment use the same packet method, which allows the mapping relationship determined by the access network equipment to be consistent with the packet method of the core network equipment, thereby enabling the access network equipment to determine the paging method corresponding to each terminal equipment as much as possible based on this mapping relationship. Alternatively, the M packets divided by the access network equipment may not be completely equivalent to the F packets. For example, some packets included in the F packets may not be included in the M packets, or the F packets may be completely different from the M packets, all of which are possible.

[0266] The first and second parameters can be the same type of parameter, such as both being paging probability parameters; or they can be different parameters, such as the first parameter being a paging probability parameter and the second parameter being a service parameter, or the first parameter being a paging probability parameter and the second parameter being the terminal device ID. If the first and second parameters are the same type of parameter, then the values ​​of the first and second parameters can be of the same type, such as both being probability values; or the values ​​of the first and second parameters can be of different types, such as the first parameter being a probability value and the second parameter being a paging probability range.

[0267] For example, the second parameter is the paging probability parameter, N=4. The four groups divided by the access network device are: group 1 with a probability value range of [75%, 100%], group 2 with a probability value range of [50%, 75%), group 3 with a probability value range of [25%, 50%), and group 4 with a probability value range of [0, 25%).

[0268] For example, the second parameter is the paging probability parameter, N=2, and the two groups divided by the access network equipment are: high probability corresponds to group 1, and low probability corresponds to group 2.

[0269] For example, the second parameter is the ID of the terminal device, and the access network device can divide the terminal device into N groups according to the possible values ​​of the terminal device's ID.

[0270] The method of grouping according to the first parameter is similar, so I won't go into details.

[0271] S505, The access network equipment establishes a mapping relationship between M packets and N packets.

[0272] If an access network device divides the network into M packets based on a first parameter and N packets based on a second parameter, then the access network device can establish a mapping relationship between the M packets and the N packets. This can be understood as the access network device mapping the M packets to the N packets, such that each of the M packets corresponds to one or more packets in the N packets, or vice versa. Furthermore, the mapping relationship between the M and N packets can be understood as including P sub-mapping relationships, where each of the P sub-mapping relationships is a mapping relationship between one packet in the M packets and one packet in the N packets, and P is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0273] Furthermore, the access network device can associate a paging method with each of the P sub-mapping relationships, where one sub-mapping relationship corresponds to one paging method, and one paging method can correspond to one or more sub-mapping relationships. For example, sub-mapping relationship 1 in the P sub-mapping relationships corresponds to paging method 1, and sub-mapping relationship 2 in the P sub-mapping relationships corresponds to paging method 2. Alternatively, this can be understood as the access network device associating a paging method with each packet under the second packet mode, where one packet under the second packet mode corresponds to one paging method, and one paging method can correspond to one or more packets under the second packet mode. In the embodiments of this application, different paging methods can correspond to different paging control information, or it can be understood that different paging control information sent by the access network device indicates the use of different paging methods. For example, paging method 1 corresponds to paging control information 1, paging method 2 corresponds to paging control information 2, and so on. Paging control information is, for example, WUS (or WUS sequence), or, for example, PDCCH (or DCI) used to schedule paging messages.

[0274] If the paging control information is a WUS sequence, then different paging control information can refer to different WUS sequences (which can be understood as different codewords constituting the WUS sequence), or it can refer to different resource positions of the WUS sequence. The resource positions of the WUS sequence include, for example, one or more of the following: time domain resource positions of the WUS sequence, frequency domain resource positions of the WUS sequence, or code domain resource positions of the WUS sequence. For example, given two WUS sequences, if their time-domain resource positions are different, then their resource positions are considered different; or, if their frequency-domain resource positions are different, then their resource positions are considered different; or, if their code-domain resource positions are different, then their resource positions are considered different; or, if their frequency-domain resource positions and time-domain resource positions are both different, then their resource positions are considered different; or, if their time-domain resource positions and code-domain resource positions are both different, then their resource positions are considered different; or, if their time-domain resource positions, frequency-domain resource positions, and code-domain resource positions are all different, then their resource positions are considered different.

[0275] For example, different paging control information means different WUS sequences. Paging control mode 1 corresponds to WUS sequence 1, and paging control mode 2 corresponds to WUS sequence 2; WUS sequence 1 and WUS sequence 2 are different sequences. Another example is that different paging control information means different resource locations of the WUS sequence. For instance, paging control mode 1 corresponds to WUS sequence 1, and paging control mode 2 also corresponds to WUS sequence 1, but the time-domain resource location of WUS sequence 1 corresponding to paging control mode 1 is time-domain resource 1, while the time-domain resource location of WUS sequence 1 corresponding to paging control mode 2 is time-domain resource 2; therefore, the resource locations of the WUS sequences corresponding to paging control mode 1 and paging control mode 2 are different. For a terminal device, the access network device can notify the terminal device of the aforementioned mapping relationship. Therefore, after a terminal device detects the WUS sequence, based on the detection result of the WUS sequence and the aforementioned mapping relationship, it can determine whether the terminal device is paging at the current PO.

[0276] Alternatively, if the paging control information is DCI, then different paging control information could refer to different information about the sub-mapping relationships included in the DCI, or different radio network tempory identity (RNTI) used to scramble the DCI.

[0277] As a first implementation of DCI, "different DCI" refers to the difference in the sub-mapping information included in the DCI, or in other words, the difference in the information of the packets included in the DCI. Here, "packets" refers to packets under the second packetization method. The packet information included in the DCI may include a bitmap, or it may include packet identifiers (e.g., packet IDs), or it may include both a bitmap and a packet identifier. For example, if the packet information includes a bitmap, then the DCI may include a first bitmap, which may include one or more bits, each of which corresponds to one or more packets under the second packetization method. If a bit in the first bitmap takes the value of a first value, it indicates that one or more packets corresponding to that bit have been paged, or in other words, it indicates that the terminal devices included in one or more packets corresponding to that bit have been paged; and if a bit in the first bitmap takes the value of a second value, it indicates that one or more packets corresponding to that bit have not been paged, or in other words, it indicates that the terminal devices included in one or more packets corresponding to that bit have not been paged. The first value is, for example, "1", and the second value is, for example, "0"; or, the first value is "0" and the second value is "1". Multiple groups can be indicated using a bitmap, making the indication method quite clear.

[0278] In the embodiments of this application, the first bitmap can be carried by the reserved bits included in the DCI; or, the first bitmap can be carried by the bits included in the DCI for carrying other information; or a new field can be added to the DCI, and the first bitmap is carried by the newly added field.

[0279] For example, the first bitmap carries other information via bits included in the DCI. This other information could be, for example, a short message, or any other information besides a short message; here, we'll use a short message as an example.

