A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and device, the method comprising: a terminal device camping on a first BWP, and the terminal device being in a non-connected state; the terminal device receiving a first message from a network device, the first message being used to indicate a second BWP; and the terminal device switching from the first BWP to the second BWP. The method and device of the present application can realize BWP switching of a non-connected terminal device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of communication, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of communication technology, the frequency spectrum used is wider and wider. The bandwidth of a single carrier in new radio (NR) can be wide. For example, the bandwidth of a single carrier in NR can reach 100 MHz. In order to flexibly use carrier resources, bandwidth parts (BWPs) are introduced in NR. The bandwidth of a BWP can be less than or equal to the bandwidth of a carrier. After the introduction of BWP, how to configure a BWP for a terminal device is a subject worthy of study. SUMMARY

[0003] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus to instruct a terminal device to perform BWP switching.

[0004] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The execution subject of the method can be a terminal device, and can also be a component (chip, circuit, or other) configured in the terminal device. The method comprises: the terminal device camping on a first BWP, and the terminal device being in an RRC non-connected state, which includes an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, etc.; the terminal device receiving a first message from a network device, the first message being used to instruct a second BWP; and the terminal device switching from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0005] By implementing the above method, the BWP in which the terminal device in the non-connected state camps on can be switched, and the problem of resource congestion of the initial BWP caused by the terminal device in the non-connected state all camping on the initial BWP can be avoided.

[0006] In a possible design, the first message is carried by a DCI. The DCI is a first type of DCI, including a DCI scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) or a DCI scrambled by a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI). Alternatively, the DCI is a second type of DCI, including a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order, a DCI scheduling a physical downlink data channel (PDSCH), a DCI scheduling a random access response, or a DCI scheduling an acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback of a configured grant (CG). The DCI scheduling the PDSCH can be a DCI scheduling a downlink small packet carried in the PDSCH.

[0007] By implementing the method, the non-connected terminal device can be instructed to perform BWP switching through the idle bits or the newly added bits in the DCI, so as to avoid resource congestion of the initial BWP. Optionally, the first DCI can also be referred to as a groupcast DCI, and the second DCI can also be referred to as a unicast DCI. The groupcast DCI is used to carry the indication information of one or more terminal devices for BWP switching, and the unicast DCI is used to carry the indication information of one terminal device for BWP switching.

[0008] In a possible design, the first message is carried by a PDSCH, and the PDSCH is used to carry at least one of the following information: a paging message, a system message, a random access response, ACK / NACK feedback in a CG, or a downlink small packet.

[0009] By implementing the method, the non-connected terminal device can be instructed to perform BWP switching through the idle bits or the newly added bits in the DCI, so as to avoid resource congestion of the initial BWP. Optionally, the first DCI can also be referred to as a groupcast DCI, and the second DCI can also be referred to as a unicast DCI. The groupcast DCI is used to carry the indication information of one or more terminal devices for BWP switching, and the unicast DCI is used to carry the indication information of one terminal device for BWP switching.

[0010] In a possible design, the first message is used to indicate at least one of the following: an identifier of the second BWP, information of a terminal device performing BWP switching, a type of a terminal device performing BWP switching, a BWP switching time, a cell corresponding to the second BWP, and a resource in the second BWP for small packet communication. Optionally, the resource for small packet communication can also be described as a resource used for transmitting a transport block whose size is less than or equal to a first threshold (for example, R bits, R is a positive integer), or a resource used for transmitting PDCCH, PDSCH, and / or PUSCH of an RRC non-connected terminal device.

[0011] By implementing the method, the information of the terminal device performing the BWP switching can indicate that part of the terminal devices in the groupcast perform the BWP switching, the type of the terminal device performing the BWP switching can indicate that part of the terminal devices in the groupcast perform the BWP switching, for example, only the REDCAP type of terminal device performs the BWP switching. The BWP switching time can include a switching period of the BWP and indicate that the terminal device performs the BWP switching in the current BWP switching period, or N periods after the current period, and the like. The cell corresponding to the second BWP can indicate the cell in which the terminal device resides after switching to the second BWP, and the resource used for small packet communication in the second BWP and the like can indicate the resource used for small packet communication in the second BWP of the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, in addition to indicating the identifier of the second BWP, the first message can additionally indicate other information to meet the communication needs between the terminal device and the network device.

[0012] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving a second message from the network device, the second message being used for configuring one or more BWPs for the terminal device, the one or more BWPs including the second BWP.

[0013] In a possible design, the second message includes an RRC release message, a system message, or a message carried by a PDSCH.

[0014] By implementing the method, one or more BWPs can be configured for the terminal device in advance through the second message, and one of the BWPs, i.e., the second BWP, is indicated to perform the BWP switching through the first message, thereby saving the signaling overhead of the first message.

[0015] In a possible design, the second message includes at least one of the following in each of the one or more BWPs: an identifier of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; a BWP used for uplink and / or downlink transmission; and a time-frequency resource in the BWP used for small packet transmission. Optionally, the resource used for small packet communication can also be described as a resource used for transmitting a transport block whose size is less than or equal to a first threshold (for example, R bits, R being a positive integer), or a resource used for transmitting PDCCH, PDSCH, and / or PUSCH of the terminal device in an RRC non-connected state.

[0016] By implementing the method, one or more BWPs can be pre-configured for the terminal device through the second message, and each BWP includes a plurality of parameters, thereby meeting the communication needs between the network device and the terminal device.

[0017] In one possible design, the first message is also used to indicate at least one of the following in the second BWP: the BWP's identifier; measurement parameters; BWP handover time; the BWP's use for uplink and / or downlink transmission; time-frequency resources in the BWP used for small packet transmission; and the cell to which the BWP corresponds.

[0018] By implementing the above method, the parameters of the second BWP can be carried through the first message without needing to configure the parameters of the second BWP in advance through the first message, thereby effectively indicating the second BWP.

[0019] In one possible design, the measurement parameters include: the type of reference signal being measured; the cell information of the reference signal; the time-frequency resource location of the reference signal; and the function of the reference signal.

[0020] By implementing the above method, for a specific BWP, it can be configured not only to perform reference signal measurement in the serving cell, but also to perform reference signal measurement in neighboring cells, thus meeting the communication needs between network devices and terminal devices.

[0021] In one possible design, the reference signal serves to determine whether the timing advance (TA) is valid or whether cell reselection is necessary.

[0022] By implementing the above methods, network devices can use measured reference signals to determine whether to perform cell reselection, thereby ensuring a better quality of service for terminal devices.

[0023] Secondly, a communication method is provided, wherein the execution subject of the method can be a network device or a component (chip, circuit or other, etc.) configured in the network device, comprising: the network device sending a first message to a terminal device; wherein the terminal device resides in a first bandwidth portion (BWP) and the terminal device is in an RRC disconnected state, and the first message is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0024] In one possible design, it also includes: on the second BWP, transmitting (sending or receiving) small packets or reference signals with the terminal device.

[0025] The above method can also be described as follows: the network device sends a first message to the terminal device; wherein the terminal device resides in the first bandwidth portion (BWP) and is in the RRC disconnected state, and the first message is used to indicate the second BWP; on the second BWP, small packets or reference signals are transmitted (sent or received) with the terminal device.

[0026] In one possible design, it also includes sending a second message to the terminal device, the second message being used to configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device, the one or more BWPs including the second BWP.

[0027] The first message and the second message are described in the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0028] In a third aspect, a device is provided, which can be a terminal device, a device in a terminal device, or a device that can be used with a terminal device. In one design, the device includes a unit that performs the method / operation / step / action described in the first aspect. The unit can be implemented in hardware circuit, software, or both. For example, the device can include a processing unit and a communication unit, which can perform the corresponding functions in any of the design examples of the first aspect.

[0029] The communication unit receives a first message from a network device, where the first message indicates a second BWP, the terminal device is camped on a first BWP, and the terminal device is in an RRC non-connected state, and the processing unit switches the terminal device from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0030] The detailed implementation of the processing unit and the communication unit can be found in the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0031] In a fourth aspect, a device is provided, which can be a network device, a device in a network device, or a device that can be used with a network device. In one design, the device includes a unit that performs the method / operation / step / action described in the second aspect. The unit can be implemented in hardware circuit, software, or both. For example, the device can include a processing unit and a communication unit, which can perform the corresponding functions in any of the design examples of the second aspect.

[0032] The communication unit sends a first message to a terminal device, where the terminal device is camped on a first BWP, the terminal device is in an RRC non-connected state, and the first message indicates that the terminal device switches from the first BWP to a second BWP. Optionally, the processing unit transmits small packets or reference signals to the terminal device on the second BWP.

[0033] The detailed implementation of the communication unit and the processing unit can be found in the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0034] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus can include a processor configured to implement a method recited in the first aspect. The apparatus can also include a memory for storing instructions and / or data. The memory can be coupled to the processor, and the processor can be configured to execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method recited in the first aspect. The apparatus can also include a communication interface configured to communicate with another device. The communication interface can be, for example, a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, a pin, or another type of communication interface. The other device can be, for example, a network device. In one possible design, the apparatus includes:

[0035] a memory configured to store program instructions;

[0036] a communication interface configured to receive a first message from a network device, the first message being configured to indicate a second BWP, wherein the terminal device is configured to camp on a first BWP, and the terminal device is configured to be in an RRC non-connected state.

[0037] a processor configured to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0038] The communication interface and the processor can perform the method recited in the first aspect as described above, and thus the details are not repeated.

[0039] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus can include a processor configured to implement a method recited in the second aspect. The apparatus can also include a memory for storing instructions and / or data. The memory can be coupled to the processor, and the processor can be configured to execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method recited in the second aspect. The apparatus can also include a communication interface configured to communicate with another device. The communication interface can be, for example, a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, a pin, or another type of communication interface. The other device can be, for example, a terminal device. In one possible design, the apparatus includes:

[0040] a memory configured to store program instructions;

[0041] a communication interface configured to send a first message to a terminal device, the first message being configured to indicate a second BWP, wherein the terminal device is configured to camp on a first BWP, and the terminal device is configured to be in an RRC non-connected state.

[0042] Optionally, the processor is configured to transmit a small packet or a reference signal with the terminal device on the second BWP.

[0043] The communication interface and the processor can perform the method recited in the second aspect as described above, and thus the details are not repeated.

[0044] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, including instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect.

[0045] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, including instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0046] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including a processor, and can further include a memory, for implementing the method of the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0047] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including a processor, and can further include a memory, for implementing the method of the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0048] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect.

