Time information transmission method and device

Abstract

This application discloses a time information transmission method and apparatus, applicable to a relay device. The method comprises: receiving time information sent by an access network device, the time information corresponding to a first system frame number (SFN); determining the SFN to which the time information is to be transmitted to a remote device; and, if it is determined that the time information is to be transmitted to the remote device at a second SFN, sending an indication to the remote device, the indication indicating the first SFN, where the first SFN and the second SFN are different. This method enables the remote device to determine accurate time information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and device for transmitting time information. Background Art

[0002] An access network device can communicate with a terminal device outside its communication range. Instead of sending signals directly to the terminal device, the access network device first sends the signal to a relay device (Relay UE, or Relay), which then forwards the signal to the terminal device. The Relay UE is located within the access network device's communication range, while the terminal device outside the access network device's communication range is called a remote UE. The use of Relay UEs can expand network coverage, enhance network system link performance, and improve cell throughput.

[0003] In the information exchange between communication devices, System Information Block (SIB) 9 can be used to transmit time information. When the access network device sends SIB9 to a terminal device (i.e., a Relay UE or a non-remote UE) within the communication range of the access network device, the Relay UE can obtain the boundary of the System Frame Number (SFN) corresponding to the boundary of the System Information Window (SI Window) in which the SIB9 is sent. The Relay UE forwards the SIB9 to the Remote UE. After receiving the SIB9, the Remote UE cannot obtain the SFN that the access network device sent the SIB9, resulting in inaccurate time information ultimately determined by the Remote UE. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application discloses a time information transmission method and apparatus, which can enable a remote device to determine accurate time information.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for transmitting time information, which are applied to a relay device. The method includes:

[0006] receiving time information sent by the access network device, where the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0007] Determine the SFN for sending time information to the remote device;

[0008] If it is determined to send the time information to the remote device at the second SFN, indication information is sent to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN, and the first SFN is different from the second SFN.

[0009] In one embodiment, the time-frequency position of a transmission resource is obtained from an access network device or a transmission resource set, and the transmission resource is used to send time information to a remote device; and the SFN corresponding to the time-frequency position is determined as the SFN for sending time information to the remote device.

[0010] In one embodiment, if it is determined that the time information is to be sent to the remote device at the third SFN, the time information is updated according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN to obtain updated time information, and the updated time information corresponds to the third SFN; the updated time information is sent to the remote device at the third SFN.

[0011] In one embodiment, a fourth SFN is determined based on a preset SFN difference, where the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference; transmission resources in the fourth SFN are obtained from an access network device or a transmission resource set; and time information is sent to a remote device in the fourth SFN using the obtained transmission resources.

[0012] In one embodiment, if the first SFN is the same as the second SFN, the time information is sent to the remote device via the second SFN.

[0013] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a time information transmission method, applied to a relay device, the method comprising:

[0014] Receive time information sent by the access network device and determine the first system frame number SFN corresponding to the time information;

[0015] Determine to send time information to the remote device at the second SFN;

[0016] If the second SFN is different from the first SFN, indication information is sent to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN.

[0017] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a time information transmission method, applied to a relay device, the method comprising:

[0018] receiving time information sent by the access network device, and determining that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0019] Determine to send time information to the remote device at the third SFN;

[0020] updating the time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN to obtain updated time information, where the updated time information corresponds to the third SFN;

[0021] The updated time information is sent to the remote device at the third SFN.

[0022] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a time information transmission method, applied to a relay device, the method comprising:

[0023] receiving time information sent by the access network device, and determining that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0024] Determining a fourth SFN according to a preset SFN difference, where the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference;

[0025] Acquire transmission resources in the fourth SFN from the access network device or the transmission resource set;

[0026] The fourth SFN sends the time information to the remote device using the acquired transmission resources.

[0027] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a time information transmission method, applied to a remote device, the method comprising:

[0028] receiving, at a fourth SFN, time information sent by the relay device;

[0029] According to the preset SFN difference, it is determined that the time information corresponds to the first SFN, and the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference.

[0030] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a time information transmission device, applied to a relay device, the device comprising:

[0031] a transceiver unit, configured to receive time information sent by an access network device, where the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0032] A processing unit, configured to determine a SFN for sending time information to a remote device;

[0033] The transceiver unit is further configured to send indication information to the remote device if it is determined to send time information to the remote device at the second SFN, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN, and the first SFN is different from the second SFN.

[0034] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a time information transmission device, including a processor, a memory and a communication interface, wherein the processor, the memory and the communication interface are interconnected, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and the processor is configured to call the program instructions to execute the time information transmission method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0035] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores one or more instructions, and the one or more instructions are suitable for being loaded by a processor and executed as described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0036] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which includes a processor and a data interface. The processor reads instructions stored in the memory through the data interface to execute the time information transmission method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0037] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip module, which includes the chip of the ninth aspect.