[0280] In DCI, short messages are included. The field used to carry short messages consists of 8 bits. The meaning of the status corresponding to these 8 bits can be found in Table 2.

[0281] Table 2

[0282]

[0283] As shown in Table 2, the first and second bits of these 8 bits already have corresponding meanings, while the third to eighth bits are currently reserved bits and have no specific meaning. Therefore, in this embodiment, one or more of the third to eighth bits can be used as a first bitmap. For example, using these 6 bits to carry the first bitmap results in a first bitmap consisting of 6 bits, each of which can indicate one or more packets under the second packet mode. For example, if the first value is "1", the second value is "0", and N=8, these 6 bits are arranged in order from high to low: the first bit indicates packets 1 and 2, the second bit indicates packet 3, the third bit indicates packet 4, the fourth bit indicates packets 5, 6, and 7, the fifth bit indicates packet 7, and the sixth bit indicates packet 8. Then, if the value of these 6 bits is "101000", it means that the terminal device corresponding to packet 1, packet 2, or packet 4 is paged, while the terminal devices corresponding to packet 3, packet 5, packet 6, packet 7, or packet 8 are not paged.

[0284] For a terminal device, the access network device can notify the terminal device of the mapping relationship, for example, the access network device can broadcast the mapping relationship. Therefore, after a terminal device receives a DCI, for example, if the value of the 6 bits included in the DCI is "101000", and the terminal device corresponds to packet 1, packet 2, or packet 4 in the second packet mode, then the terminal device can determine that it is being paged, and the terminal device can continue to listen for paging messages at the current PO; however, if the terminal device corresponds to packet 3, packet 5, packet 6, packet 7, or packet 8 in the second packet mode, then the terminal device can determine that it is not being paged, and the terminal device does not need to listen for paging messages at the current PO, but can listen for DCI when the next PO arrives.

[0285] Alternatively, the information of the packets included in the DCI may also include the packet identifier. In the embodiments of this application, the packet identifier may be carried by reserved bits included in the DCI; or, the packet identifier may be carried by bits included in the DCI for carrying other information; or, a new field may be added to the DCI, and the packet identifier may be carried by the newly added field.

[0286] For example, the packet identifier is carried by bits included in the DCI used to carry other information. This other information could be, for example, a short message, or other information besides a short message. Taking the packet identifier being carried by bits included in the DCI used to carry short messages as an example, one or more bits from the 3rd to the 8 bits used to carry short messages, as described above, can also be used to carry the packet identifier. For example, if a packet identifier occupies K bits, then K bits from these 6 bits can be fixed to carry the packet identifier, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 6. For example, if K = 4, then bits 3 to 6 from these 8 bits can be fixed to carry the packet identifier; different values ​​for these 4 bits correspond to different packet identifiers. Similarly, if K = 6, then different values ​​for these 4 bits correspond to different packet identifiers.

[0287] For a terminal device, the access network device can notify the terminal device of the mapping relationship, for example, the access network device can broadcast the mapping relationship. Therefore, after receiving the DCI, a terminal device can determine whether the terminal device is paged in the current PO based on the value of the bit used to indicate the packet identifier among the 6 bits included in the DCI, and the packet to which the terminal device belongs in the second packet mode.

[0288] As a second implementation of DCI, different DCI refers to different RNTIs used for scrambling DCI. For example, paging control mode 1 corresponds to RNTI 1, and paging control mode 2 corresponds to RNTI 2. RNTI 1 and RNTI 2 are different RNTIs.

[0289] For a terminal device, the access network device can notify the terminal device of the mapping relationship, for example, the access network device can broadcast the mapping relationship. Therefore, when a terminal device detects DCI, if the DCI is successfully detected based on the RNTI corresponding to the packet to which the terminal device belongs under the second packet mode, the terminal device determines that the terminal device is paged in the current PO; if the DCI detection fails based on the RNTI corresponding to the packet to which the terminal device belongs under the second packet mode, the terminal device determines that the terminal device is not paged in the current PO.

[0290] In this scenario, M packets can be identical to N packets, i.e., M = N, and the M packets are the same as the N packets. For example, the first parameter is a paging probability parameter, the second parameter is also a paging probability parameter, and the division criteria for the M packets are the paging probability ranges. The division criteria for the N packets are also the paging probability ranges. M = N = 3. The M packets include group 1 (high probability), group 2 (medium probability), and group 3 (low probability), and the N packets also include group 1 (high probability), group 2 (medium probability), and group 3 (low probability). In this case, it can be assumed that the access network device establishes a mapping relationship between the M packets and the N packets, or it can be assumed that the access network device does not need to establish a mapping relationship between the M packets and the N packets. This is equivalent to the access network device determining the corresponding paging method based on the packets corresponding to the first packet method.

[0291] Alternatively, the M groups may differ from the N groups. For example, M may not be equal to N, or the criteria for dividing the M groups may differ from those for dividing the N groups. In these cases, the M groups may be considered different from the N groups.

[0292] For example, the first parameter is a paging probability parameter, and the second parameter is also a paging probability parameter. However, the division criterion for the M groups is the paging probability range, while the division criterion for the N groups is the probability value. For example, the M groups include group 0 with high probability, group 1 with medium probability, and group 2 with low probability; the N groups include group a with a probability value range of [80%, 100%], group b with a probability value range of [60%, 80%), group c with a probability value range of [40%, 60%), group d with a probability value range of [20%, 40%), and group e with a probability value range of [0, 20%). For example, the access network device maps group 0 to corresponding groups a and b, group 1 to corresponding groups c and d, and group 2 to corresponding group e. See Table 3 for an example of the mapping relationship.

[0293] Table 3

[0294]

[0295] For example, in Table 3, Group 1-Group a is a sub-mapping relationship, corresponding to paging mode 1, or in other words, Group a corresponds to paging mode 1; Group 1-Group b is another sub-mapping relationship, corresponding to paging mode 2, or in other words, Group b corresponds to paging mode 1, and so on. For example, for a terminal device, if the terminal device belongs to Group 0 under the first grouping mode (i.e., the terminal device's ID mod 4 = 0), and also belongs to Group a under the second grouping mode, then the terminal device needs to listen for paging control information according to paging mode 1. Or, if the terminal device belongs to Group 0 under the first grouping mode, and also belongs to Group b under the second grouping mode, then the terminal device needs to listen for paging control information according to paging mode 2.