[0049] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0050] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a system, including the apparatus of the third aspect or the fifth aspect, and the apparatus of the fourth aspect or the sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0051] Figure 1 An example diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Figure 2 A transition diagram of RRC states provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 3 A diagram of a terminal device initial access process provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 4 A diagram of a paging process provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 5a And Figure 5bA schematic diagram of a random access procedure provided for embodiments of the application;

[0056] Figure 6a and Figure 6b A schematic diagram of a small packet transmission procedure provided for embodiments of the application;

[0057] Figure 7 A flowchart of a communication method provided for embodiments of the application;

[0058] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a BWP configuration provided for embodiments of the application;

[0059] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of a BWP configuration and switching provided for embodiments of the application;

[0060] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of BWP switching provided for embodiments of the application;

[0061] Figure 11 Another schematic diagram of BWP switching provided for embodiments of the application;

[0062] Figure 12 A schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus provided for embodiments of the application;

[0063] Figure 13 Another schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus provided for embodiments of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] Figure 1An example diagram of a communication system 100 to which embodiments of the present application can be applied is shown. The communication system 100 can include at least one network device 110. The network device 110 can be a device that communicates with a terminal device, such as a base station or a base station controller, etc. Each network device 110 can provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and can communicate with terminal devices located in the area (cell) over a communication link. The network device 110 can be an access network device, which can also be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device, and is a device that provides a terminal device with a wireless communication function. The access network device includes, for example, but is not limited to, a generation nodeB (gNB) in 5G, an evolved node B (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (for example, home evolved nodeB, or home node B (HNB)), a base band unit (BBU), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), and / or a mobile switching center, etc. Alternatively, the access network device can also be a radio controller, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Alternatively, the network device can be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a terminal device, a wearable device, and a network device in a future 5G network or a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc.

[0065] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device can be a network device, or can be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device is taken as an example to describe the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0066] The communication system 100 further includes one or more terminal devices 120 located within the coverage area of the network device 110. The terminal device 120 can be mobile or fixed. The terminal device 120 can be referred to simply as a terminal, which is a device having a wireless transceiver function. The terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons, and satellites, etc.). The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a pad, a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical treatment, a wireless terminal device in smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in smart city, and / or a wireless terminal device in smart home. The terminal device can also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device or a computing device with a wireless communication function, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5th generation (5G) network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. The terminal device can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE) terminal device 120. The terminal device 120 can communicate with multiple access network devices of different technologies, for example, the terminal device can communicate with an access network device supporting long term evolution (LTE), can also communicate with an access network device supporting 5G, and can further communicate in dual connectivity with an access network device supporting LTE and an access network device supporting 5G. The embodiments of the present application are not limited.

[0067] In the embodiments of this application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or can be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, for example, a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of this application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include the chip and other discrete devices. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device is taken as an example of the terminal device to describe the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0068] The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 can perform data transmission through air interface resources. The air interface resources can include at least one of time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code domain resources, and space resources. Specifically, when the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 perform data transmission, the network device 110 can send control information to the terminal device 120 through a control channel, such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), so as to allocate transmission parameters of a data channel to the terminal device 120, such as allocating resources of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). For example, the control information can indicate time domain symbols and / or frequency domain resource blocks (RBs) to which the data channel is mapped, and the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 perform data transmission through the data channel on the allocated time-frequency resources. The above data transmission can include downlink data transmission and / or uplink data transmission, and the downlink data transmission (such as data carried by the PDSCH) can mean that the network device 110 sends data to the terminal device 120, and the uplink data transmission (such as data carried by the PUSCH) can mean that the terminal device 120 sends data to the network device 110. The data can be general data, such as user data, system messages, broadcast information, or other information.

[0069] Figure 1 An example of one network device and two terminal devices is shown. Optionally, the communication system 100 can include multiple network devices and the coverage range of a network device can include other numbers of terminal devices, which are not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0070] For ease of understanding, first, the communication terms or terminologies related to the embodiments of this application are explained and described, which are also part of the content of the application.

[0071] I. Non-connected state

[0072] The radio resource control (RRC) state of the terminal device includes an RRC-connected state, an RRC-idle state, and an RRC-inactive state. The RRC non-connected state in the following embodiments can include at least one of the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state. The RRC non-connected state can be referred to as a non-connected state. The RRC-connected state can be referred to as a connected state. The RRC-idle state can be referred to as an idle state. The RRC-inactive state can be referred to as an inactive state. In the embodiments of the present application, at least one can be one or more. Multiple can be 2, 3, or more, without limitation.

[0073] In the following description, the network device or the access network device is taken as an example of a base station. Specifically, in the process of accessing the base station or after accessing the base station, the terminal device can perform an RRC establishment process with the base station. After establishing an RRC connection with the base station, the RRC state of the terminal device is in the RRC-connected state. Subsequently, the RRC state of the terminal device can be converted among the RRC-idle state, the RRC-connected state, and the RRC-inactive state.

[0074] In a possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 1, the conversion process of the RRC state of the terminal device is as follows: Figure 2

[0075] 1. In the RRC-connected state, the base station can schedule the terminal device to send an uplink data channel such as a PUSCH, and the terminal device can send uplink data such as specific data and / or unicast data of the terminal device to the base station through the uplink data channel. The base station can schedule the terminal device to receive a downlink data channel such as a PDSCH, and the terminal device can receive downlink data such as specific data and / or unicast data from the base station through the downlink data channel.

[0076] The base station can convert the RRC state of the terminal device from the RRC-connected state to the RRC-idle state or from the RRC-connected state to the RRC-inactive state through an RRC release process, for example, by sending an RRC release message to the terminal device.

[0077] ​2、In RRC idle state, the terminal device releases the RRC connection with the base station. At this time, the terminal device can receive at least one of the paging message, broadcast message or system message from the base station. However, the terminal device cannot perform unicast data transmission with the base station, for example, cannot receive the PDSCH specific to the terminal device from the base station, and / or cannot send the PUSCH specific to the terminal device to the base station. And / or, at this time, the terminal device is not supported by the base station to be scheduled to receive the specific PDSCH, and / or is not supported by the base station to be scheduled to send the specific PUSCH.

[0078] The base station can make the state of the terminal device from the RRC idle state to the RRC connected state through the RRC establishment process. For example, the terminal device sends the RRC setup request message to the base station, and after receiving the request message, the base station sends the RRC setup message to the terminal device, so that the RRC state of the terminal device is converted from the RRC idle state to the RRC connected state; or the base station sends the RRC reject message to the terminal device, so that the terminal device continues to stay in the RRC idle state, etc.

[0079] Optionally, when the terminal device in the RRC idle state receives the paging message from the base station, or is triggered by the high layer of the terminal device, the terminal device can initiate the RRC establishment process to try to establish the RRC connection with the base station to enter the RRC connected state. In one possible implementation, when the terminal device needs to send data to the base station, the high layer of the terminal device can trigger the terminal device to initiate the RRC establishment process.

[0080] 3、In RRC inactive state, the RRC connection between the terminal device and the base station is released. The core network can keep the registration information of the terminal device. At this time, the terminal device can receive at least one of the paging message, broadcast message or system message from the base station, and the terminal device and the base station can perform limited unicast data transmission.

[0081] The terminal device can be switched from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state through an RRC setup or RRC resume procedure. The base station can switch the terminal device from the RRC inactive state to the RRC idle state through an RRC release procedure. When in the RRC inactive state, the terminal device can initiate an RRC resume procedure after receiving a paging message from the base station or being triggered by a higher layer of the terminal device, and attempt to resume the RRC connection with the base station to enter the RRC connected state. For example, the RRC resume procedure between the terminal device and the base station can include: the terminal device sends an RRC resume request message to the base station, the base station sends an RRC setup message or an RRC resume message to the terminal device after receiving the request message, so that the state of the terminal device is switched from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state; or the base station can send an RRC release message to the terminal device, so that the state of the terminal device is switched from the RRC inactive state to the RRC idle state; or the base station sends an RRC reject message to the terminal device, so that the terminal device continues to stay in the RRC inactive state.

[0082] Optionally, the features of the terminal device in the RRC inactive state include at least one of the following: the core network can retain the registration information of the terminal device, and the terminal device can suspend most of the air interface behaviors with the base station, such as suspending listening to scheduling information, suspending sending a scheduling request, suspending radio resource management (RRM) measurement, suspending beam maintenance, etc. Overall, compared with the RRC connected state, the RRC inactive state is a more power-saving state for the terminal device.

[0083] In the following description, the RRC connected state and the connected state, the RRC idle state and the idle state, the RRC inactive state and the inactive state are not distinguished and can be replaced with each other.

[0084] II. Carrier bandwidth part (BWP)

[0085] A carrier bandwidth part can be referred to as a bandwidth part (BWP) simply. A BWP is a set of contiguous frequency domain resources on a carrier. For example, a BWP is a set of contiguous resource blocks (RBs) on a carrier, or a BWP is a set of contiguous subcarriers on a carrier, or a BWP is a set of contiguous resource block groups (RBGs) on a carrier, and the like. Among them, at least one RB is included in one RBG, for example, 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8, and the like, and one RB can include at least one subcarrier, for example, 6, 12, 14, or other positive integers, and the like. In a possible implementation, in a cell, for a terminal device in an RRC connected state, the network device can configure at most 4 BWPs for the terminal device. For each BWP, the network device can configure the terminal device with system parameters including subcarrier spacing and / or cyclic prefix (CP) length, and the like. At any moment, in a cell, for a terminal device in an RRC connected state, only one BWP can be activated, and the terminal device and the network device perform data transmission and reception on the activated BWP.

[0086] III. Initial access procedure of terminal device

[0087] When a terminal device in a non-connected state (for example, a terminal device in an idle state or a terminal device in an inactive state) needs to be synchronized with a network device in downlink and acquire system information (or update system information), an initial access needs to be performed. As shown in FIG. 1, the initial access procedure mainly includes the following steps. Figure 3

[0088] Step 1: The terminal device searches for a synchronization signal block (SSB). The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0089] Step 2: The terminal device acquires a master information block (MIB) from the PBCH.

[0090] ​Step 3: The terminal device determines a common search space (CSS) and determines a control resource set (CORESET) #0 according to PDCCH configuration (PDCCH-config) information in the MIB. Optionally, the frequency range of the CORESET #0 can be the frequency range of the initial BWP.

[0091] Step 4: The terminal device blindly detects downlink control information (DCI) scrambled by a system information radio network temporary indicator (SI-RNTI) in a time-frequency resource determined according to the CORESET #0 and the CSS.