[0038] In an embodiment of the present application, a relay device receives time information sent by an access network device, the time information corresponding to a first system frame number (SFN); determines the SFN to send the time information to a remote device; and if it is determined that the time information is to be sent to the remote device at a second SFN, sends an indication to the remote device, the indication indicating the first SFN, where the first SFN is different from the second SFN. This method enables the remote device to determine accurate time information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0040] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network architecture in which a remote device accesses a network through a relay device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 2 A flow chart of a time information transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 3 A diagram showing the relationship between SI Window and SFN provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the relationship between SFN and DFN when information is sent according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 5 A flowchart of another time information transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 6A flowchart of another method for transmitting time information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 7 A flowchart of another method for transmitting time information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 8 A flowchart of another method for transmitting time information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of a unit of a time information transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 10 A simplified schematic diagram of the physical structure of a time information transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 11 A simplified schematic diagram of a chip of a time information transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

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

[0052] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following professional terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced:

[0053] Relay UE: Relaying refers to the process whereby access network devices or terminal devices do not send signals directly to each other. Instead, signals are forwarded through a relay device after amplification or regeneration to enable information exchange. Relay devices process and forward messages sent by access network devices or terminal devices. For example, a simple one-hop relay network splits a communication link from an access network device to a terminal device into two links: from the access network device to the relay device and from the relay device to the terminal device. This replaces a single link of poor quality with two higher-quality links, achieving higher link capacity and better coverage. Relay devices can improve throughput for users at the cell edge and expand network coverage.

[0054] Remote UE: A device located outside the communication range of an access network device that can establish a communication connection with a relay device within that range. When a remote device is not connected to a relay device, it cannot communicate with the access network device because it is outside the communication range. However, if a remote device is connected to a relay device within the communication range of the access network device, the relay device can serve as a bridge for communication between the access network device and the remote device.

[0055] PC5 interface: refers to the interface for direct communication between user devices and can be used for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) information exchange. In the embodiment of the present application, the PC5 interface can be the interface for communication between the relay device and the remote device.

[0056] System Information Block (SIB) 9: SIB9 is a system information block used to transmit time information. SIB9 includes a field for the parameter timeinfoUTC, which is time information used to indicate Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). SIB9 can also indicate a reference time referenceTimeInfo.

[0057] System Information (SI): SI includes one Master Information Block (MIB) and multiple SIBs. The MIB message is broadcast on the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), and the SIB is delivered via the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message of the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). Among the multiple SIBs, SIB1 is carried by the "SystemInformationBlockType1" message, and SIB2 and other SIBs are carried by SI messages. An SI message can contain one or more SIBs. In the embodiment of the present application, an SI message can include one SIB9.

[0058] System Message Window (SI Window): Each SI message is transmitted only within one SI window. An SI message is associated with one SI window, and can be sent only within that window. It can be repeated multiple times (the number of times and in which time slots depends on the implementation of the access network equipment), but it cannot overlap with the SI windows used to send other SI messages. The SI window length is the same for all SI messages within a cell; the periods of different SI messages are independent of each other. The SI window length is specified by the si-WindowLength field in the "SystemInformationBlockType1" field, in milliseconds.

[0059] System Frame Number (SFN): This is the time information used by terminal devices to obtain system information. The SFN bit length is 10 bits, meaning the SFN index can range from 0 to 1023. A system frame number consists of 10 subframes. The number of time slots in a subframe depends on the subcarrier spacing. When the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, a subframe contains one time slot; when the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz, a subframe contains two time slots.

[0060] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application is described below.

[0061] See Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network architecture in which a remote device accesses a network through a relay device is provided for an embodiment of the present application. The network architecture includes a first access network device, a second access network device, a relay device, and a remote device. The first access network device is distributed in a first cell, and the second access network device is distributed in a second cell. The relay device initially establishes a communication connection with the first access network device within the first cell, and the remote device is located outside the first cell and establishes a communication connection with the relay device. The communication mechanism between the relay device and the first access network device is the same as the communication mechanism between a conventional non-remote device in the first cell and the first access network device. The relay device and the remote device can exchange data and signaling through a direct communication mechanism. For downlink, the relay device can forward the signaling and data sent by the access network device to the remote device to the remote device; for uplink, the relay device can forward the signaling and data sent by the remote device to the first access network device to the first access network device. When the relay device moves from the first cell to the second cell, the relay device can establish a communication connection with the second access network device. If the remote device is still within the communication range of the relay device, the remote device can still communicate with the second access network device through the relay device. In the embodiment of the present application, the case where the relay device is connected to one access network device and no connection switching occurs is taken as an example.

[0062] It should be noted that, in actual applications, a relay device can establish connections with multiple remote devices, so the relay device can forward signaling and data sent by the access network device to the remote devices via unicast, broadcast, or multicast. Figure 1 The establishment of a communication connection between the relay device and a remote device is only an example, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of remote devices connected to the relay device.