[0296] For example, the first parameter is a paging probability parameter, and the second parameter is also a paging probability parameter. However, the division criterion for the M groups is the probability value, while the division criterion for the N groups is the paging probability range. For example, the N groups include group 0, which corresponds to a high probability, and group 1, which corresponds to a low probability; the M groups include group a, which corresponds to a probability value range of [80%, 100%]; group b, which corresponds to a probability value range of [60%, 80%); group c, which corresponds to a probability value range of [40%, 60%); group d, which corresponds to a probability value range of [20%, 40%); and group e, which corresponds to a probability value range of [0, 20%). For example, the access network device maps group a, group b, and group c to the corresponding group 0, and groups d and group e to the corresponding group 1. See Table 4 for an example of the mapping relationship:

[0297] Table 4

[0298]

[0299] For example, in Table 4, group a-group 0 is a sub-mapping relationship, corresponding to paging mode 1, or in other words, group 0 corresponds to paging mode 1; group b-group 0 is another sub-mapping relationship, also corresponding to paging mode 1, or in other words, group 0 corresponds to paging mode 1, and so on. For example, for a terminal device, if the terminal device belongs to group a under the first grouping mode and belongs to group 0 under the second grouping mode (i.e., the terminal device's ID mod 4 = 0), then the terminal device needs to listen for paging control information according to paging mode 1.

[0300] For example, the first parameter is a service parameter, and the second parameter is the terminal device ID. For instance, M groups include group a corresponding to the uplink service trigger type and group b corresponding to the downlink service trigger type; N groups include group 0 corresponding to terminal device IDs with a range of 1, group 1 corresponding to terminal device IDs with a range of 1, group 2 corresponding to terminal device IDs with a range of 1, and group 3 corresponding to terminal device IDs with a range of 1. Since the terminal device ID cannot directly reflect the service characteristics of the terminal device, the access network device can establish sub-mapping relationships between group a and group 0, group a and group 1, group a and group 2, and group a and group 3 when setting mapping relationships. Similarly, it can establish sub-mapping relationships between group b and group 0, group b and group 1, group b and group 2, and group b and group 3. See Table 5 for an example of the mapping relationships.

[0301] Table 5

[0302]

[0303] For example, in Table 5, although group 0 corresponds to both group a and group b, group 0 corresponding to group a and group b can also be considered different groups. Therefore, under the second grouping method shown in Table 5, there can be considered to be 8 groups. Group a-group 0 is a sub-mapping relationship, corresponding to paging mode 1, or in other words, group 0 corresponds to paging mode 1 when it corresponds to group a; group b-group 0 is another sub-mapping relationship, corresponding to paging mode 5, or in other words, group 0 corresponds to paging mode 5 when it corresponds to group b, and so on. For example, for a terminal device, if the terminal device belongs to group a under the first grouping method and group 0 under the second grouping method (i.e., the terminal device's ID mod 4 = 0), then the terminal device needs to listen for paging control information according to paging mode 1. Or, if a terminal device belongs to group b under the first grouping method and group 2 under the second grouping method (i.e., the terminal device's ID mod 4 = 2), then the terminal device needs to listen for paging control information according to paging mode 7.

[0304] The mapping relationships described above are merely examples. This application does not limit the mapping relationship between the M and N packets set by the access network device. Furthermore, the mapping relationships described above are all examples of mapping relationships that include the corresponding paging method information. In practical applications, the paging methods corresponding to each packet under the second packet method can also be specified by a protocol or pre-configured in the terminal device. In such cases, the mapping relationship only needs to include the mapping relationship between the first and second packet methods, and does not need to include the paging method information corresponding to each packet under the second packet method.

[0305] In this embodiment, the access network device is not limited to the core network device's grouping; it can set up new groups independently, requiring only the establishment of a mapping relationship between the two grouping methods. This reduces the limitations on the access network device. Furthermore, if the core network device has a finer grouping granularity—for example, if it groups according to the probability value corresponding to the paging probability parameter, and the core network device divides at a granularity of 5%—then the core network device can divide into 20 groups. If the access network device does not set up new groups independently, it needs to configure paging methods for each of these 20 groups, and the access network device may not support so many paging methods. In this embodiment, the access network device can further group according to a second grouping method. For example, if the access network device also groups according to the probability value corresponding to the paging probability parameter, but the access network device divides at a granularity of 25%, then the core network device can divide into 4 groups, and the access network device can establish a mapping relationship between the two grouping methods. Therefore, the access network device only needs to support a fewer paging methods to complete paging, making it more flexible. Moreover, for each group divided by the core network device, the access network device can determine the corresponding paging method for the terminal devices included.

[0306] Alternatively, the mapping relationship may not be set by the access network device. For example, it can be specified by a protocol or pre-configured in the access network device. In this case, the access network device does not need to execute S504 and S505. Therefore, S504 and S505 are optional steps, not mandatory. Figure 5 The middle part is represented by a dashed line.

[0307] S506. The access network device sends the mapping relationship.

[0308] For example, an access network device can send the mapping relationship via a broadcast message, allowing multiple terminal devices to receive it. The broadcast message could be a system message or any other message. Alternatively, the access network device can send the mapping relationship to terminal devices via a unicast message, for example, sending the mapping relationship only to terminal devices with energy-saving requirements. The unicast message could be a higher-layer message, such as an RRC message or a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a physical layer message, such as a DCI message. Figure 5 Taking the mapping relationship received by the first terminal device as an example.

[0309] For example, if the mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship (or sub-mapping relationship) between a first group and a second group, then the broadcast message may include the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group. The terminal device receiving the broadcast message can then determine the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group. Optionally, if the mapping relationship includes paging method information, the broadcast message may also include information about the paging method corresponding to the second group (e.g., the first paging method). For example, if the first paging method is a paging method scrambled using the RNTI corresponding to the second group, then the broadcast message may indicate this RNTI. However, if the paging method information corresponding to each group under the second group method is defined by a protocol, then the broadcast message may not need to include the paging method information corresponding to the second group. If the mapping relationship also includes other sub-mapping relationships, the access network device sends each sub-mapping relationship in a similar manner.

[0310] Of course, if the mapping relationship is defined by a protocol, the access network device does not need to send the mapping relationship, that is, it does not need to execute S506. Therefore, S506 is an optional step, not a mandatory one. Figure 5 The middle part is represented by a dashed line.

[0311] S507. The first terminal device determines that it belongs to the second group based on the first information, or in other words, determines the paging method corresponding to the first terminal device.

[0312] The first information can be information about a first packet, or information indicating that the first terminal device belongs to a first packet; or, the first information may not include information about any packet. If the first information is information about a first packet, then the first terminal device receives the first packet information from the core network device in S503, or the first terminal device determines the first packet information itself. If the first information does not include information about any packet, this indicates that the first terminal device does not belong to any packet under the first packet method. For example, the core network device did not send the first packet information to the first terminal device, and the first terminal device did not determine the first packet information itself. In this case, it can be considered that the first information does not exist; that is, if the first terminal device does not receive the first packet information, this can also be considered an implicit first information, indicating that the first terminal device does not correspond to any packet under the first packet method.