[0092] Step 5: According to the indication of the DCI, the terminal device acquires system information in the time unit (such as a slot) indicated by the arrow. Figure 3 The DCI can be a DCI used to schedule a PDSCH, and the PDSCH carries the system information, which includes paging resources and random access resources.

[0093] Four, paging procedure of the terminal device

[0094] The procedure for a non-connected terminal device, such as an idle-state terminal device or an inactive-state terminal device, to receive a paging message is as shown in Figure 4 and mainly includes the following steps:

[0095] Step 1: The terminal device blindly detects DCI scrambled by a paging RNTI (P-RNTI) in a CORESET and a search space (SS) for paging (optionally, the CORESET and the SS can be configured by paging resources in the system message).

[0096] Step 2: The terminal device receives a PDSCH carrying a paging message according to the indication of the P-RNTI, thereby obtaining the paging message of the terminal device. Optionally, the paging message can include paging for multiple terminal devices. For example, as shown in Figure 4 the paging message can include a paging message for UE-1, a paging message for UE-2, a paging message for UE-3, and a paging message for UE-4, etc.

[0097] Five, random access procedure of the terminal device

[0098] In a wireless communication system, such as LTE, 5G new radio (NR), or future communication system, a terminal device can use a four-step access method or a two-step access method for random access. The four-step access method can be referred to as a 4-step RACH method. The two-step access method can be referred to as a 2-step RACH method.

[0099] In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 1, the flow of the four-step random access can include the following steps: Figure 5a

[0100] Step 1: The terminal device sends a random access preamble (also referred to as message 1 (Msg1)) to the base station.

[0101] The terminal device can determine a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI) according to the transmission occasion of the preamble.

[0102] Optionally, the preamble can be a sequence that notifies the base station of a random access request and enables the base station to estimate the transmission delay between the terminal device and the base station, so that the base station can calibrate the uplink timing of the terminal device and inform the terminal device of the calibration information through a timing advance (TA) instruction.

[0103] Step 2: After detecting the preamble, the base station can determine the same RA-RNTI as in step 1 according to the reception occasion of the preamble, and sends a random access response (also referred to as message 2 (Msg2)) to the terminal device.

[0104] Optionally, the DCI used to schedule the random access response can be scrambled with the RA-RNTI, and the content of the random access response includes the preamble index of the received preamble in step 1, the TA, the uplink resource allocation information, and the temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI), etc.

[0105] Step 3: The terminal device receives the random access response.

[0106] ​If the preamble index indicated in the received random access response is the same as the preamble sent by the terminal device to the base station in step 1, the terminal device considers that the random access response is its own random access response. After receiving the random access response, the terminal device determines the uplink resource allocated by the base station to the terminal device, and sends an uplink message, also known as message 3 (Msg3), on the uplink resource. Optionally, the terminal device can initiate an RRC connection request in the Msg3. The Msg3 can include an RRC connection request carrying the ID of the terminal device (such as UE).

[0107] Step 4: The base station receives the uplink message of the terminal device, and returns a conflict resolution message, also known as message 4 (Msg4), to the terminal device that successfully accesses.

[0108] Optionally, the PDSCH carrying the above-mentioned Msg4 is scheduled by control information (such as DCI) scrambled by the cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) of the terminal device. The above-mentioned Msg4 can carry the identifier of the terminal device that successfully accesses, and other terminal devices that do not successfully access will re-initiate random access. Further, the base station can perform RRC configuration on the terminal device through the above-mentioned Msg4.

[0109] In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 2, a two-step random access process can include the following steps: Figure 5b

[0110] Step 1: The terminal device sends a random access preamble and data to the base station, which is also called MsgA.

[0111] Optionally, the above-mentioned data can include the ID of the terminal device. The terminal device can determine the RA-RNTI according to the preamble transmission occasion. The above-mentioned MsgA can carry an RRC configuration request.

[0112] Step 2: The base station sends a random access response to the terminal device, which is also called MsgB.

[0113] ​The base station can determine the same RA-RNTI as in step 1 according to the reception occasion of the preamble. The control information (e.g., DCI) scrambled by the RA-RNTI is used to schedule the data channel (e.g., PDSCH) carrying the random access response. The random access response includes the unique identifier of the terminal device to indicate the successful access of the terminal device, and other terminal devices without successful access will re-initiate the random access. The random access response also includes the C-RNTI allocated to the terminal device. The base station can perform RRC configuration to the terminal device through the MsgB.

[0114] Six, uplink and downlink small data transmission and reception process of the terminal device in the inactive state

[0115] In a possible implementation, as shown in Figure 6a the downlink small data reception process of the terminal device in the inactive state includes:

[0116] Step 1: The base station sends DCI to the terminal device, and the DCI is used to schedule the PDSCH carrying the downlink small data.

[0117] Step 2: The base station sends the PDSCH to the terminal device, and the PDSCH carries the downlink small data.

[0118] Optionally, the size of the small data is not limited in the embodiments of the present application, for example, the small data can be considered as a data packet carried by a transmit block (TB), or the small data is a data packet carrying less than 100 bytes or other positive integer bytes of information, etc. Further, the small data can be a terminal device specific data packet, etc.

[0119] In a possible implementation, as shown in Figure 6b the uplink and downlink small data transmission and reception process of the terminal device in the inactive state includes:

[0120] Step 1: The terminal device sends uplink small data to the base station.

[0121] Step 2: The base station sends DCI to the terminal device, and the DCI is used to schedule the PDSCH.

[0122] Step 3: The base station sends the PDSCH to the terminal device, and the PDSCH carries the feedback information for the uplink small data, for example, acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK), etc.

[0123] Optionally, the uplink small packet sending manner of the non-active state terminal device can be a configured grant (CG) manner, a random access manner, or the like. If it is a CG manner, the non-active state terminal device directly sends the uplink data packet on the CG resource (for example, a PUSCH resource) configured by the network side for the terminal device. If it is a 2-step RACH manner, the non-active state terminal device sends a preamble and an uplink small packet on the RACH resource and the PUSCH resource configured by the network side for the terminal device. If it is a 4-step RACH manner, the terminal device can carry an uplink small packet in Msg3 of the 4-step RACH, and the like.

[0124] Seven, reduced capability (REDCAP) terminal device

[0125] In a communication system, for example, a NR communication system or other system, a light terminal device can be introduced relative to a conventional terminal device, for example, an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) terminal device. The light terminal device can also be referred to as a REDCAP terminal device.

[0126] Relative to the REDCAP terminal device, the conventional terminal device can be a high capability terminal device or a terminal device with no capability limitation. In the embodiments of the present application, the conventional terminal device can be replaced by a high capability terminal device introduced in the future relative to the REDCAP terminal device. Exemplarily, the capability comparison between the high capability terminal device and the REDCAP terminal device satisfies one or more of the following first to ninth items.

[0127] The first item: the maximum bandwidth supported by the high capability terminal device is greater than the maximum bandwidth supported by the REDCAP terminal device. For example, the maximum bandwidth supported by the high capability terminal device is 100 MHz (megahertz) or 200 MHz, and the maximum bandwidth supported by the REDCAP terminal device is 20 MHz, 10 MHz, or 5 MHz.

[0128] Secondly, the number of antennas of the high capability terminal device is more than that of the REDCAP terminal device. The number of antennas can be the actual number of antennas of the terminal device or the maximum number of antennas that can be used for transmission and / or reception. For example, the high capability terminal device supports up to 4 antennas for reception and 2 antennas for transmission, and the REDCAP terminal device supports up to 2 antennas for reception and 1 antenna for transmission. Alternatively, even if the number of antennas of the high capability terminal device is equal to that of the REDCAP terminal device, the capabilities of the two terminal devices are different in terms of antenna selection transmission. For example, both the high capability terminal device and the REDCAP terminal device support 2 antennas for transmission, but the high capability terminal device supports antenna selection transmission while the REDCAP terminal device does not support antenna selection transmission. Taking single antenna port data transmission as an example, the high capability terminal device can switch the single antenna port data transmission between 2 transmission antennas, and the data transmission can obtain spatial diversity gain; while the single antenna port data transmission of the REDCAP terminal device can only be transmitted on 2 transmission antennas at the same time, which is equivalent to the transmission performance of 1 transmission antenna.

[0129] Thirdly, the maximum transmit power supported by the high capability terminal device is greater than that supported by the REDCAP terminal device. For example, the maximum transmit power supported by the high capability terminal device is 23 decibel-milliwatt (dBm) or 26 dBm, and the maximum transmit power supported by the REDCAP terminal device is one value in the range of 4 dBm to 20 dBm.

[0130] Fourthly, the high capability terminal device supports carrier aggregation (CA) while the REDCAP terminal device does not support carrier aggregation.

[0131] Fifthly, when both the high capability terminal device and the REDCAP terminal device support carrier aggregation, the maximum number of carriers supported by the high capability terminal device is greater than that supported by the REDCAP terminal device. For example, the high capability terminal device supports up to 32 carriers or aggregation of 5 carriers, and the REDCAP terminal device supports up to aggregation of 2 carriers.

[0132] Sixthly, the high capability terminal device and the REDCAP terminal device are introduced in different protocol versions. For example, in the NR protocol, the high capability terminal device is introduced in Release (R) 15 of the protocol, and the REDCAP terminal device is introduced in R 17 of the protocol.

[0133] The seventh item: the duplex capability of the high-capability terminal device is different from that of the REDCAP terminal device. The duplex capability of the high-capability terminal device is stronger. For example, the high-capability terminal device supports full-duplex frequency division duplex (FDD), that is, the high-capability terminal device supports simultaneous receiving and transmitting when supporting FDD, and the REDCAP terminal device supports half-duplex FDD, that is, the REDCAP terminal device does not support simultaneous receiving and transmitting when supporting FDD.

[0134] The eighth item: the data processing capability of the high-capability terminal device is stronger than that of the REDCAP terminal device. The high-capability terminal device can process more data in the same time, or the high-capability terminal device can process the same data in a shorter time. For example, the time when the terminal device receives the downlink data from the network device is T1, and the time when the terminal device sends the feedback of the downlink data to the network device after processing the downlink data is T2, the time delay (time difference) between T2 and T1 of the high-capability terminal device is less than that of the REDCAP terminal device. Wherein, the feedback of the downlink data can be ACK or NACK feedback.