[0063] The access network device involved in the embodiments of the present application is an entity on the network side for transmitting or receiving signals, which can be used to convert received air frames into Internet Protocol (IP) packets and serve as a router between the terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an IP network, etc. The access network device can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface. For example, the access network device can be an eNB in LTE, a new radio controller (NR controller), a gNB in a 5G system, a centralized network element (Centralized Unit), a new wireless base station, a radio frequency remote module, a micro base station, a relay, a distributed network element (Distributed Unit), a transmission reception point (TRP) or a transmission point (TP), a G node in an in-vehicle short-range communication system, or any other wireless access device, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0064] The remote device involved in the embodiments of the present application is an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals. The remote device can be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to the user, for example, a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. The remote device can also be other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The remote device can communicate with the radio access network (RAN). The remote device can also be called a wireless terminal, subscriber unit (Subscriber Unit), subscriber station (Subscriber Station), mobile station (Mobile Station), mobile station (Mobile), remote station (Remote Station), access point (Access Point), remote terminal (Remote Terminal), access terminal (Access Terminal), user terminal (User Terminal), user agent (User Agent), user device (User Device), or user equipment (User Equipment, UE), etc. The terminal device can be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal, for example, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile device, which exchanges voice and / or data with the radio access network. For example, the remote device can also be a Personal Communication Service (PCS) phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and other devices. Common terminal devices include, for example: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), vehicles, roadside equipment, aircraft, T-nodes, wearable devices, such as smart watches, smart bracelets, pedometers, etc., but the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. The following is a detailed introduction to the communication method and related equipment provided in the present application.Remote devices may also include vehicle terminals, roadside units (RSUs), application servers, base stations, or handheld terminals, such as interfaces for wireless network-based communication between vehicle terminals (V2V), vehicle terminals and roadside units (RSUs), vehicle terminals and pedestrian handheld terminals (V2P), and vehicle terminals and application servers (V2N). The wireless network may be a 4G network, a 5G network, a 6G network, a DSRC network, or a Wi-Fi network.

[0065] The relay terminal involved in the embodiments of the present application can be configured by a server configuration or inter-terminal negotiation using a pre-set program in the terminal to enable it to support the PC5 interface to forward service data. The relay terminal can refer to a preset roadside unit (RSU) or a vehicle terminal, etc., without specific limitation herein.

[0066] In order to enable a remote device to obtain the SFN corresponding to the time information, an embodiment of the present application provides a time information transmission method and apparatus. The time information transmission method and apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present application are further introduced in detail below.

[0067] See Figure 2 , Figure 2 A flowchart of a time information transmission method is provided for an embodiment of the present application, wherein the time information transmission method includes the following operations 210 to 230. Figure 2 The subject executing the method shown may be a relay device, or the subject may be a chip in the relay device. Figure 2 Taking a relay device as an example of the execution subject of the method, the relay device can provide a remote device with signaling and data interaction with the access network device. The relay device and the remote device can establish a connection through the PC5 interface. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the radio resource control (RRC) state of the relay device and the remote device. Among them:

[0068] 210. Receive time information sent by an access network device, where the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN.

[0069] Among them, the time information can be a timeinfoUTC field, and the timeinfoUTC field is located in SIB9. The first SFN is the system frame number when the access network device sends the SIB9, and the SIB9 can be located in the system message (SI). After receiving the time message, the relay device can determine which SFN the time information corresponds to. In an embodiment of the present application, the time information corresponding to a certain SFN may refer to the boundary corresponding to the SFN. Each SFN has an index (index), and the index of the SFN can be 0 to 1023. The index of the next SFN of the SFN with an index value of 1023 is 0. For example, if the access network device sends the time information in SFN8, then after receiving the time information, the relay device can determine that the time information corresponds to SFN8.

[0070] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, since the time information is included in SIB9 and the embodiment of the present application does not care about other information in SIB9, it can be considered that sending time information is equivalent to sending SIB9.

[0071] The above time information (or SIB9) is transmitted in SI Window. One SFN may include one or more SI Window, and the length of each SI Window is the same. The length of each SI Window can be specified by the si-WindowLength field of "SystemInformationBlockType1". Figure 3 The figure shows the relationship between SI Window and SFN. The SI Window length is 5ms, or 5 subframes. Subframes 0 to 4 constitute SI Window 1, and subframes 5 to 9 constitute SI Window 2. The boundary of SI Window 1 is the last time point of subframe 4 of the SFN, i.e., the intersection of subframes 4 and 5 of the SFN. The boundary of SI Window 2 is the last time point of subframe 9 of the SFN, i.e., the intersection of subframe 9 of the SFN and subframe 0 of the next SFN. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, "time information corresponds to an SFN" means that the boundary of the SI Window, in which the time information is transmitted, corresponds to the boundary of the SFN.