[0313] If the first information is information about the first packet, and the first terminal device receives the information about the first packet from the core network device and also receives the aforementioned mapping relationship, then the first terminal device can determine which packet the first terminal device corresponds to under the second packet mode. For example, if the first terminal device determines that the first packet corresponds to the second packet in the mapping relationship (or, in other words, the first terminal device determines the second packet based on the mapping relationship between the first and second packets), then the first terminal device determines that the first terminal device corresponds to the second packet, or in other words, the first terminal device determines that the first terminal device corresponds to the paging mode corresponding to the second packet. Alternatively, if the first terminal device determines that the first packet does not correspond to any packet under the second packet mode in the mapping relationship, for example, if the first packet does not exist in the first packet mode, then the mapping relationship will not include the packet corresponding to the first packet. In this case, the first terminal device can also determine that the first terminal device corresponds to the second packet, or in other words, the first terminal device determines that the first terminal device corresponds to the paging mode corresponding to the second packet. For example, the second group is the first default group. The first default group can be understood as any terminal device that cannot be mapped to this relationship being considered to belong to the first default group. The first default group can correspond to the default paging method, or the default paging method. Alternatively, the first terminal device can determine its group based on the second parameter. That is, even if there is no group corresponding to the first group in this mapping relationship, the first terminal device can still determine its group under the second grouping method. For example, if the first terminal device determines that it belongs to the second group based on the second parameter, then the first terminal device can listen to paging control information according to the paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0314] In practical applications, the process of grouping between core network equipment and terminal equipment is transparent to access network equipment. Therefore, the F groups of the core network equipment and the M groups of the access network equipment may not completely correspond. For example, the core network equipment might group according to the paging probability range corresponding to the paging probability parameters, and the access network equipment might also group according to the paging probability range corresponding to the paging probability parameters. However, the core network equipment might divide the data into three groups: high probability, medium probability, and low probability, while the access network equipment might only divide it into two groups: high probability and low probability. If the information in the first group indicates that the first terminal equipment belongs to the medium probability group, then the first terminal equipment will determine that, in this mapping relationship, the first group does not correspond to any group under the second grouping method. Alternatively, the grouping method of the core network equipment might differ from that of the access network equipment (the first grouping method). For example, the core network equipment might group according to the paging probability parameters, while the access network equipment might use grouping according to service parameters as its first grouping method. In this case, the first terminal equipment will also determine that, in this mapping relationship, the first group does not correspond to any group under the second grouping method. To address this, this application provides a fallback mechanism that allows paging of terminal devices even if the packet method of the core network device does not perfectly correspond to that of the access network device. This expands the paging range and improves the paging success rate.

[0315] If the first information does not include any group information, i.e., there is no information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs, then the first terminal device can still be considered to belong to the first group under the first grouping method. This first group differs from the previously mentioned first group; in this case, the first group is actually a non-existent group. That is, any terminal device that does not belong to any group under the first grouping method can be considered to belong to the first group. The first group can also be considered a default group, for example, called the second default group. The first group is not a group under the first grouping method. In this case, the first terminal device can also determine that it corresponds to the second group, or in other words, the first terminal device determines that it corresponds to the paging method corresponding to the second group. Alternatively, if the first information does not include any group information, i.e., there is no information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs, then it is not necessary to go through the process of determining that the first terminal device belongs to the first group. Instead, if the first information does not include any group information, i.e., there is no information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs, then it can be determined that the first terminal device corresponds to the second group. For example, the second group could be the first default group, or the first terminal device can determine the group to which it belongs based on the second parameter, for example, the first terminal device can determine that it belongs to the second group based on the second parameter. For more information on this topic, please refer to the description in the previous paragraph.

[0316] This is essentially a fallback mechanism; if the paging method for a terminal device cannot be determined in the mapping relationship, a different paging method can be reassigned for that terminal device, thus enabling paging of that device. This expands the paging range and improves the paging success rate.

[0317] Furthermore, if the first parameter and the second parameter are different parameters, for example, the first parameter is a paging probability parameter or service parameter, and the second parameter is the ID of the terminal device, then the first terminal device determines that it corresponds to the second group under the second grouping method based on the first information. Specifically, the first terminal device determines that it corresponds to the second group under the second grouping method based on the first information, the value of the second parameter corresponding to the first terminal device, and the mapping relationship between the first grouping method and the second grouping method. For example, referring to Table 5 above, if the first terminal device belongs to group a under the first grouping method, and the first terminal device is determined to belong to group 0 under the second grouping method based on its ID, then the first terminal device can be determined to correspond to group 0 in group a-group 0 under the second grouping method, thereby determining the corresponding paging method 1.

[0318] S508, the core network equipment obtains the paging information from the first terminal equipment.

[0319] Paging information may include, for example, the identifier of the first terminal device, such as the ID of the first terminal device. Of course, paging information may also include paging-related information.

[0320] S508 is an optional step. Figure 5 The middle part is represented by a dashed line.

[0321] S509: The core network equipment determines, based on the identifier of the first terminal device, which belongs to the first packet under the first packet mode. Alternatively, the core network equipment may not be certain which packet the first terminal device belongs to under the first packet mode. In this case, S509 does not need to be executed; therefore, S509 is an optional step. Figure 5 The dashed line indicates this. Alternatively, the core network equipment may also determine that the first terminal device does not belong to any packet under the first packet mode (or, in other words, determine that the first terminal device does not belong to any packet). S509 uses the example of the core network equipment determining that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet under the first packet mode, or determining that the first terminal device does not belong to any packet under the first packet mode.

[0322] Since the core network equipment has already identified the terminal devices included in each of the M packets, it can determine the packet to which the identifier of the first terminal device belongs after obtaining that identifier. For example, if the core network equipment determines that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet out of the M packets, then the core network equipment can determine the information of the first packet.

[0323] S510: The core network device sends a first paging message to the access network device, and the access network device receives the first paging message from the core network device. The first paging message may include the identifier of the first terminal device.

[0324] Optionally, the first paging message may also indicate the first group to which the first terminal device belongs. The information indicating the first group in the first paging message can include different scenarios. For example, one scenario is that the first paging message includes information about the first group; in this case, the first group is a group under the first grouping mode. For instance, if the core network device determines in S509 that the first terminal device belongs to the first group under the first grouping mode, then the core network device can include the information about the first group in the first paging message. Another scenario is that the first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs. In this case, the first group is considered a default group (e.g., the second default group mentioned above), meaning that terminal devices that do not belong to any group under the first grouping mode can be considered to belong to the first group. For instance, if the core network device does not determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs under the first grouping mode in S509, or if the core network device determines that the first terminal device does not belong to any group under the first grouping mode, then the first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs.