[0135] The ninth item: the peak rate of data transmission of the high-capability terminal device is greater than that of the REDCAP terminal device. Wherein, the data transmission includes uplink data transmission (that is, the terminal device sends data to the network device) and / or downlink data transmission (that is, the terminal device receives data from the network device).

[0136] Eight, control resource set (CORESET)

[0137] The CORESET is a block of time-frequency resources used by the terminal device to determine the search range of control information. One CORESET can be configured to one or a group of terminal devices. For example, CORESET1 is configured to UE1, UE2, UE3 and UE4, then the base station can send the PDCCH of UE1, UE2, UE3 and UE4 on CORESET1. CORESET2 is configured to UE5, UE6, UE7 and UE8, then the base station can send the PDCCH of UE5, UE6, UE7 and UE8 on CORESET2. One terminal device can also be configured with one or more CORESETs.

[0138] Nine, search space (SS)

[0139] The time set of PDCCH that the terminal device needs to monitor is called SS. The SS can be divided into common search space (CSS) and UE-specific search space (USS). The CSS is used to transmit control information related to paging, random access response (RA Response), broadcast control channel (BCCH) and other public information, which is cell-level or public control information of multiple terminal devices, used to schedule cell public information or schedule public information of multiple terminal devices. The USS is used to transmit UE-specific PDCCH, for example, the control information carried on the PDCCH is used to schedule the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and / or the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) of the UE.

[0140] Ten, time unit

[0141] The unit of a time unit can be a radio frame, a subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, a symbol, and the like. For example, in one specific implementation, one time unit can include two slots, and the like. One radio frame can include one or more subframes, and one subframe can include one or more slots. There can be different slot lengths for different subcarrier spacings. One slot can include one or more symbols. For example, one slot can include 14 time-domain symbols under a normal cyclic prefix (CP), and one slot can include 12 time-domain symbols under an extended CP. A time-domain symbol can be referred to simply as a symbol. A time-domain symbol can be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a discrete fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol. In this application, an OFDM symbol can be taken as an example for description. A mini-slot, also referred to as a mini-slot, can be a unit smaller than a slot. One mini-slot can include one or more symbols. For example, one mini-slot can include 2 symbols, 4 symbols, or 7 symbols, and the like. One slot can include one or more mini-slots.

[0142] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " represents that the objects before and after the " / " are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in the present application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of the items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the same items or similar items with basically the same functions and effects are distinguished by "first", "second", and the like. Those skilled in the art can understand that "first", "second", and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", and the like do not necessarily mean different.

[0143] In addition, the network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are used to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0144] In a possible implementation, according to the load of the network device and the service demand of the terminal device, the network device can configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device in the RRC connected state, and activate one of the BWPs. The terminal device communicates with the network device on the activated BWP. The RRC connected state can be referred to as the RRC active state. For example, when the terminal device is in the RRC connected state, if the terminal device needs to perform a large amount of data transmission, the network device can activate a BWP with a wider bandwidth for the terminal device; and when the network device finds that the load of the BWP currently activated for the terminal device is heavy, the network device can activate another BWP with less load for the terminal device, or reconfigure a BWP with less load for the terminal device.

[0145] The network device can configure the initial BWP of the uplink and the downlink for a cell through a system message. After the terminal device accesses the cell and communicates with the network device, the network device can configure a dedicated BWP for the terminal device in the RRC connected state according to the service and load, for example, up to four BWPs can be configured for the terminal device, the network device can activate one of the BWPs, and a terminal device can only activate one BWP in a cell at the same time.

[0146] For terminal devices in a non-connected state, for example, terminal devices in an idle state and terminal devices in an inactive state, the terminal devices generally reside on the initial BWP. The initial BWP is used to transmit an SSB, used to transmit a system message, used to transmit random access of a terminal, and / or used to page a terminal device. When the number of terminal devices in a non-connected state residing on a cell is large, if the terminal devices all perform random access and / or paging on the initial BWP, the resources of the initial BWP can be congested.

[0147] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a communication method, which comprises: a terminal device camping on a first BWP, and the terminal device being in a non-connected state; the terminal device receiving a first message from a network device, the first message being used to indicate a second BWP; and the terminal device switching from the first BWP to the second BWP. Optionally, the terminal device can send small packets and / or reference signals to the network device on the second BWP, and / or can receive small packets and / or reference signals from the network device, and the like. In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device in the non-connected state can perform BWP switching, and the problem of initial BWP resource congestion caused by the terminal device in the non-connected state camping on the initial BWP can be solved. It can be understood that the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can also be a component (chip, circuit or the like) configured in the terminal device, and the network device can also be a component (chip, circuit or the like) configured in the network device, and the like.

[0148] As shown in Figure 7 , a flow of a communication method is provided, at least comprising:

[0149] Optionally, step 700: the terminal device receives a second message from the network device, the second message being used to configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device, and the one or more BWPs at least comprising the second BWP.

[0150] Optionally, the second message can be an RRC release message, a system message, a paging message, or a message carried by a PDSCH, and the like. For example, when the terminal device is in an RRC connected state, the network device can configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device through an RRC release message or a system message. When the terminal device is in an RRC inactive state, the network device can configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device through a message carried by a PDSCH, such as a PDSCH carrying downlink unicast data packets or downlink small packets, and the like. Among them, the BWP configured by the RRC release message or the message carried by the PDSCH can be considered as the BWP configured for each terminal device individually, and the BWP indicated by the system message can be considered as the BWP configured for all terminal devices in the cell. Among them, the PDSCH carrying the downlink unicast message is scheduled by a DCI, and the DCI can be scrambled by a specific RNTI of the terminal device.

[0151] In a possible implementation manner, as shown in Table 1, the second message is used to indicate at least one of the following contents in each BWP of the one or more BWPs:

[0152] Table 1, parameters of each configured BWP

[0153]

[0154] The BWP parameters in Table 1 above can be considered as a first set of parameters of a BWP, while the measurement-related configurations, BWP switching time, BWP for uplink and / or downlink transmission, time-frequency resources in a BWP for small packet transmission, and the like can be considered as a second set of parameters. The meanings of the two sets of parameters are described below respectively.

[0155] First set of parameters:

[0156] (1) Location and bandwidth: indicating the frequency domain location and bandwidth of the BWP in a carrier.

[0157] (2) SCS: indicating the SCS of the BWP.

[0158] (3) Downlink BWP: configuring downlink parameters of the BWP, including at least one of the following of the BWP: configuration information of PDCCH, configuration information of CSI-RS, and configuration information of PDSCH.

[0159] (4) Uplink BWP: configuring uplink parameters of the BWP, including at least one of the following of the BWP: configuration information of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), configuration information of PUSCH, configuration information of sounding reference signal (SRS), and beam mismatch recovery configuration, and the like.

[0160] Second set of parameters:

[0161] (1) Measurement parameters. The measurement parameters can include at least one of the following:

[0162] - Reference signal type for measurement. For example, the reference signal type can include SSB, or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or no measurement, and the like.

[0163] - Cell information of the reference signal. For example, indicating the reference signal of the serving cell or the reference signal of the neighbor cell, etc. Optionally, the terminal device can also be configured to measure the reference signal of a certain beam in the serving cell or the neighbor cell. The beam has a corresponding relationship with the SSB index, and a certain SSB index can be specifically indicated. For example, the above-mentioned cell information of the configured reference signal is: neighbor cell + SSB index 1, which means that the terminal device is configured to measure the reference signal of the beam corresponding to SSB index 1 in the neighbor cell. Wherein, the above-mentioned serving cell or neighbor cell can be represented by the cell ID, or can be represented by the simplified ID of the cell.

[0164] - Time-frequency resource position of the reference signal. In a possible implementation, the time domain position of the reference signal can be indicated by the period length, the starting position in the period, and the duration in the period of the reference signal; the frequency domain position of the reference signal can be indicated by the starting frequency position and the frequency width (for example, location and bandwidth) of the reference signal. In another possible implementation, different time-frequency resources can be configured in advance for different SSBs, and different time-frequency resources can be indicated by the SSB index.

[0165] - Function of the reference signal. The function of the reference signal can include determining whether the TA is valid, and / or determining whether to perform cell reselection, etc. In a possible implementation, if the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) measured by the terminal device before and after is greater than a threshold value, it can be considered that the TA is invalid, otherwise it can be considered that the TA is valid. In another possible implementation, if the terminal device performs neighbor cell measurement on the BWP of the serving cell, the neighbor cell measurement value is high (or the neighbor cell measurement result is higher than the measurement result of the serving cell), or the terminal device performs serving cell measurement on the BWP of the serving cell, the serving cell measurement value is low (or the measurement result of the serving cell is lower than the measurement result of the neighbor cell), then the terminal device can perform cell reselection and switch to the neighbor cell.

[0166] (2) BWP switching time. One or more BWP switching times can be configured for each BWP, each BWP switching time including a BWP switching period and indication information of a period in which the BWP switching is specifically performed, for example, indicating that the terminal device switches in the period, or switches in the Nth period after the period, etc. Optionally, if the terminal device switches in the BWP switching period, the terminal device can specifically perform the BWP switching immediately after receiving the information for indicating the BWP switching, or perform the BWP switching within the Mth time unit after receiving the information for indicating the BWP switching, M being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. If the terminal device switches in the Nth period after the period, the terminal device performs the BWP switching at the beginning of the Nth period.

[0167] (3) BWP for uplink and / or downlink transmission. Since the terminal devices of different service types may have different demands for uplink and downlink services, the network device can configure different BWPs for the uplink and downlink transmission of the terminal device. For example, if the above-mentioned BWP is configured for uplink transmission, the terminal device can perform uplink transmission on the BWP, but not downlink transmission. Similarly, if the above-mentioned BWP is configured for downlink transmission, the terminal device performs downlink transmission on the BWP, but not uplink transmission. If the BWP is configured for uplink transmission and downlink transmission, the terminal device can perform both uplink transmission and downlink transmission on the BWP.

[0168] (4) Time-frequency resources for small packet transmission in BWP. One or more time-frequency resources for small packet transmission can be configured for each BWP. Optionally, for each time-frequency resource for small packet transmission, a search time-frequency range of control information for scheduling small packet transmission, and / or a transmission resource of a data channel for carrying small packet transmission, etc. can be included. In one possible implementation, the terminal device can determine the candidate resource position of PDCCH according to the search time-frequency range of control information for scheduling small packet transmission, and monitor PDCCH in the determined candidate resource position. Subsequently, according to the scheduling of the monitored PDCCH, small packets are transmitted on PDSCH and / or PUSCH. In another possible implementation, the terminal device can determine the PDSCH and / or PUSCH resource for transmitting small packets according to the transmission resource of the data channel for carrying small packet transmission configured above, and transmit small packets on the PDSCH and / or PUSCH resource.