[0072] 220. Determine the SFN for sending time information to the remote device.

[0073] In one possible implementation, the relay device also needs to obtain transmission resources. The transmission resources are used by the relay device to forward the SIB9 (time information) to the remote device. If there are no transmission resources, the relay device cannot forward the time information. The relay device can request transmission resources from the currently connected access network device, and the access network device allocates transmission resources to the relay device. Alternatively, the relay device can also obtain transmission resources from a transmission resource set through automatic resource selection, and the transmission resource set can be a pre-prepared resource pool. Transmission resources are not always available, that is, the relay device does not have transmission resources in every SFN to send time information to the remote device. If the relay device obtains the transmission resources, it can determine the time-frequency position of the transmission resources. The SFN corresponding to the time-frequency position is the SFN to which the relay device sends time information to the remote device.

[0074] In one possible implementation, a relay device may receive configuration information sent by an access network device. The configuration information indicates a preset SFN difference, where the preset SFN difference is the SFN difference between a system frame number (SFN) used when the access network device sends time information to the relay device and an SFN used when the relay device sends time information to a remote device. The relay device may determine an SFN for sending the time information to the remote device based on the first SFN and the preset difference.

[0075] 230. If it is determined to send the time information to the remote device at the second SFN, send indication information to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate a first SFN, where the first SFN is different from the second SFN.

[0076] In one possible implementation, the relay device may indicate the SFN corresponding to the time information by sending indication information to the remote device. The relay device may or may not support updating the time information. The index of the second SFN is greater than the index of the first SFN. The relay device may send indication information to the remote device, indicating that the time information corresponds to the first SFN. The relay device may send the time information to the remote device via unicast, multicast, or broadcast. The specific sending method may be determined based on actual circumstances and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0077] Optionally, the indication information may be a Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, such as a Media Access Control Element (MAC CE). The MAC signaling may indicate the SFN corresponding to the time information. The relay device may indicate by sending only one MAC signaling to the remote device, or may indicate by sending two or more MAC signalings.

[0078] The indication information may indicate the index of the first SFN corresponding to the time information. For example, if the relay device receives the time information sent by the access network device at SFN8 and sends the time information to the remote device at SFN10, the MAC signaling may indicate that the time information corresponds to SFN8.

[0079] Optionally, the indication information may also indicate the SFN difference between the second SFN and the first SFN. After receiving the time information, the remote device can calculate, based on the indication information, that the time information corresponds to the boundary of the first SFN. For example, if the relay device receives time information from the access network device at SFN 8 and sends the time information to the remote device at SFN 10, the indication information may indicate that the SFN difference is 2 SFNs. The remote device can then determine that the time information corresponds to SFN 8.

[0080] Optionally, the indication information may also be sidelink control information (SCI) in SIB9.

[0081] Optionally, the indication information may also be RRC signaling, specifically PC5 RRC signaling, such as direct link RRC reconfiguration signaling.

[0082] In one possible implementation, if the second SFN is the same as the first SFN, it means that the relay device receives the time information at the first SFN and also transmits the time information at the first SFN. The remote device can then determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN. Therefore, in this case, the relay device does not need to send the indication information.

[0083] In one possible implementation, if it is determined that time information should be sent to the remote device at a third SFN, the time information can be updated based on the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN, resulting in updated time information corresponding to the third SFN. The relay device can then send the updated time information to the remote device at the third SFN. It should be noted that this method is only feasible if the relay device supports time information updates. The relay device can update the time information by calculating the number of SFNs between the third SFN and the first SFN, converting the number of SFNs in the interval into a time length, and adding the time length to the time information to obtain the updated time information. For example, if the third SFN is SFN10, the first SFN is SFN8, and the time indicated by the time information is 12:00 AM, the relay device can update the time information to 20 ms past 12:00 AM, as each SFN is 10 ms long.

[0084] Optionally, if the third SFN is the same as the first SFN, the relay device may not update the time information.

[0085] It should be noted that when the access network device sends information to the relay device, it uses SFN, and when the relay device sends information, it uses Direct Frame Number (DFN). The index of the DFN sent by the relay device can be synchronized with the index of the SFN sent by the access network device. Figure 4 The figure shows the relationship between SFN and DFN during information transmission. When the access network device transmits SFN8, the relay device transmits DFN8; when the access network device transmits SFN10, the relay device transmits DFN10, and so on. Therefore, in the above embodiment, the SFN indicated by the relay device to the remote device can be the DFN. In this way, if the relay device sends time information to the remote device within the DFN indexed by the third SFN before the end of the third SFN, the remote device will determine that the time information corresponds to the third SFN, which is consistent with the actual result, and therefore does not need to send further indication information or update the time information.