[0325] Alternatively, if the first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs, this situation can also be considered as the first paging message not indicating the group to which the first terminal device belongs, or in other words, the first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs.

[0326] S511. The access network equipment determines the second group. Or, in other words, it determines that the first terminal device belongs to the second group.

[0327] For example, if the first paging message includes information about the first packet, and the mapping relationship between the first packet mode and the second packet mode includes information about the first packet, then the access network device can determine the second packet corresponding to the first packet in the mapping relationship, that is, determine the second packet corresponding to the first terminal device under the second packet mode.

[0328] For example, if the first paging message includes information about the first group, and the mapping relationship between the first grouping method and the second grouping method does not include information about the first group, then the access network device can determine the second group corresponding to the first group. For instance, the second group might be the first default group. The so-called first default group can be understood as any terminal device that cannot be mapped to this relationship being considered to belong to the first default group. The first default group can correspond to the default paging method, or the default paging method. Alternatively, the access network device can determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs based on the second parameter. That is, even if there is no group corresponding to the first group in the mapping relationship, the access network device can still determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs under the second grouping method. For example, the access network device determines that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on the second parameter, and thus the access network device can listen to paging control information according to the paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0329] For example, if the first paging message does not include information about the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode, it can still be assumed that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet under the first packet mode. In this case, the access network device can also determine that the first terminal device corresponds to the second packet. Alternatively, if the first paging message does not include information about the packet to which the first terminal device belongs under the first packet mode, the access network device can determine that the first terminal device corresponds to the second packet without having to determine that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet. That is, the access network device can determine that the first terminal device corresponds to the second packet without going through the step of determining that the first terminal device belongs to the first packet. For example, the second packet could be the first default packet, or the access network device could determine the packet to which the first terminal device belongs based on the second parameter, for example, the access network device could determine that the first terminal device belongs to the second packet based on the second parameter. For more details on this part, please refer to the description in the previous paragraph.

[0330] Of course, if the first paging message includes information about the first group, and the mapping relationship between the first group method and the second group method does not include information about the first group, or if the first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs under the first group method, then the way the access network device determines the group to which the first terminal device belongs should be consistent with the way the first terminal device determines the group to which the first terminal device belongs. For example, both determine that the second group to which the first terminal device belongs is the first default group, or both determine the group to which the first terminal device belongs according to the second parameter, thereby ensuring the consistency of the determination results and improving the paging success rate.

[0331] S512, the access network device pages the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group, and the first terminal device also listens to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0332] For example, if the first paging method corresponds to the first paging control information, then paging the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group can be implemented as follows: the access network device sends the first paging control information to paging the first terminal device, and correspondingly, the first terminal device can listen for the first paging control information from the access network device. Figure 5 The S512 takes this as an example. Of course, in reality, if the access network device sends the first paging control information, it should be paging all terminal devices corresponding to the packet corresponding to the first paging control information in the second packet mode. For example, the first paging control information corresponds to one or more packets in the second packet mode, and the second packet can be one of them. Figure 5 Taking the first terminal device listening to the first paging control information as an example.

[0333] If the paging control information is a WUS sequence, then for example, if the first paging control information is the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second packet, the access network device can send the first WUS sequence. The first terminal device listens for the first WUS sequence. If it determines that the listened-for WUS sequence is the first WUS sequence, it indicates that the first terminal device has been paged, and the first terminal device can continue to listen for paging messages at the current PO. However, if it determines that the listened-for WUS sequence is not the first WUS sequence, it indicates that the first terminal device has not been paged, and the first terminal device does not need to listen for paging messages at the current PO to save power.

[0334] Alternatively, if the paging control information is a DCI, then different paging control information means that the DCI includes different packet information, and the packet information is implemented through a first bitmap. For example, if the first paging control information is a first DCI, and the first DCI includes a first bitmap, where the bit corresponding to the second packet in the first bitmap has a first value, the access network device can send the first DCI. The first terminal device listens to the DCI. If it determines that the bit corresponding to the second packet in the bitmap of the listened-to DCI has a first value, it indicates that the first terminal device is paged, and the first terminal device can continue to listen for paging messages at the current PO. However, if it determines that the bit corresponding to the second packet in the bitmap of the listened-to DCI does not have a first value, it indicates that the first terminal device is not paged, and the first terminal device does not need to listen for paging messages at the current PO to save power.

[0335] Alternatively, if the paging control information is a DCI, different paging control information means that the DCI includes different packet information, and the sub-mapping relationship information is the packet identifier. For example, if the first paging control information is a first DCI, and the first DCI includes the identifier of the second packet, the access network device can send the first DCI. The first terminal device listens to the DCI. If it determines that the listened-to DCI includes the identifier of the second packet, it indicates that the first terminal device has been paged, and the first terminal device can continue to listen for paging messages at the current PO. However, if it determines that the listened-to DCI does not include the identifier of the second packet—for example, the DCI includes the identifier of other packets, or does not include the identifier of any packets—it indicates that the first terminal device has not been paged, and the first terminal device does not need to listen for paging messages at the current PO to save power.

[0336] Alternatively, if the paging control information is a DCI, then different paging control information refers to different RNTIs used to scramble the DCI. For example, if the first paging control information is a first DCI, and the first DCI is scrambled using the first RNTI corresponding to the second packet, the access network device can send the first DCI. The first terminal device listens for the DCI. If it determines that the listened-to DCI includes scrambling using the first RNTI, it indicates that the first terminal device has been paged, and the first terminal device can continue listening for paging messages at the current PO. However, if it determines that the listened-to DCI is not scrambled using the first RNTI, it indicates that the first terminal device has not been paged, and the first terminal device does not need to listen for paging messages at the current PO to save power.

[0337] S513, The first terminal device listens for paging messages.

[0338] If the first terminal device determines that it has been paged, it can continue listening for paging messages at the current Pager (PO). However, if the first terminal device determines that it has not been paged, it does not need to listen for paging messages at the current PO, i.e., it does not need to execute S513. Instead, it can continue listening for paging control information when the next PO arrives, and so on. Therefore, S513 is an optional step. Figure 5 The middle part is represented by a dashed line.

[0339] In this embodiment, the terminal devices are grouped, and different paging methods can be used for terminal devices in different groups. For a single terminal device, if it is determined through listening that the paging method is not the paging method of the group to which the terminal device belongs, then the terminal device does not need to listen for paging messages, etc. In this way, the power consumption of the terminal device can be saved and the probability of false alarms can be reduced.