[0169] The search time-frequency range of the control information for scheduling small packet transmission can be indicated by configuring a control resource set CORESET and / or a search space SearchSpace, etc. The transmission resource of the data channel for carrying small packet transmission can also be referred to as data information transmission resource, or resource of PDSCH and / or PUSCH.

[0170] Optionally, the resource of the PDSCH and / or PUSCH for small packet transmission can include time domain resource of the PDSCH and / or PUSCH for small packet transmission and frequency domain resource of the PDSCH and / or PUSCH for small packet transmission. The time domain resource of the PDSCH and / or PUSCH for small packet transmission can be indicated in the following manner: indicating a period of small packet transmission (the period can be indicated by a number of first time units, such as slots, etc.), indicating one or more first time units (such as slots, etc.) in the period for small packet transmission, and indicating one or more second time units (such as symbols, etc.) in the first time unit that can be used for small packet transmission. Taking the first time unit as a slot and the second time unit as a symbol as an example, the indication manner of the time domain resource of the PDSCH and / or PUSCH for small packet transmission can be: indicating a period of small packet transmission, the period can be indicated by a number of slots, indicating one or more slots in the period for small packet transmission, and indicating one or more symbols in the slot that can be used for small packet transmission. The indication manner of the plurality of slots can be a starting slot in the period + a slot length, and the indication manner of the plurality of symbols can be a starting symbol + a symbol length, etc. The frequency domain resource of the PDSCH and / or PUSCH for small packet transmission can be indicated in the following manner: indicating the frequency domain resource occupied by the PDSCH and / or PUSCH in the BWP, for example, by indicating a starting frequency position + a frequency domain length (for example, by indicating a starting RB position + an occupied RB length (number), or a frequency domain length + an ending frequency position, or directly indicating a starting frequency position + an ending frequency position, etc.).

[0171] Referring to Table 1, the small packet resource for each BWP can include: resource for transmitting a small packet in a configured grant (CG) manner, and / or resource for transmitting a small packet in a random access manner. Optionally, the small packet resource for each BWP can further include a configuration of a target cell. The terminal device can use the small packet resource configured in each BWP to send or receive a small packet to the target cell. The target cell can be a serving cell of the terminal device, or can be a neighbor cell, etc. For example, in a specific configuration, the small packet resource in Table 1 is configured as: CG resource 1 / random access resource 2 + neighbor cell. The terminal device can use the above resource 1 to send or receive a small packet to the neighbor cell in a CG manner. The terminal device can use the above resource 2 to send or receive a small packet to the neighbor cell in a random access manner.

[0172] The configuration grant CG, also referred to as uplink configuration grant, refers to that the terminal device performs uplink transmission according to the configuration information without scheduling of the network device. The uplink configuration grant includes two types, namely, type 1 uplink configuration grant and type 2 uplink configuration grant. The difference between the two is that the parameters in the type 1 uplink configuration grant are all pre-configured by the network device, and therefore, the terminal device directly uses the parameters configured by the network device when sending uplink service data using the type 1 uplink configuration grant, without additional scheduling information. When the terminal device sends uplink service data using the type 2 uplink configuration grant, the terminal device needs to additionally receive a trigger information to perform uplink data transmission. The trigger information can be DCI.

[0173] As shown in FIG. 6, for the 4-step random access mode, the terminal device can carry a small packet in Msg3. As shown in FIG. 7, for the 2-step random access mode, the terminal device can carry a small packet in MsgA. Optionally, in addition to carrying a small packet, the terminal device can also carry an identifier of the terminal device in Msg3 and MsgA. Figure 5a Figure 5b As shown in FIG. 6, for the 4-step random access mode, the terminal device can carry a small packet in Msg3. As shown in FIG. 7, for the 2-step random access mode, the terminal device can carry a small packet in MsgA. Optionally, in addition to carrying a small packet, the terminal device can also carry an identifier of the terminal device in Msg3 and MsgA.

[0174] In the embodiments of the present application, the resources for sending a small packet to a neighbor cell on a BWP can be configured. Before the resources for sending a small packet to a neighbor cell are configured, the current serving cell can request the neighbor cell for available small packet resources on the BWP frequency band, and after the neighbor cell informs the serving cell of the available small packet resources on the BWP frequency band, the serving cell configures corresponding small packet resources to the terminal device for sending a small packet to the neighbor cell on the BWP. Optionally, after the configuration is completed, the serving cell can inform the neighbor cell which small packet resources for sending to the neighbor cell are configured for the terminal device. The neighbor cell correspondingly detects the small packet on the small packet resources.

[0175] For example, the terminal device A is configured with four BWPs shown in FIG. 8 for non-connected state camping, and the four BWPs are numbered from top to bottom as 0 to 3. In each of the above BWPs, the black filled part represents the resources configured for the serving cell, the gray filled part represents the resources configured for the neighbor cell 1, and the diagonal line filled part represents the resources configured for the neighbor cell 2. The white filled part represents the SSBs that are not configured for measurement. Figure 8 Figure 8 For example, the terminal device A is configured with four BWPs shown in FIG. 8 for non-connected state camping, and the four BWPs are numbered from top to bottom as 0 to 3. In each of the above BWPs, the black filled part represents the resources configured for the serving cell, the gray filled part represents the resources configured for the neighbor cell 1, and the diagonal line filled part represents the resources configured for the neighbor cell 2. The white filled part represents the SSBs that are not configured for measurement.

[0176] For example, the terminal device A is configured with four BWPs shown in FIG. 8 for non-connected state camping, and the four BWPs are numbered from top to bottom as 0 to 3. In each of the above BWPs, the black filled part represents the resources configured for the serving cell, the gray filled part represents the resources configured for the neighbor cell 1, and the diagonal line filled part represents the resources configured for the neighbor cell 2. The white filled part represents the SSBs that are not configured for measurement. Figure 8 ​​It can be seen that in the BWP ID=0, the resources of the SSB of the serving cell, the resources of the remaining minimum system information (RMSI) of the serving cell, and the CORESET#0 or small packet resources of the serving cell are configured. Optionally, the BWP of the BWP ID=0 can be the initial BWP of the current serving cell.

[0177] In the BWP ID=1, the SSB resources of the serving cell, the RMSI resources of the serving cell, the CORESET#0 or small packet resources of the serving cell and the neighboring cell 1 are configured.

[0178] In the BWP ID=2, the SSB resources of the neighboring cell 1 and the neighboring cell 2, the RMSI resources of the neighboring cell 1, and the CORESET#0 or small packet resources of the neighboring cell 1 and the neighboring cell 2 are configured.

[0179] In the BWP ID=3, the CSI-RS resources of the serving cell are configured.

[0180] Through Figure 8 It can be seen that the terminal device A can measure the SSB of the serving cell on the BWP ID=0 and ID=1, can measure the CSI-RS of the serving cell on the BWP ID=3, and there is no reference signal of the serving cell configured for measurement on the BWP ID=2. Therefore, in the frequency band of the BWP ID=2, the SSB of the neighboring cell 1 and the neighboring cell 2 can be measured, and the time-frequency resources for measuring the SSB of the neighboring cell 1 and the neighboring cell 2 are given in the configuration of the BWP ID=2. Optionally, the above-mentioned time-frequency resources of the SSB of the neighboring cell 1 and the neighboring cell 2 can be configured to the terminal device through the BWP configuration parameters of the BWP ID=2. The BWP configuration parameters can further include the above-mentioned reference signal functions of the neighboring cell 1 and the neighboring cell 2. For example, whether to be used for determining the TA validity, and / or whether to be used for cell reselection, etc.

[0181] In the embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned parameters of the BWP can be configured through the RRC release message, the inactive downlink unicast data packet, the broadcast message or the system message, and the specific configuration can be referred to the above description, which will not be repeated here.

[0182] Step 701: The terminal device receives a first message from the network device, and the first message is used to indicate a second BWP. Optionally, the second BWP can be any one of the one or more BWPs configured in step 700 described above. Alternatively, the configuration parameters of the second BWP can be included in the first message in step 701 described above. Wherein, the configuration parameters of the second BWP carried in the first message are described in Table 1 above. That is, the first message is used to indicate at least one of the following in the second BWP: the identity of the BWP, the measurement parameter, the BWP switching time, the BWP for uplink and / or downlink transmission, and the time-frequency resource for small packet transmission in the BWP. In addition, the first message can also be used to indicate the cell corresponding to the second BWP or the cell where the second BWP is located.

[0183] In a possible implementation, the first message in step 701 described above is carried by DCI, and the first message is used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0184] (1) The identity of the second BWP. Optionally, the identity of the second BWP can be the ID of the second BWP. As described above, the identity corresponding to each BWP can be configured in the RRC release message, or configured in the system message, or configured in the information carried in the PDSCH. Optionally, the identity of the second BWP can occupy X1 bits, and the value of X1 can indicate the absolute value of the ID of the second BWP, or indicate the offset value relative to the ID of the current first BWP.

[0185] (2) The information of the terminal device for BWP switching. Optionally, the information of the terminal device for BWP switching can occupy X2 bits. For groupcast communication, if the network device wants a part of the terminal devices in the terminal group to perform BWP switching, a plurality of terminal devices in the terminal group can form a group to perform BWP switching. The above group information can be a value related to the ID of the terminal device. For example, if X2 is 4 bits, it can be specified that the terminal devices whose front positive integer (such as 2, 4 or other values) bits or back positive integer (such as 2, 4 or other values) bits of the ID of the terminal device are the same as the value of X2 perform BWP switching.

[0186] (3) The terminal device type for BWP switching. The terminal device type for BWP switching can occupy X3 bits. For example, when X3 bits is 1 bit, its value of “1” can indicate a REDCAP terminal device for BWP switching. Its value of “0” can indicate a non-RED CAP terminal device for BWP switching. For another example, when X3 bits is 1 bit, its value of “1” can indicate a sub-type of REDCAP terminal device for BWP switching; its value of “0” can indicate another sub-type of REDCAP terminal device for BWP switching. Different sub-types of REDCAP terminal device can be distinguished according to one or more of the following: maximum bandwidth supported by the terminal device, number of antennas, signal processing capability, latency capability for scheduling transmission, full duplex capability, or other terminal software and hardware related capabilities, which are not limited herein. The specific description of REDCAP terminal device and non-RED CAP terminal device can be found in the above mentioned seventh part of the term explanation. Alternatively, the above mentioned X2 bits and X3 bits can jointly indicate the terminal device for BWP switching. For example, taking X2 as 4 bits and X3 as 1 bit as an example. When the value of X3 is “1” (binary), it indicates that the terminal device with the first 4 bits of the terminal device ID same as the value of X2 performs BWP switching. When the value of X3 is “0” (binary), it indicates that the terminal device with the last 4 bits of the terminal device ID same as the value of X2 performs BWP switching. In the following description, the values with quotation marks, such as “0” and “1”, etc., represent binary, and the values without quotation marks can represent decimal, hexadecimal, etc.