[0086] In one possible implementation, the relay device may further determine a fourth SFN based on a preset SFN difference to transmit the time information to the remote device. The interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference, which may be included in the aforementioned configuration information. The relay device may obtain transmission resources for the fourth SFN from an access network device or a transmission resource set, and transmit the time information to the remote device using the obtained transmission resources at the fourth SFN.

[0087] It should be noted that the configuration information may be pre-sent by the access network device to the relay device, which can then transmit the configuration information to the remote device. The remote device can calculate and determine the SFN corresponding to the time information based on the configuration information. For example, if the relay device transmits time information to the remote device at the fourth SFN, which is SFN10 and the preset SFN difference is 2, the remote device can determine that the time information corresponds to SFN8.

[0088] Through the embodiments of the present application, after determining that the SFN (second SFN) for sending the time information is different from the first SFN, the relay device can send an indication to the remote device, causing the relay device to determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN based on the indication. If the relay device supports modifying time information, it can also update the time information based on the SFN difference between the SFN (third SFN) for sending the time information and the first SFN, and send the updated time information to the remote device, thereby enabling the remote device to determine accurate time information. Furthermore, upon obtaining configuration information, the relay device can determine the SFN for sending the time information based on a preset SFN difference in the configuration information. After the SFN sends the time information, the remote device determines the SFN corresponding to the time information based on the preset SFN difference. Through the above method, the remote device can determine accurate time information.

[0089] See Figure 5 , Figure 5 A flowchart of a time information transmission method is provided for an embodiment of the present application, wherein the time information transmission method includes the following operations 510 to 530. Figure 5 The subject executing the method shown may be a relay device, or the subject may be a chip in the relay device. Figure 5 Taking a relay device as an example of the execution subject of the method, the relay device can provide a remote device with signaling and data interaction with the access network device. The relay device and the remote device can establish a connection through the PC5 interface. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the radio resource control (RRC) state of the relay device and the remote device. Among them:

[0090] 510. Receive time information sent by an access network device, and determine that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN.

[0091] The relay device can receive the time information within the first SFN, and then determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN. The relay device may support updating the time information or may not support updating the time information.

[0092] 520. Determine to send time information to the remote device at the second SFN.

[0093] The relay device can obtain the time-frequency position of the transmission resource from the access network device or the transmission resource set, and determine the SFN for sending time information to the remote device according to the SFN corresponding to the time-frequency position. The SFN is the second SFN.

[0094] 530. If the second SFN is different from the first SFN, send indication information to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN.

[0095] If the second SFN is different from the first SFN, the remote device may believe that the time information corresponds to the second SFN. Therefore, the relay device may send an indication message to the remote device to indicate that the time information corresponds to the first SFN.

[0096] In one possible implementation, if the second SFN is the same as the first SFN, that is, the relay device sends the time information to the remote device within the first SFN, then the remote device can determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN. In this case, the relay device does not need to send the indication information to the remote device.

[0097] Through the embodiment of the present application, if the relay device determines to send time information to the remote device at the second SFN, and the second SFN is different from the first SFN, it will send indication information to the remote device, so that the remote device determines that the time information corresponds to the first SFN based on the indication information, thereby determining accurate time information.

[0098] See Figure 6 , Figure 6 A flowchart of another method for transmitting time information is provided for an embodiment of the present application, wherein the method for transmitting time information includes the following operations 610 to 640. Figure 6 Taking a relay device as an example of the execution subject of the method, the relay device can provide a remote device with signaling and data interaction with the access network device. The relay device and the remote device can establish a connection through the PC5 interface. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the radio resource control (RRC) state of the relay device and the remote device. Among them:

[0099] 610. Receive time information sent by an access network device, and determine that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN.

[0100] The relay device can receive the time information within the first SFN, and then determine that the time information corresponds to (the last boundary of) the first SFN. The relay device supports updating the time information.

[0101] 620. Determine to send time information to the remote device at the third SFN.

[0102] The relay device can obtain the time-frequency position of the transmission resource from the access network device or the transmission resource set, and determine the SFN for sending time information to the remote device according to the SFN corresponding to the time-frequency position. The SFN is the third SFN.

[0103] 630. Update time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN interval to obtain updated time information.

[0104] The relay device may calculate the number of SFNs between the third SFN and the first SFN, convert the number of SFNs in the interval into a time length, and add the time length to the time information to obtain updated time information.

[0105] 640. Send updated time information to the remote device at the third SFN.

[0106] When the remote device receives the updated time information at the third SFN, it considers that the updated time information corresponds to (the last boundary of) the third SFN.

[0107] In a possible implementation, if the first SFN and the third SFN are the same, the remote device may not need to update the time information.

[0108] Through the embodiments of the present application, when the third SFN is different from the first SFN, the relay device can update the time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN, and send the updated time information to the remote device, so that the remote device can determine the accurate time information.