[0340] Furthermore, different paging methods correspond to different terminal device groups, and different terminal device groups have different paging probabilities. For example, terminal devices with a high paging probability belong to one group, while terminal devices with a low paging probability belong to another group, and these two groups correspond to different paging methods. Therefore, terminal devices with a high paging probability are paged more frequently. However, because the paging methods for these terminal devices are different from those for terminal devices with a low paging probability, the terminal devices with a low paging probability will assume they are not being paged and thus do not need to listen for paging messages. This reduces the probability of interruptions to terminal devices with a low paging probability, helping to reduce the power consumption of these terminal devices.

[0341] The apparatus used to implement the above method in the embodiments of this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the content above can be used in subsequent embodiments, and repeated content will not be described again.

[0342] Figure 6 This is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 600 provided in an embodiment of this application. For example, the communication device 600 may be an access network device 600.

[0343] Access network device 600 includes a processing module 610. Optionally, it may also include a transceiver module 620. Exemplarily, access network device 600 may be an access network device, or a chip or other combination device or component having the aforementioned access network device functions applied in the access network device. When access network device 600 is an access network device, transceiver module 620 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuits, etc., and processing module 610 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more central processing units (CPUs). When access network device 600 is a component having the aforementioned access network device functions, transceiver module 620 may be a radio frequency unit, and processing module 610 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When access network device 600 is a chip system, transceiver module 620 may be an input / output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip), and processing module 610 may be a processor (or processing circuit) of the chip system, which may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the processing module 610 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or, processing circuitry), and the transceiver module 620 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components.

[0344] For example, processing module 610 can be used to execute Figure 5In the illustrated embodiment, all operations other than the transmit / receive operations performed by the access network device, such as S504, S505, and S511, and / or other processes used to support the technology described herein, are included. The transceiver module 620 can be used to perform... Figure 5 The embodiments shown include all transmit and receive operations performed by the access network device, such as S506, S510, and S512, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein.

[0345] Furthermore, the transceiver module 620 can be a functional module that can perform both sending and receiving operations. For example, the transceiver module 620 can be used to perform... Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, all transmission and reception operations performed by the access network device are considered. For example, when performing a transmission operation, the transceiver module 620 can be considered a transmission module, and when performing a reception operation, it can be considered a reception module. Alternatively, the transceiver module 620 can also be two functional modules, which can be considered as a collective term for these two functional modules: a transmission module and a reception module. The transmission module is used to complete the transmission operation; for example, the transmission module can be used to perform... Figure 2 In any of the embodiments shown, the receiving module performs all the transmitting operations by the access network device, and the receiving module performs the receiving operations. For example, the receiving module can be used to perform... Figure 2 The illustrated embodiment represents all the receiving operations performed by the access network device.

[0346] The transceiver module 620 is used to receive a first paging message from a core network device. The first paging message includes an identifier of a first terminal device and also indicates the first group to which the first terminal device belongs.

[0347] Processing module 610 is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first group;

[0348] The transceiver module 620 is also used to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0349] As an optional implementation, the first paging message indicates the first group to which the first terminal device belongs, including:

[0350] The first paging message includes information about the first packet; or,

[0351] The first paging message does not include information about the group to which the first terminal device belongs.

[0352] As an optional implementation, the first paging message includes information about the first group, and the processing module 610 is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first group in the following manner:

[0353] The second group is determined based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group.

[0354] As an optional implementation, the first paging message does not include information about the first group, and the processing module 610 is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first group in the following manner:

[0355] Based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group, it is determined that the first terminal device does not correspond to any group;

[0356] Determine the second group.

[0357] As an optional implementation method,

[0358] The second group is the default group; or,

[0359] The processing module 610 is used to determine that the first group corresponds to the second group by determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on the second parameter.

[0360] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 620 is used to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0361] Send the first paging control information corresponding to the second group to page the first terminal device.

[0362] As an optional implementation method,

[0363] The first paging control information is the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0364] The first paging control information is the first DCI, which is scrambled by the first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or,

[0365] The first paging control information is a first DCI, which includes a first bit map, wherein the bit in the first bit map corresponding to the second group has a first value; or,

[0366] The first paging control information is the first DCI, and the first DCI includes the identifier of the second group.

[0367] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 620 is also configured to send a broadcast message, the broadcast message including the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group.

[0368] As an optional implementation, the broadcast message may also include information about the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0369] or,

[0370] Transceiver module 620 is used to receive a first paging message from a core network device, the first paging message including the identifier of a first terminal device;

[0371] Processing module 610 is configured to determine that the terminal device corresponds to a second group if the first paging message does not include the information of the group of the first terminal device, wherein the second group is a default group;

[0372] The transceiver module 620 is also used to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0373] As an optional implementation, the processing module 610 is used to determine the second group corresponding to the terminal device by determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group based on the second parameter.

[0374] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 620 is used to page the first terminal device according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0375] Send the first paging control information corresponding to the second group to page the first terminal device.

[0376] As an optional implementation method,

[0377] The first paging control information is the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0378] The first paging control information is the first DCI, which is scrambled by the first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or,

[0379] The first paging control information is a first DCI, which includes a first bit map, wherein the bit in the first bit map corresponding to the second group has a first value; or,

[0380] The first paging control information is the first DCI, and the first DCI includes the identifier of the second group.

[0381] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 620 is also configured to send a broadcast message, the broadcast message including the identifier of the first group and the identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group.

[0382] As an optional implementation, the broadcast message may also include information about the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0383] For other functions that the access network device 600 can perform, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 5 The relevant descriptions of the embodiments shown will not be elaborated upon further.

[0384] Figure 7 This is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 700 provided in an embodiment of this application. For example, the communication device 700 may be a first terminal device 700.

[0385] The first terminal device 700 includes a processing module 710. Optionally, it may also include a transceiver module 720. Exemplarily, the first terminal device 700 may be a terminal device, or a chip or other combination device or component having the functions described above. When the first terminal device 700 is a terminal device, the transceiver module 720 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuits, etc., and the processing module 710 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the first terminal device 700 is a component having the functions described above, the transceiver module 720 may be a radio frequency unit, and the processing module 710 may be a processor (or processing circuit), such as a baseband processor. When the first terminal device 700 is a chip system, the transceiver module 720 may be an input / output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip), and the processing module 710 may be a processor (or processing circuit) of the chip system, which may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the processing module 710 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or, referred to as processing circuitry), and the transceiver module 720 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components.

[0386] For example, processing module 710 can be used to execute Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, the first terminal device performs all operations other than the transmit / receive operation, such as S507, and / or other processes to support the technology described herein. The transceiver module 720 can be used to perform... Figure 5 The embodiments shown include all transmit and receive operations performed by the first terminal device, such as S501, S503, S506, S512, and S513, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein.