[0187] (4) BWP switching time. In one possible implementation, the above-mentioned BWP switching time corresponding to the multiple BWP switching in the above-mentioned table 1 can be indicated in the DCI. Alternatively, in another possible implementation, the BWP switching is not performed by using the BWP switching time configured in the above-mentioned table 1 for the second BWP, but a new BWP switching time is indicated in the DCI to perform the BWP switching. As described above, the BWP switching time includes a BWP switching period and a period for performing the BWP switching. For example, the pre-configured BWP switching period is 5 ms, the first BWP switching period is 0-5 ms after the terminal enters the RRC non-connected state, the second BWP switching period is 5-10 ms, the third BWP switching period is 10-15 ms, and so on. The terminal device can perform the BWP switching in the current period or in the next N periods after receiving the above-mentioned DCI. Optionally, the BWP switching time can occupy X4 bits, and the indicated switching period is: the current period+N period. Wherein, N is the value expressed by X4 bits, and N is greater than or equal to zero. For example, when X4=“0” (binary), N=0, indicating that the terminal device performs the BWP switching in the current period. When X4=“11” (binary), N=3, indicating that the terminal device performs the BWP switching in the third period after the current period.

[0188] Of course, the content carried in the above-mentioned DCI is only illustrative and does not limit the embodiments of the present application. For example, in the embodiments of the present application, the DCI can carry the second BWP corresponding cell, and / or the time-frequency resource for small packet communication in the second BWP, in addition to the above-mentioned content. As for the time-frequency resource for small packet communication in the second BWP carried in the DCI, the main reason is that: first, there can be multiple time-frequency resources for small packet communication in each BWP configured in the table 1, and the specific time-frequency resource for small packet communication can be indicated to the terminal device through the DCI. Second, the terminal device can not use the time-frequency resource configured in the above-mentioned table 1 to perform the BWP communication, but can use the new time-frequency resource indicated through the DCI to perform the BWP communication.

[0189] In one possible implementation, the DCI is a first type of DCI, and the first type of DCI is used to carry the indication information of one or more terminal devices for BWP switching. Optionally, the first type of DCI can also be referred to as a groupcast DCI. The first type of DCI includes a DCI scrambled by P-RNTI or a DCI scrambled by SI-RNTI.

[0190] Wherein, P-RNTI scrambled DCI, hereinafter referred to as P-DCI, is used to schedule PDSCH carrying paging message, P-RNTI is hexadecimal, and the value range is 0001-FFFF. DCI format is format 1_0, and specific fields include:

[0191] Table 2, each field of P-DCI scrambled DCI

[0192]

[0193] As shown in Table 3, the information indicated in the 2 bits in a possible implementation of "short message indication" includes:

[0194] Table 3, information indicated by "short message indication" field

[0195]

[0196] Wherein, when the "short message indication" field indicates "01", it indicates that the P-DCI is only used to schedule paging message. The 8 bits of the "short message" field in the field sequence number 2 in Table 1 have no indication significance, and the "frequency domain resource allocation", "time domain resource allocation", "VRB to PRB mapping", "VRB to TRB mapping", "transport block size" and the like are used to indicate the transmission parameters of the PDSCH carrying the paging message; when the "short message indication" field indicates "10", it indicates that the P-DCI is only used to schedule short message, and the "frequency domain resource allocation", "time domain resource allocation", "VRB to PRB mapping", "VRB to TRB mapping", "transport block size" and the like have no indication significance; when the "short message indication" field indicates "11", it indicates that the P-DCI schedules paging message and indicates short message. And "00" of the field is reserved and has no indication significance. In addition, 8 bits in the P-DCI are used as reserved fields and have no indication significance.

[0197] In the embodiment of the application, the "00" state of the "short message indication" field can represent any of the following meanings:

[0198] The "00" state indicates that the P-DCI is only used to indicate BWP switching, and then the field sequence numbers 2-8 in Table 2 have no specific indication significance and can be used to indicate BWP switching.

[0199] The "00" state indicates that the P-DCI indicates BWP switching and short message, and then the field sequence numbers 3-8 in Table 2 have no specific indication significance and can be used to indicate BWP switching.

[0200] The "00" state indicates that the P-DCI indicates BWP switching and paging messages, and the 8-bit reserved field in Table 2 with the sequence number 8 has no specific indication significance and can be used to indicate BWP switching.

[0201] The "00" state indicates that the P-DCI indicates BWP switching, short messages, and paging messages, and the 8-bit reserved field in Table 2 with the sequence number 8 has no specific indication significance and can be used to indicate BWP switching.

[0202] The "00" state indicates that the P-DCI indicates that the P-DCI indicates paging messages, and the paging messages contain BWP switching indications.

[0203] In the above various cases, assuming that the total number of bits that can be used to indicate BWP switching is X, X1 bits of the X bits are used to indicate the ID of the second BWP.

[0204] Optionally, X2 bits of the X bits are used to indicate grouping information. When the grouping information is preconfigured, for example, all terminals paged by the paging message are preconfigured to perform BWP switching, the grouping information can not be indicated in the P-DCI.

[0205] Optionally, X3 bits of the X bits are used to indicate terminal device types. When the terminal device types are preconfigured, for example, all types of terminals are preconfigured to perform BWP switching, or REDCAP terminals are preconfigured to perform BWP switching, or one or more subtypes of REDCAP terminals are preconfigured to perform BWP switching, the terminal device types can not be indicated in the P-DCI.

[0206] Optionally, X4 bits of the X bits are used to indicate the time of switching the BWP. When the time of switching the BWP is preconfigured, for example, the next time slot after receiving the P-DCI is preconfigured to switch, or the next period is preconfigured to switch, etc., the time of switching the BWP can not be indicated in the P-DCI.

[0207] For details of X2, X3, and X4, refer to the above description. Among them, X1+X2+X3+X4<=X, and X2, X3, and X4 bits can be default. The specific length and meaning of each bit can be configured in the BWP parameter in Table 1 above. For example, in one possible implementation, a new row can be added to the BWP parameter in Table 1 above to indicate the length and meaning of each of X2, X3, and X4.

[0208] The DCI scrambled by the SI-RNTI is used to schedule the PDSCH carrying the system information block (SIB). The SI-RNTI is a hexadecimal value ranging from 0000 to FFFF, and the DCI is of a format_1, and the specific fields include:

[0209] Table 4: Fields of the DCI scrambled by the SI-RNTI

[0210]

[0211] In the embodiments of the present application, the 15 bits in the reserved field in Table 4 above can be used to indicate BWP switching. And the X2+X3+X4<=15 bits. The specific meanings of X2, X3, and X4 can be referred to the description above. Among them, the X2, X3, and X4 bits can be configured by default. The specific length and meaning of each bit can be configured in the BWP parameter. For example, in a possible implementation, a new row can be added in the BWP parameter in Table 1 above, which is used to indicate the length and meaning of each of the X2, X3, and X4 bits.

[0212] In another possible implementation, the DCI is a second type of DCI, and the second type of DCI is used to carry indication information for BWP switching of a terminal device. The second type of DCI includes a PDCCH order, a DCI scheduling a downlink packet, a DCI scheduling a random access response, or a DCI scheduling an ACK / NACK feedback of a configured grant (CG), etc.

[0213] Optionally, the second type of DCI can also be referred to as a unicast DCI. Among them, the terminal device in the idle state or the inactive state can detect the unicast DCI in the process of random access. The unicast DCI can be a DCI scheduling a random access response (RAR), or a DCI scrambled by a RA-RNTI and scheduling a Msg2, or a DCI scrambled by a TC-RNTI and scheduling a Msg4, or a DCI scrambled by an RNTI and scheduling a MsgB, etc. The Msg2, Msg4, and MsgB can be referred to the description in the fifth part of the term explanation above. Optionally, the terminal device in the inactive state can also detect a DCI scheduling a downlink packet, a DCI scheduling a downlink feedback of an uplink packet, and a PDCCH order triggering random access, etc. Therefore, the unicast DCI can also be a DCI scheduling a downlink packet, a DCI scheduling a downlink feedback of an uplink packet, or a PDCCH order triggering random access and providing a preamble for random access, etc.

[0214] In each of the above unicast DCI, a number of bits can also be used to indicate the BWP switching. Compared with the groupcast DCI indicating the BWP switching, the unicast DCI does not need to indicate the group information, and can only indicate the X1 and / or X4 bits in the P-DCI, each bit has substantially the same meaning as the corresponding content described above, and will not be described again. Of course, in addition to indicating the X1 and / or X4, the unicast DCI can also indicate, without limitation, the cell corresponding to the second BWP, and / or the time-frequency resource in the second BWP for packet communication, and the like.

[0215] In the embodiments of the present application, the idle bits in the groupcast or unicast DCI of the non-connected state terminal device are used to achieve the technical effect that the network device indicates the non-connected state terminal device to switch the BWP.

[0216] In another possible implementation, the first message in the step 701 is carried by a PDSCH, and the PDSCH is used to carry at least one of the following information: a paging message, a system message, a random access response, ACK / NACK feedback of a CG, or a downlink packet. The PDSCH can include a groupcast PDSCH and a unicast PDSCH. The groupcast PDSCH refers to a PDSCH sent to one or more terminal devices, and the DCI scheduling the groupcast PDSCH is usually scrambled by a common, not terminal-specific RNTI, for example, P-RNTI, SI-RNTI, RA-RNTI, and the like. The information carried on the groupcast PDSCH can include a paging message, a system message, or Msg2, and the like. The unicast PDSCH refers to a PDSCH sent to a specific terminal device, and the DCI scheduling the unicast PDSCH is usually scrambled by a DCI specific to the terminal device. The information carried on the unicast PDSCH can include RAR, MsgB, Msg4, ACK / NACK feedback of a CG transmission, or a downlink packet, and the like. For RAR, MsgB, and Msg4, refer to the description in the fifth part of the above term explanation. For the paging procedure, refer to the description in the fourth part of the above term explanation.