[0109] See Figure 7 , Figure 7 A flowchart of another method for transmitting time information is provided for an embodiment of the present application, wherein the method for transmitting time information includes the following operations 710 to 740. Figure 7 Taking the relay device as the execution subject of the method as an example, the relay device can provide the remote device with signaling and data interaction with the access network device. The relay device and the remote device can establish a connection through the PC5 interface. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the radio resource control (RRC) state of the relay device and the remote device. In addition, Figure 7 The method shown and Figure 8 The method matches, Figure 7 For the relay device side method, Figure 8 This is the method on the remote device, where:

[0110] 710. Receive time information sent by an access network device, and determine that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN.

[0111] The relay device can receive the time information within the first SFN, and then determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN.

[0112] 720. Determine a fourth SFN according to a preset SFN difference, where an interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference.

[0113] The preset SFN difference may be included in configuration information, which is sent in advance by the access network device to the relay device and then sent by the relay device to the remote device; or the preset SFN difference may be preset by a protocol.

[0114] 730. Acquire transmission resources in the fourth SFN from the access network device or the transmission resource set.

[0115] 740. Send time information to the remote device using the acquired transmission resources at the fourth SFN.

[0116] Through the embodiment of the present application, the relay device determines the fourth SFN according to the preset SFN difference, so that the remote device can also determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN according to the preset SFN difference, thereby enabling the remote device to determine accurate time information (reference).

[0117] See Figure 8 , Figure 8 A flowchart of another method for transmitting time information is provided for an embodiment of the present application, wherein the method for transmitting time information includes the following operations 810 to 820. Figure 8 The method shown may be executed by a remote device, or the subject may be a chip in the remote device. Figure 8 Take the remote device as the execution subject of the method as an example to illustrate that the remote device establishes a communication connection with the relay device through the PC5 interface. Figure 7 The method shown and Figure 8 The method matches, Figure 7 For the relay device side method, Figure 8 This is the method on the remote device, where:

[0118] 810. Receive time information sent by a relay device at a fourth SFN.

[0119] The remote device receives the time information at the fourth SFN, and at this time the remote device believes that the time information corresponds to the fourth SFN.

[0120] 820. Determine, based on a preset SFN difference, that the time information corresponds to a first SFN, and that an interval between a fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference.

[0121] The remote device may pre-receive configuration information including a preset SFN difference. The relay device may forward the configuration information to the remote device after receiving the configuration information. The remote device may calculate the index of the SFN from which the access network device sent the time information, i.e., the first SFN, based on the index of the fourth SFN and the preset SFN difference. The remote device may then determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN, rather than the fourth SFN.

[0122] Through the embodiment of the present application, the remote device can determine the SFN (first SFN) of the time information sent by the access network device to the relay device based on the preset SFN difference, and determine that the time information corresponds to the first SFN. Through this method, the remote device can determine accurate time information.

[0123] See Figure 9 , Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the units of a time information transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 9 The time information transmission device shown can be used to perform the above Figure 2 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8 The device may be a relay device or a remote device, or a device in a relay device or a remote device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with a relay device or a remote device.

[0124] The logical structure of the device may include: a transceiver unit 910 and a processing unit 920. When the device is applied to a relay device, the relay device establishes a communication connection with an access network device and establishes a communication connection with a remote device through a preset interface, wherein:

[0125] The transceiver unit 910 is configured to receive time information sent by an access network device, where the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0126] A processing unit 920 is configured to determine a SFN for sending time information to a remote device;

[0127] The transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send indication information to the remote device if it is determined to send time information to the remote device at the second SFN, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN, and the first SFN is different from the second SFN.

[0128] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 920 is further configured to obtain the time-frequency position of a transmission resource from an access network device or a transmission resource set, where the transmission resource is used to send time information to a remote device; and to determine that the SFN corresponding to the time-frequency position is the SFN for sending time information to the remote device.

[0129] In one possible implementation, if it is determined that time information is to be sent to the remote device at the third SFN, the processing unit 920 is further configured to update the time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN, to obtain updated time information, where the updated time information corresponds to the third SFN. The transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send the updated time information to the remote device at the third SFN.

[0130] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 920 is further configured to determine a fourth SFN based on a preset SFN difference, where the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference; obtain transmission resources at the fourth SFN from an access network device or a transmission resource set; and the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send time information to a remote device at the fourth SFN using the obtained transmission resources.

[0131] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send the time information to the remote device via the second SFN if the first SFN is the same as the second SFN.

[0132] When the apparatus is applied to a relay device, it may further include:

[0133] The transceiver unit 910 is configured to receive time information sent by the access network device and determine a first system frame number SFN corresponding to the time information;

[0134] The processing unit 920 is configured to determine to send time information to the remote device at the second SFN;

[0135] The transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send indication information to the remote device if the second SFN is different from the first SFN, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN.