[0387] Additionally, for information on the implementation of transceiver module 720, please refer to the introduction on the implementation of transceiver module 920.

[0388] The processing module 710 is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first group based on the first information indicating that the first terminal device belongs to the first group;

[0389] The transceiver module 720 is used to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0390] As an optional implementation, the first information is the information of the first group, and the processing module 710 is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first group for the first terminal device based on the first group information in the following manner:

[0391] The second group is determined based on the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group.

[0392] As an optional implementation, the first information does not include any group information. The processing module 710 is used to determine the second group corresponding to the first group for the first terminal device based on the first group information in the following manner:

[0393] It is determined that in the mapping relationship between the first group and the second group, the first terminal device 700 does not correspond to any group;

[0394] The first group is determined to correspond to the second group.

[0395] As an optional implementation method,

[0396] The second group is the default group; or,

[0397] The processing module 710 is used to determine that the first group corresponds to the second group by determining that the first terminal device 700 belongs to the second group based on the second parameter.

[0398] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 720 is used to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0399] Listen to the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0400] The monitoring includes the first DCI of the first RNTI, the first RNTI corresponding to the second packet; or,

[0401] The monitoring includes a first DCI comprising a first bitmap, wherein the bit in the first bitmap corresponding to the second packet has a first value; or,

[0402] Listen to the first DCI that includes the identifier of the second packet.

[0403] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 720 is also configured to listen to paging messages based on the first paging control information.

[0404] or,

[0405] Processing module 710 is used to determine that the first terminal device 700 corresponds to a second group if no group information to which the first terminal device 700 belongs exists, and the second group is the default group;

[0406] The transceiver module 720 is used to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group.

[0407] As an optional implementation, the processing module 710 is used to determine that the first terminal device 700 corresponds to the second group by determining that the first terminal device 700 belongs to the second group according to the second parameter.

[0408] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 720 is used to listen to the first paging control information according to the first paging method corresponding to the second group in the following manner:

[0409] Listen to the first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or,

[0410] The monitoring includes the first DCI of the first RNTI, the first RNTI corresponding to the second packet; or,

[0411] The monitoring includes a first DCI comprising a first bitmap, wherein the bit in the first bitmap corresponding to the second packet has a first value; or,

[0412] Listen to the first DCI that includes the identifier of the second packet.

[0413] As an optional implementation, the transceiver module 720 is also configured to listen to paging messages based on the first paging control information.

[0414] For other functions that the first terminal device 700 can perform, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 5 The relevant descriptions of the embodiments shown will not be elaborated upon further.

[0415] This application also provides a communication device, which can be a terminal device or a circuit. This communication device can be used to perform the actions performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0416] When the communication device is the first terminal device Figure 8 A simplified schematic diagram of a terminal device is shown. This is for ease of understanding and illustration. Figure 8 In this context, the terminal device is taken as a mobile phone. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the terminal device includes a processor, memory, radio frequency (RF) circuitry, antenna, and input / output devices. The processor is primarily used for processing communication protocols and data, controlling the terminal device, executing software programs, and processing software program data. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The RF circuitry is mainly used for converting baseband signals to RF signals and processing RF signals. The antenna is mainly used for transmitting and receiving RF signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as touchscreens, displays, and keyboards, are mainly used to receive user input data and output data to the user. It should be noted that some types of terminal devices may not have input / output devices.

[0417] When data needs to be sent, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency (RF) circuit. The RF circuit then processes the baseband signal and transmits it outward as electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, converts it into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor. The processor then converts the baseband signal back into data and processes it. For ease of explanation, Figure 8 Only one memory and processor are shown in the illustration. In actual terminal device products, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. Memory may also be referred to as storage medium or storage device, etc. Memory may be set up independently of the processor or integrated with the processor; this application does not limit this.

[0418] In this embodiment, the antenna and radio frequency circuit with transceiver functions can be regarded as the transceiver unit of the terminal device (the transceiver unit can be a single functional unit capable of transmitting and receiving functions; or, the transceiver unit can include two functional units, namely a receiving unit capable of receiving and a transmitting unit capable of transmitting), and the processor with processing functions can be regarded as the processing unit of the terminal device. Figure 8As shown, the terminal device includes a transceiver unit 810 and a processing unit 820. The transceiver unit can also be called a transceiver, transceiver machine, transceiver device, etc. The processing unit can also be called a processor, processing board, processing module, processing device, etc. Optionally, the device in the transceiver unit 810 used to implement the receiving function can be considered as a receiving unit, and the device in the transceiver unit 810 used to implement the transmitting function can be considered as a transmitting unit; that is, the transceiver unit 810 includes both a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The transceiver unit can sometimes also be called a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver circuit, etc. The receiving unit can sometimes be called a receiver, receiver, or receiving circuit, etc. The transmitting unit can sometimes be called a transmitter, transmitter, or transmitting circuit, etc.

[0419] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 810 is used to perform the sending and receiving operations on the first terminal device side in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 820 is used to perform other operations on the first terminal device in the above method embodiment besides the sending and receiving operations.

[0420] For example, in one implementation, the processing unit 810 can be used to perform... Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, the first terminal device performs all operations other than the transmit / receive operation, such as S507, and / or other processes to support the technology described herein. The transmit / receive unit 820 can be used to perform... Figure 5 The embodiments shown include all transmit and receive operations performed by the first terminal device, such as S501, S503, S506, S512, and S513, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein.

[0421] When the communication device is a chip-based device or circuit, it may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface; the processing unit may be an integrated processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit.

[0422] When the communication device in this embodiment is a terminal device, it can be referred to Figure 9 The device shown. As an example, this device can perform similar tasks. Figure 7 The functions of the processing module 710. Figure 9 The device includes a processor 910, a data transmitting processor 920, and a data receiving processor 930. The processing module 710 in the above embodiment can be... Figure 9 The processor 910 in the above embodiment performs the corresponding functions; the transceiver module 720 in the above embodiment can be... Figure 9 The data transmission processor 920 and / or data reception processor 930 in the middle perform the corresponding functions. Although Figure 9The diagram shows a channel encoder and a channel decoder, but it is understood that these modules are not limiting to this embodiment and are merely illustrative.