[0217] In a possible implementation, the first message can be used to indicate at least one of the following contents, as shown in the following bolded code:

[0218]

[0219] (1) The identification of the second BWP, also referred to as the ID of the resident BWP, indicates the ID of the second BWP. Optionally, the ID of the second BWP to be switched can be indicated in the form of BWP-ID.

[0220] (2) The switching time of the BWP, also referred to as the switch period. As described above, a plurality of BWP switching times can be pre-configured by Table 1, and one of the BWP switching times can be indicated by the PDSCH to perform switching. Alternatively, a new BWP switching time can be directly indicated by the PDSCH to perform BWP switching.

[0221] (3) The cell corresponding to the second BWP, also referred to as the serving cell, indicates the cell in which the terminal device resides after switching to the second BWP. For example, the terminal device can be instructed to reside in a certain cell after switching to the second BWP by a cell ID or a simplified cell ID.

[0222] (4) The resource for small packet communication in the second BWP, also referred to as the small data configuration, indicates the resource for small packet communication in the second BWP, which can be indicated in the form of a resource sequence number. As described above, a plurality of resources for small packet communication can be pre-configured by Table 1, and one of the small packet resources can be indicated by the PDSCH to perform small packet transmission. Alternatively, a new small packet resource can be directly indicated by the PDSCH to perform small packet transmission.

[0223] (5) The information of the terminal device performing BWP switching. When the PDSCH is a groupcast PDSCH, this parameter can be included. The parameter is described above and will not be described again.

[0224] (6) The type of the terminal device performing BWP switching. When the PDSCH is a groupcast PDSCH, this parameter can be included. The parameter is described above and will not be described again.

[0225] Optionally, since the PDSCH carries more information than the DCI, the PDSCH can directly indicate part or all of the parameters of the second BWP. For example, the PDSCH can carry the parameters configured in Table 1 (for example, the identification of the second BWP, the measurement parameter, the BWP switching time, the second BWP for uplink and / or downlink transmission, the time-frequency resource for small packet transmission in the second BWP, etc.), the cell corresponding to the second BWP, and the like.

[0226] Step 702: The terminal device switches from the first BWP to the second BWP. Optionally, the first BWP can be an initial BWP, or a non-initial BWP, etc., which is not limited. As described above, the BWP switching time can be pre-configured. After receiving the first message in step 701, the terminal device switches to the second BWP within the BWP switching time. Alternatively, after receiving the first message in step 701, the terminal device switches to the second BWP within one or more subsequent BWP switching times.

[0227] Optionally, step 703: transmitting a small packet or a reference signal between the terminal device and the network device on the second BWP. Optionally, for the process of transmitting a small packet between the terminal device in the inactive state and the network device, refer to the description in the sixth part of the term explanation.

[0228] As can be seen from the above, in the embodiments of the present application, for the terminal device in the non-connected state, the BWP in which the terminal device resides can be switched through the first message, and the problem of resource congestion of the initial BWP caused by the fact that the terminal devices in the non-connected state all reside in the initial BWP can be solved.

[0229] In a possible implementation, as shown in Figure 9 The network device can configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device through an RRC release message, a system message (such as an SIB), and a downlink data packet in the inactive state. Then, the network device can instruct the terminal device to switch the BWP through DCI or PDSCH. Optionally, the BWP to be switched instructed through DCI or PDSCH can be at least one of the one or more BWPs pre-configured. The DCI can include multicast DCI and unicast DCI. The multicast DCI can include P-DCI, and the unicast DCI can include DCI scheduling unicast PDSCH. The PDSCH can include unicast PDSCH and multicast PDSCH. The unicast PDSCH can include PDSCH carrying Msg2, MsgB, Msg4, or ACK / NACK feedback. The multicast PDSCH can include P-PDSCH or PDSCH carrying a system message.

[0230] For example, still referring to Figure 9 When the network device configures one or more BWPs through an RRC release message or a system message (such as an SIB), the network device can instruct the terminal device to switch the BWP through DCI. When the network device configures one or more BWPs through an RRC release message, a system message SIB, or a downlink data packet in the inactive state, the network device can instruct the terminal device to switch the BWP through DCI or PDSCH.

[0231] As shown in Figure 10 A flowchart for instructing the terminal device to switch the BWP through DCI is provided, which at least includes:

[0232] Step 900: The network device sends an RRC release message to the terminal device, and the RRC release message is used to inform the terminal device to enter the inactive state. Optionally, the RRC release message can carry indication information of the BWP in which the terminal device resides.

[0233] Optionally, this may also include: the network device configuring one or more BWPs for the terminal device. For example, this can be configured through the RRC release message in step 900 above, or through a system message, or in the unicast or multicast data packets carried by the PDSCH, without limitation. The system message can be received by the terminal device before entering the inactive state or after entering the inactive state, without restriction.

[0234] Step 901: The network device instructs BWP handover via DCI. Since the information carried in the DCI is limited, the BWP instructing the handover is one or more BWPs configured above. The DCI can be a multicast DCI or a unicast DCI, etc., without limitation. In this embodiment, idle bits in the multicast or unicast DCI can be used to instruct BWP handover. For example, the idle bits in the multicast or unicast DCI are X bits. Of these X bits, X1 bit indicates the ID of the BWP to be handed over, X2 bit indicates packet information, X3 bit indicates the terminal device type, and X4 bit is used to indicate the BWP handover time, etc. X1, X2, X3, and X4 can be configured by default and are not limited.

[0235] In this embodiment, for disconnected terminal devices, the idle bits in multicast or unicast DCI are used to achieve the technical effect of the network side instructing the disconnected terminal devices to switch BWPs, thereby avoiding resource congestion of the initial BWP.

[0236] like Figure 11 As shown, a flowchart for instructing BWP switching via PDSCH is provided, which includes at least:

[0237] Step 1000: The network device sends an RRC release message to the terminal device, the RRC release message being used to notify the terminal device to enter an inactive state. Optionally, the RRC release message may carry indication information of the initial BWP hosted by the terminal device.

[0238] Optionally, this may also include: the network device configuring one or more BWPs for the terminal device. For example, this can be configured via RRC release messages, system messages, or unicast or multicast packets carried by the PDSCH. The system messages can be received by the terminal device before or after entering the inactive state; there are no restrictions.

[0239] Step 1001: The network device indicates the BWP switching through a PDSCH, which can be a groupcast PDSCH or a unicast PDSCH. The target of the above-mentioned BWP switching can be a BWP in the above-mentioned pre-configured one or more BWPs. Alternatively, the target of the BWP switching can be a BWP corresponding to a BWP parameter carried in the PDSCH in the step 1001, and the BWP parameter carried in the PDSCH is similar to the above-mentioned pre-configured BWP parameter. After receiving the unicast or groupcast PDSCH, the terminal device switches to the corresponding target BWP.

[0240] In the embodiments of the present application, for the terminal device in the non-connected state, the parameters for indicating the BWP switching through the groupcast or unicast PDSCH are used, so as to achieve the technical effect that the network device indicates the BWP switching of the terminal device in the non-connected state.

[0241] The above describes the method provided by the embodiments of the present application in combination with Figures 1 to 11 The method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail. The following describes the apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application in combination with Figure 12 and Figure 13 The apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and the contents not described in detail can be referred to the description in the method embodiments. In order to implement the functions in the above-mentioned method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the network device and the terminal device can include hardware structures and / or software modules, and the above-mentioned functions are implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules. Whether a certain function in the above-mentioned functions is implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0242] Figure 12 FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of the apparatus 1200 provided by the embodiments of the present application, which is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. The apparatus can be a software unit, a hardware circuit, a software unit + hardware circuit, or a chip system, without limitation. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices. The apparatus includes a communication unit 1201 for communicating with the outside. The apparatus can also include a processing unit 1202 for processing.

[0243] In an example, the above-mentioned apparatus 1200 is used to implement the operations of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. The apparatus 1200 can be a terminal device, or a chip or circuit configured in the terminal device. The communication unit 1201 is used to perform the receiving and transmitting related operations of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and the processing unit 1202 is used to perform the processing related operations of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0244] For example, the communication unit 1201 is configured to receive a first message from a network device, the first message being used to indicate a second BWP; wherein the terminal device is camped on a first bandwidth part (BWP), and the terminal device is in a non-connected state; and the processing unit 1202 is configured to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0245] Optionally, the first message is carried by a downlink control information (DCI), the DCI being a first type of DCI, including a DCI scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) or a DCI scrambled by a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI).

[0246] Optionally, the DCI is a second type of DCI, including a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order, a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, a DCI scheduling a random access response, or a DCI scheduling an acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback of a configured grant (CG).

[0247] Optionally, the first message is carried by a PDSCH, the PDSCH being used to carry at least one of the following information: a paging message, a system information, a random access response, an ACK / NACK feedback of a CG, or a downlink small packet.

[0248] Optionally, the first message is used to indicate at least one of the following: an identity of the second BWP, information of the terminal device for BWP switching, a type of the terminal device for BWP switching, a BWP switching time, a cell corresponding to the second BWP, and a resource in the second BWP for small packet communication.

[0249] Optionally, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to receive a second message from the network device, the second message being used to configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device, the one or more BWPs including the second BWP.

[0250] Optionally, the second message includes an RRC release message, a system information, or a message carried by a PDSCH.

[0251] Optionally, the second message is used to indicate at least one of the following in each of the one or more BWPs: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; a BWP for uplink and / or downlink transmission; and a time-frequency resource in the BWP for small packet transmission.

[0252] Optionally, the first message is further used to indicate at least one of the following in the second BWP: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; a BWP for uplink and / or downlink transmission; a time-frequency resource in the BWP for small packet transmission; and a cell corresponding to the BWP.

[0253] Optionally, the measurement parameter comprises: a type of a reference signal measured; cell information of the reference signal; a time-frequency resource position of the reference signal; and an effect of the reference signal.

[0254] Optionally, the effect of the reference signal comprises determining whether a time advance TA is valid or whether cell reselection is performed.

[0255] In another example, the apparatus 1200 is configured to implement the operations of the network device in the above method embodiments. The apparatus 1200 can be a network device, or a chip or circuit configured in the network device. The communication unit 1201 is configured to perform the transceiving related operations of the network device in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1202 is configured to perform the processing related operations of the network device in the above method embodiments.

[0256] For example, the processing unit 1202 is configured to generate a first message, and the communication unit 1201 is configured to send the first message to a terminal device. The terminal device is camped on a first bandwidth part (BWP), and the terminal device is in an unconnected state. The first message is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the first BWP to a second BWP.