[0136] When the apparatus is applied to a relay device, it also includes:

[0137] The transceiver unit 910 is configured to receive time information sent by the access network device and determine that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0138] The processing unit 920 is configured to determine to send time information to the remote device at the third SFN;

[0139] The processing unit 920 is further configured to update the time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN interval to obtain updated time information, where the updated time information corresponds to the third SFN;

[0140] The transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send updated time information to the remote device via the third SFN.

[0141] When the apparatus is applied to a relay device, it also includes:

[0142] The transceiver unit 910 is configured to receive time information sent by the access network device and determine that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0143] The processing unit 920 is configured to determine a fourth SFN according to a preset SFN difference, where an interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference;

[0144] The processing unit 920 is further configured to obtain transmission resources in the fourth SFN from the access network device or the transmission resource set;

[0145] The transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send time information to a remote device via the acquired transmission resources in the fourth SFN.

[0146] When the device is applied to a remote device, it includes:

[0147] The transceiver unit 910 is configured to receive time information sent by the relay device at the fourth SFN;

[0148] The processing unit 920 is configured to determine, according to a preset SFN difference, that the time information corresponds to the first SFN, and that an interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference.

[0149] See Figure 10 , Figure 10 This is a simplified schematic diagram of the physical structure of a time information transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020, and a communication interface 1030. The processor 1010, the memory 1020, and the communication interface 1030 are connected via one or more communication buses. The time information transmission device can be a chip or a chip module.

[0150] The processor 1010 is configured to support the time information transmission device to perform the above Figure 2 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8 It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the processor 1010 may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0151] The memory 1020 is used to store program code, etc. The memory 1020 in the embodiment of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0152] The communication interface 1030 is used to send and receive data, information or messages, etc., and can also be described as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, etc.

[0153] In an embodiment of the present application, when the time information transmission apparatus is applied to a relay device, the processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to perform the following operations:

[0154] Controlling the communication interface 1030 to receive time information sent by the access network device, where the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN;

[0155] The processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to determine the SFN for sending time information to the remote device;

[0156] If the control communication interface 1030 determines to send the time information to the remote device at the second SFN, it sends indication information to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN, where the first SFN is different from the second SFN.

[0157] In one possible implementation, the processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to obtain the time-frequency position of the transmission resource from the access network device or the transmission resource set, where the transmission resource is used to send time information to the remote device; and determines that the SFN corresponding to the time-frequency position is the SFN for sending time information to the remote device.

[0158] In one possible implementation, the processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020, and if it is determined that the time information is to be sent to the remote device at the third SFN, updates the time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN to obtain updated time information, where the updated time information corresponds to the third SFN; and controls the communication interface 1030 to send the updated time information to the remote device at the third SFN.

[0159] In one possible implementation, the processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to determine a fourth SFN based on a preset SFN difference, where the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference; obtains transmission resources at the fourth SFN from an access network device or a transmission resource set; and controls the communication interface 1030 to send time information to a remote device at the fourth SFN using the obtained transmission resources.

[0160] In a possible implementation, if the first SFN is the same as the second SFN, the control communication interface 1030 sends the time information to the remote device via the second SFN.

[0161] When the apparatus is applied to a relay device, it may further include:

[0162] Control the communication interface 1030 to receive the time information sent by the access network device and determine the first system frame number SFN corresponding to the time information;

[0163] The processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to determine sending time information to the remote device at the second SFN;

[0164] If the second SFN is different from the first SFN, the control communication interface 1030 sends indication information to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN.

[0165] When the apparatus is applied to a relay device, it also includes:

[0166] Controlling the communication interface 1030 to receive the time information sent by the access network device, and determining that the time information corresponds to the first system frame number SFN;

[0167] The processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to determine sending time information to the remote device at the third SFN;

[0168] The processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to update the time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN, to obtain updated time information, where the updated time information corresponds to the third SFN;

[0169] The control communication interface 1030 sends the updated time information to the remote device at the third SFN.

[0170] When the apparatus is applied to a relay device, it also includes:

[0171] Controlling the communication interface 1030 to receive the time information sent by the access network device, and determining that the time information corresponds to the first system frame number SFN;

[0172] The processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to determine a fourth SFN according to a preset SFN difference, where the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference;

[0173] The processor 1010 invokes the program code stored in the memory 1020 to obtain transmission resources in the fourth SFN from the access network device or the transmission resource set;

[0174] The control communication interface 1030 sends the time information to the remote device through the acquired transmission resources in the fourth SFN.

[0175] When the device is applied to a remote device, it includes:

[0176] Controlling the communication interface 1030 to receive time information sent by the relay device at the fourth SFN;

[0177] The processor 1010 calls the program code stored in the memory 1020 to determine, based on the preset SFN difference, that the time information corresponds to the first SFN, and that the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference.