[0423] Figure 10 This illustrates another form of the present embodiment. The processing device 1000 includes modules such as a modulation subsystem, a central processing subsystem, and a peripheral subsystem. The communication device in this embodiment can serve as the modulation subsystem. Specifically, the modulation subsystem may include a processor 1003 and an interface 1004. The processor 1003 performs the functions of the aforementioned processing module 710, and the interface 1004 performs the functions of the aforementioned transceiver module 720. As another variation, the modulation subsystem includes a memory 1006, a processor 1003, and a program stored in the memory 1006 and executable on the processor. When the processor 1003 executes the program, it implements the method on the terminal device side in the above method embodiment. It should be noted that the memory 1006 may be non-volatile or volatile, and its location may be inside the modulation subsystem or within the processing device 1000, as long as the memory 1006 can be connected to the processor 1003.

[0424] When the device in the embodiments of this application is a network device, the device can be as follows: Figure 11 As shown. Device 1100 includes one or more radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) 1110 and one or more baseband units (BBU) (also referred to as digital units, DU) 1120. The RRU 1110 can be referred to as a transceiver module, which may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, or it may be a module capable of both transmitting and receiving functions. This transceiver module can be used with... Figure 6 The transceiver module 620 corresponds to this. Optionally, this transceiver module can also be called a transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver unit, etc., and it may include at least one antenna 1111 and a radio frequency unit 1112. The RRU 1110 part is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals to baseband signals, such as for sending indication information to terminal equipment. The BBU 1120 part is mainly used for baseband processing and controlling the base station, etc. The RRU 1110 and BBU 1120 can be physically set together or physically separated, i.e., a distributed base station.

[0425] The BBU 1120 is the control center of the base station, also known as a processing module, and can communicate with... Figure 6The corresponding processing module 610 is mainly used to complete baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, etc. For example, the BBU (processing module) can be used to control the base station to execute the operation process of the network device in the above method embodiment, such as generating the above-mentioned indication information.

[0426] In one example, the BBU 1120 can be composed of one or more single boards. Multiple boards can collectively support a single access standard wireless access network (such as an LTE network), or they can each support different access standards wireless access networks (such as LTE, 5G, or other networks). The BBU 1120 also includes a memory 1121 and a processor 1122. The memory 1121 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 1122 is used to control the base station to perform necessary actions, such as controlling the base station to execute the operation procedures related to the network device in the above method embodiments. The memory 1121 and processor 1122 can serve one or more single boards. That is, each single board can have its own memory and processor, or multiple single boards can share the same memory and processor. Furthermore, each single board can also have necessary circuitry.

[0427] This application provides a communication system. This communication system may include the features described above. Figure 5 The first terminal device involved in the illustrated embodiment, and including the above-described... Figure 5 The illustrated embodiment involves an access network device. The first terminal device is, for example, an access network device... Figure 7 The first terminal device 700 in the network, such as the access network device, is... Figure 6 The access network equipment in the middle is 600.

[0428] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the methods provided in the above embodiments. Figure 5 The process related to the first terminal device in the illustrated embodiment.

[0429] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the methods provided in the above embodiments. Figure 5 The illustrated embodiment describes the processes related to the access network equipment.

[0430] This application also provides a computer program product for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the methods provided in the above embodiments. Figure 5The process related to the first terminal device in the illustrated embodiment.

[0431] This application also provides a computer program product for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the methods provided in the above embodiments. Figure 5 The illustrated embodiment describes the processes related to the access network equipment.

[0432] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a CPU, or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0433] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0434] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) is integrated into the processor.

[0435] It should be noted that the memories described herein are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0436] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0437] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0438] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0439] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0440] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0441] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0442] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the latter part of the technical solutions of this application can all be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. For example, but not limited to: a computer-readable medium may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), universal serial bus flash disk, portable hard disk, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

[0443] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the protection scope of the embodiments of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of this application should be included within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of this application should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving a first paging message from a core network device, the first paging message comprising an identifier of a first terminal device, and the first paging message further indicating a first group to which the first terminal device belongs; determining a second group corresponding to the first group; paging the first terminal device according to a first paging manner corresponding to the second group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first paging message indicating the first group to which the first terminal device belongs comprises: the first paging message comprising information of the first group.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The determining of the second group corresponding to the first group comprises: determining the second group according to a mapping relationship between the first group and the second group.

4. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving a first paging message from a core network device, the first paging message comprising an identifier of a first terminal device; if the first paging message does not comprise information of a group to which the first terminal device belongs, determining a second group corresponding to the terminal device, the second group being a default group; paging the first terminal device according to a first paging manner corresponding to the second group.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining of the second group corresponding to the terminal device comprises determining that the first terminal device belongs to the second group according to a second parameter.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The paging of the first terminal device according to the first paging manner corresponding to the second group comprises: sending first paging control information corresponding to the second group to page the first terminal device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first paging control information is a first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or the first paging control information is first DCI scrambled by a first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or the first paging control information is first DCI comprising a first bit map, a bit corresponding to the second group in the first bit map having a first value; or the first paging control information is first DCI comprising an identifier of the second group. The method further comprises:

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, sending a broadcast message, the broadcast message comprising an identifier of the first group and an identifier of the second group corresponding to the first group. The broadcast message further comprises information of the first paging manner corresponding to the second group.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The method comprises:

10. A communication method characterized by comprising: determining, according to first information indicating that a first terminal device belongs to a first group, a second group corresponding to the first group and corresponding to the first terminal device; listening to first paging control information according to a first paging manner corresponding to the second group. The first information is information of the first group, and the determining of the second group corresponding to the first group and corresponding to the first terminal device comprises:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, determining the second group according to a mapping relationship between the first group and the second group. The method comprises:

12. A communication method characterized by comprising: if there is no group information to which a first terminal device belongs, determining a second group corresponding to the first terminal device, the second group being a default group; listening to first paging control information according to a first paging manner corresponding to the second group. ​ 13. The method of claim 12, wherein, determining that the first terminal device corresponds to a second group comprises determining, according to a second parameter, that the first terminal device belongs to the second group.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that, monitoring first paging control information according to a first paging manner corresponding to the second group comprises: monitoring a first WUS sequence corresponding to the second group; or, monitoring a first DCI including a first RNTI, the first RNTI corresponding to the second group; or, monitoring a first DCI including a first bit map, a bit in the first bit map corresponding to the second group having a first value; or, monitoring a first DCI including an identity of the second group.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that, The method further comprises: monitoring a paging message according to the first paging control information.

16. A communications device, characterized by comprising: a processing circuit configured to invoke instructions in a memory to implement the method of any of claims 1-9.

17. A communications device, characterized by comprising: a processing circuit configured to invoke instructions in a memory to implement the method of any of claims 10-15.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium is configured to store a computer program, when the computer program is run on a computer, the computer program causes the computer to execute the method of any of claims 1-9, or causes the computer to execute the method of any of claims 10-15.

19. A chip, characterized by comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor configured to read instructions to execute the method of any of claims 1-9, or to execute the method of any of claims 10-15.

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