[0257] Optionally, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to send or receive a small packet or a reference signal to or from the terminal device on the second BWP.

[0258] Optionally, the first message is carried by a downlink control information (DCI). The DCI is a first type of DCI, including a DCI scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) or a DCI scrambled by a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI).

[0259] The DCI is a second type of DCI, including a DCI of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order, a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, a DCI scheduling a random access response, or a DCI scheduling an ACK / NACK feedback of a configured grant (CG).

[0260] Optionally, the first message is carried by a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The PDSCH is used to carry at least one of the following information: a paging message, a system information, a random access response, an ACK / NACK feedback of a CG, or a downlink small packet.

[0261] Optionally, the first message is used to indicate at least one of the following: an identity of the second BWP, information of the terminal device for BWP switching, a type of the terminal device for BWP switching, a BWP switching time, a cell corresponding to the second BWP, and a resource in the second BWP for small packet communication.

[0262] Optionally, the communication unit 1201 is further configured to send a second message to the terminal device, the second message being used for configuring one or more BWPs for the terminal device, the one or more BWPs including the second BWP.

[0263] Optionally, the second message includes a radio resource control (RRC) release message, a system message, or a message carried by a PDSCH.

[0264] Optionally, the second message is used to indicate at least one of the following in each of the one or more BWPs: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; whether the BWP is used for uplink and / or downlink transmission; time-frequency resources in the BWP used for small packet transmission.

[0265] Optionally, the first message is further used to indicate at least one of the following in the second BWP: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; whether the BWP is used for uplink and / or downlink transmission; time-frequency resources in the BWP used for small packet transmission; a cell corresponding to the BWP.

[0266] Optionally, the measurement parameter includes: a reference signal type of measurement; cell information of the reference signal; a time-frequency resource position of the reference signal; a role of the reference signal.

[0267] Optionally, the role of the reference signal includes determining whether a time advance (TA) is valid or whether cell reselection is performed.

[0268] The division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is merely a logical function division. Actual implementation can have another division manner. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processor, or can be physically separated, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0269] It can be understood that the functions of the communication unit in the above embodiments can be realized by a communication interface, and the functions of the processing unit can be realized by at least one processor. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, a pin, or other types of communication interfaces. In the embodiments of the present application, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver can include a separate receiver, a separate transmitter, a transceiver integrated with a transceiving function, or an interface circuit. For example, the transceiver can include a transmitter and / or a receiver, etc., which are used to realize the functions of the sending unit and / or the receiving unit. The functions of the processing unit will be described in detail below. Figure 13 The above is described by way of example.

[0270] Figure 13 The communication device 1300 shown includes at least one processor 1301. The communication device 1300 may also include at least one memory 1302 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1302 and the processor 1301 are coupled. The coupling in this embodiment is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, and can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 1301 can operate collaboratively with the memory 1302, and the processor 1301 can execute program instructions stored in the memory 1302. At least one of the at least one memory 1302 may be included in the processor 1301.

[0271] The device 1300 may also include a communication interface 1303 for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium, thereby enabling the communication device 1300 to communicate with other devices.

[0272] It should be understood that the connection medium between the processor 1301, memory 1302, and communication interface 1303 described above is not limited in the embodiments of this application. The embodiments of this application... Figure 13 The memory 1302, processor 1301, and communication interface 1303 are connected via a communication bus 1304. Figure 13 The connections between other components are shown in bold and are for illustrative purposes only, not as limiting information. The bus may include an address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 13 The symbol is represented by a single thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0273] In one example, device 1300 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments. Communication interface 1303 is used to perform the send / receive related operations on the terminal device side in the above embodiments, and processor 1301 is used to perform the processing related operations on the terminal device side in the above method embodiments.

[0274] For example, communication interface 1303 is used to receive a first message from a network device, the first message indicating a second BWP; wherein the terminal device resides in a first bandwidth portion BWP and the terminal device is in a disconnected state; processor 1301 is used to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP. Other specific details are similar to those described above. Figure 12 The corresponding descriptions in the text will not be repeated here.

[0275] In another example, the apparatus 1300 is configured to implement operations performed by a network device in the above-described method embodiments. The communication interface 1303 is configured to perform the transceiving-related operations on the network device side in the above-described method embodiments, and the processor 1301 is configured to perform the processing-related operations on the network device side in the above-described method embodiments.

[0276] For example, the processor 1301 is configured to generate a first message, and the communication interface 1303 is configured to send the first message to a terminal device. The terminal device is camped on a first bandwidth part (BWP), and the terminal device is in a non-connected state. The first message is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the first BWP to a second BWP.

[0277] Optionally, the communication interface 1303 is further configured to send or receive a small packet or a reference signal to or from the terminal device on the second BWP. Other specific details are similar to the corresponding descriptions in the above-described embodiments and will not be described herein. Figure 12

[0278] Further, the embodiments of the present application also provide an apparatus configured to implement the method on the terminal device side or the method on the network device side in the above-described method embodiments. A computer-readable storage medium includes a program, which, when executed by a processor, causes the method on the terminal device side or the method on the network device side in the above-described method embodiments to be performed. A computer program product includes computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method on the terminal device side or the method on the network device side in the above-described method embodiments. A chip includes a processor coupled with a memory, and the memory is configured to store a program or instructions, which, when executed by the processor, causes the apparatus to perform the method on the terminal device side or the method on the network device side in the above-described method embodiments. A system includes the terminal device and the network device in the above-described method embodiments.

[0279] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, and can implement or execute the disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware processor execution or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0280] ​In the embodiments of the present application, the memory can be a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and can also be a volatile memory such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory can be any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and capable of being accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory in the embodiments of the present application can also be a circuit or any other device capable of realizing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0281] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be implemented completely or partially through software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented through software, the method can be implemented completely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are completely or partially generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center through a wired (for example, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (for example, an SSD), etc.

[0282] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: a terminal device camping on a first bandwidth part (BWP) and being in a radio resource control (RRC) non-connected state; receiving a first message from a network device, the first message being used to indicate a second BWP and being used to indicate resources in the second BWP for small packet communication; the first message being a groupcast message, the first message further being used to indicate the following: an identity of the second BWP, information of a terminal device for BWP switching, a type of the terminal device for BWP switching, a BWP switching time, and a cell corresponding to the second BWP; switching from the first BWP to the second BWP; transmitting, with the network device, a small packet on the resources in the second BWP for small packet communication.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first message being carried by a downlink control information (DCI), the DCI being a first type of DCI, including a DCI scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) or a DCI scrambled by a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); or the DCI being a second type of DCI, including a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order, a DCI scheduling a physical downlink data channel (PDSCH), a DCI scheduling a random access response, or a DCI scheduling an acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback of a configured grant (CG).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first message being carried by a PDSCH, the PDSCH being used to carry at least one of the following: a paging message, a system information, a random access response, an ACK / NACK feedback in a CG, or a downlink small packet.

4. The method of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a second message from the network device, the second message being used to configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device, the one or more BWPs including the second BWP.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, the second message including an RRC release message, a system information, or a message carried by a PDSCH.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, the second message being used to indicate, in each of the one or more BWPs, at least one of the following: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; whether the BWP is used for uplink and / or downlink transmission; and a time-frequency resource in the BWP for small packet transmission.

7. The method of any one of claims 1, 2, or 3, wherein, the first message being further used to indicate, in the second BWP, at least one of the following: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; whether the BWP is used for uplink and / or downlink transmission; a time-frequency resource in the BWP for small packet transmission; and a cell corresponding to the BWP. the measurement parameter including at least one of the following:

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, a type of a reference signal for measurement; cell information of the reference signal; a time-frequency resource location of the reference signal; and an effect of the reference signal. the effect of the reference signal including determining whether a timing advance (TA) is valid or whether cell reselection is performed.

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

10. A communication method characterized by comprising: sending a first message to a terminal device; ​ The terminal device is camped on a first bandwidth part (BWP), and the terminal device is in a radio resource control (RRC) non-connected state. The first message is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the first BWP to a second BWP, and the first message is further used to instruct resources for small packet communication in the second BWP. The first message is a groupcast message, and the first message is further used to instruct the following: an identity of the second BWP, information of a terminal device for BWP switching, a type of the terminal device for BWP switching, a BWP switching time, and a cell corresponding to the second BWP. Small packets are transmitted with the terminal device on the resources for small packet communication in the second BWP.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, Further comprising: Reference signals are transmitted with the terminal device on the second BWP.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein, The first message is carried by a downlink control information (DCI), the DCI is a first type of DCI, including a DCI scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) or a DCI scrambled by a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI); or The DCI is a second type of DCI, including a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order, a DCI scheduling a physical downlink data channel (PDSCH), a DCI scheduling a random access response, or a DCI scheduling a configuration grant (CG) positive acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback.

13. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein, The first message is carried by a PDSCH, and the PDSCH is used to carry at least one of the following information: a paging message, a system message, a random access response, and ACK / NACK feedback or downlink small packets of the CG.

14. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein, Further comprising: A second message is sent to the terminal device, and the second message is used to configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device, the one or more BWPs including the second BWP.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The second message includes an RRC release message, a system message, or a message carried by a PDSCH.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The second message includes information used to indicate at least one of the following in each of the one or more BWPs: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; the BWP is used for uplink and / or downlink transmission; and time-frequency resources for small packet transmission in the BWP.

17. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein, The first message is further used to indicate at least one of the following in the second BWP: an identity of the BWP; a measurement parameter; a BWP switching time; the BWP is used for uplink and / or downlink transmission; resources for small packet transmission in the BWP; and a cell corresponding to the BWP. The measurement parameter includes at least one of the following:

18. The method of claim 16, wherein, a reference signal type for measurement; cell information of the reference signal; a time-frequency resource location of the reference signal; and an effect of the reference signal. The effect of the reference signal includes determining whether a time advance (TA) is valid or whether cell reselection is performed.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, A unit for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 9 is included.

20. An apparatus comprising: A processor and a memory are included, the processor and the memory are coupled, and the processor is used to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

21. An apparatus, comprising: ​ 22. An apparatus comprising: comprising means for implementing the method of any of claims 10 to 19.

23. An apparatus, comprising: comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to perform the method of any of claims 10 to 19.

24. A communication system, characterized by comprising the apparatus of claim 20 or 21, and the apparatus of claim 22 or 23.

25. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that, comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9, or the method of any of claims 10 to 19.

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