[0178] Regarding the various modules / units included in the devices and products described in the above embodiments, they can be software modules / units, hardware modules / units, or partly software modules / units and partly hardware modules / units. For example, for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip, the various modules / units included therein can all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, or at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of software programs, which run on the processor integrated inside the chip, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip module, the various modules / units included therein can all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component of the chip module (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or in different components, or at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits. The element can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the chip module, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated in the terminal, the various modules / units contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (for example, chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components in the terminal, or, at least some modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the terminal, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits.

[0179] See Figure 11 , Figure 11 This is a simplified schematic diagram of a chip of a time information transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The chip includes a processor 1110 and a data interface 1120. The chip can be used to process Figure 2 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8 The chip can be included in Figure 10 The chip can also be included in a chip module.

[0180] It should be noted that, in the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own focus. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0181] The steps in the method of the embodiment of the present invention can be adjusted in sequence, combined, or deleted according to actual needs.

[0182] The units in the processing device of the embodiment of the present invention can be merged, divided, and deleted according to actual needs.

[0183] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part 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 process or function according to the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. 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, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a storage disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state storage disk Solid State Disk (SSD)).

[0184] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A time information transmission method, characterized in that: Applied to a relay device, the method includes: receiving time information sent by an access network device, where the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN; Determining the SFN for sending the time information to the remote device; If it is determined to send the time information to the remote device at the second SFN, indication information is sent to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN, and the first SFN is different from the second SFN.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining the SFN for sending the time information to the remote device includes: Acquire a time-frequency position of a transmission resource from the access network device or the transmission resource set, where the transmission resource is used to send the time information to the remote device; The SFN corresponding to the time-frequency position is determined as the SFN for sending the time information to the remote device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: If it is determined that the time information is sent to the remote device at a third SFN, updating the time information according to an SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN to obtain updated time information, where the updated time information corresponds to the third SFN; The updated time information is sent to the remote device at the third SFN.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: Determine a fourth SFN according to a preset SFN difference, where the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference; Acquire transmission resources in a fourth SFN from the access network device or the transmission resource set; The time information is sent to the remote device by using the acquired transmission resource in the fourth SFN.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: If the first SFN is the same as the second SFN, the time information is sent to the remote device at the second SFN.

6. A time information transmission method, characterized in that: Applied to a relay device, the method includes: receiving time information sent by the access network device, and determining that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN; Determine to send the time information to the remote device at the second SFN; If the second SFN is different from the first SFN, indication information is sent to the remote device, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN.

7. A time information transmission method, characterized in that: Applied to a relay device, the method includes: receiving time information sent by the access network device, and determining that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN; Determine to send the time information to the remote device at a third SFN; updating the time information according to the SFN difference between the third SFN and the first SFN interval to obtain updated time information; The updated time information is sent to the remote device at the third SFN.

8. A time information transmission method, characterized in that: Applied to a relay device, the method includes: receiving time information sent by the access network device, and determining that the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN; Determine a fourth SFN according to a preset SFN difference, where the interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference; Acquire transmission resources in a fourth SFN from the access network device or the transmission resource set; The time information is sent to a remote device using the acquired transmission resource in the fourth SFN.

9. A time information transmission method, characterized in that: Applied to a remote device, the method includes: receiving, at a fourth SFN, time information sent by a relay device, wherein the time information is sent by an access network device to the relay device; According to a preset SFN difference, it is determined that the time information corresponds to a first SFN, and an interval between the fourth SFN and the first SFN is the preset SFN difference.

10. A time information transmission device, characterized in that: Applied to a relay device, the apparatus comprises: a transceiver unit, configured to receive time information sent by an access network device, where the time information corresponds to a first system frame number SFN; A processing unit, configured to determine a SFN for sending the time information to a remote device; The transceiver unit is further configured to send indication information to the remote device if it is determined that the time information is sent to the remote device at the second SFN, where the indication information is used to indicate the first SFN, and the first SFN is different from the second SFN.

11. A time information transmission device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor, a memory and a communication interface, wherein the processor, the memory and the communication interface are interconnected, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and the processor is configured to call the program instructions to execute the time information transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or execute the time information transmission method according to claim 6, or execute the time information transmission method according to claim 7, or execute the time information transmission method according to any one of claims 8 to 9.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores one or more instructions, and the one or more instructions are suitable for being loaded by a processor and executing the time information transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or executing the time information transmission method according to claim 6, or executing the time information transmission method according to claim 7, or executing the time information transmission method according to any one of claims 8 to 9.

13. A chip, characterized in that: The chip includes a processor and a data interface, and the processor reads instructions stored in the memory through the data interface to execute the time information transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or execute the time information transmission method according to claim 6, or execute the time information transmission method according to claim 7, or execute the time information transmission method according to any one of claims 8 to 9.

14. A chip module, characterized in that: The chip module includes the chip as claimed in claim 13.

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