A method and device for monitoring a physical downlink control channel

Abstract

The present application provides a method and apparatus for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the method comprising: a terminal device is configured with a first search space group and a second search space group, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space, and the second search space group does not include any search space; when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH after a first period of time, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group. Through the above method, when the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH after a period of time, it will automatically switch to monitoring the PDCCH according to the empty search space group, that is, stop monitoring the PDCCH, without the need for the network device to send an indication information. Therefore, the signaling overhead can be reduced while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and device for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). Background Art

[0002] Before the network device and the terminal device transmit data, the network device will send PDCCH to the terminal device. In order to avoid losing PDCCH, the terminal device needs to frequently monitor PDCCH according to the configuration of the network device. However, the frequent monitoring of PDCCH by the terminal device will lead to high power consumption of the terminal device. At present, the research on power consumption saving of terminal devices is becoming more and more common, and the detailed optimization scheme to reduce the power consumption of terminal devices has become the research direction of the industry. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present application provides a method and device for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to solve the problem in the prior art that terminal equipment frequently monitors the PDCCH, resulting in high power consumption.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a terminal device is configured with a first search space group, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space. When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH after a first time period, the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH.

[0005] By using the above method, when the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for a period of time, it will automatically stop monitoring the PDCCH without the need for the network device to send an indication information instruction. Therefore, the signaling overhead can be reduced while the power consumption of the terminal device is reduced.

[0006] In one possible design, the terminal device is further configured with a second search space group, wherein the second search space group does not include any search space. The terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH, specifically including: the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group. In this way, when the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH for a period of time, it will automatically switch to monitoring the PDCCH according to the empty search space group, thereby achieving the stop of monitoring the PDCCH without the need for the network device to send an indication information instruction.

[0007] In one possible design, when the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group for a second period of time, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group. In other words, after the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH for the second period of time, it will cut out the empty search space group and continue to monitor PDCCH.

[0008] In a possible design, the first duration is configured by the network device, and the second duration is determined based on the first duration; or the second duration is configured by the network device, and the first duration is determined based on the second duration. In other words, the first duration and the second duration are associated. In this way, after the network device configures a duration for the terminal device, the terminal device can determine another duration based on the configured duration, thereby further reducing signaling overhead.

[0009] In a possible design, the first duration is positively correlated with the second duration. Generally, when a terminal device does not receive a schedule for a period of time, it is likely that it will not receive a schedule for a period of time in the next period of time. In addition, the longer the terminal device does not receive a schedule, the longer the next period of time in which it will not receive a schedule may be. Therefore, when the first duration is positively correlated with the second duration, the loss of scheduling information can be avoided while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0010] In a possible design, the first duration is proportional to the second duration. In this way, the association relationship between the first duration and the second duration can be easily configured.

[0011] In one possible design, the terminal device is also configured with a third search space group, wherein the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the first search space group is different from the third search space group. Specifically, the intersection of the first search space group and the third search space group can be an empty set or a non-empty set. When the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH after a third period of time, the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group. Similarly, when the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH after a period of time, it will automatically switch to monitoring PDCCH according to the empty search space group, thereby reducing signaling overhead while reducing power consumption of the terminal device.

[0012] In a possible design, when the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group for a fourth time period, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group. That is, after the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH for the fourth time period, it will cut out the empty search space group and continue to monitor PDCCH.

[0013] In one possible design, the third duration is configured by the network device, and the fourth duration is determined based on the third duration; or the fourth duration is configured by the network device, and the third duration is determined based on the fourth duration.

[0014] In one possible design, the third duration and the fourth duration are positively correlated.

[0015] In one possible design, the third duration is proportional to the fourth duration.

[0016] In a possible design, when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group or the third search space group, if the terminal device receives downlink control information DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the terminal device receives DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group. In this way, the terminal device can switch between two non-empty search space groups.

[0017] In another possible design, it is characterized in that when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the terminal device receives DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the terminal device receives DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group. When the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the terminal device receives DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group; if the terminal device receives DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group. In this way, the terminal device can switch between two non-empty search space groups.

[0018] In one possible design, when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the terminal device sends an uplink scheduling request SR or a random access channel RACH, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group. That is to say, when the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH, after sending the SR or RACH, it will switch to an empty search space to continue monitoring the PDCCH. In this way, when the terminal device has a data transmission requirement, it can quickly start monitoring the PDCCH, thereby reducing the data transmission delay.

[0019] In one possible design, the terminal device receives high-level configuration signaling sent by the network device, where the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the first search space group corresponds to the first time length.

[0020] In one possible design, the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the identifier of the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

[0021] In one possible design, the terminal device receives first information configured by a network device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0022] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0023] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein the first search space group belongs to the m search space groups, and the second search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

[0024] In one possible design, the terminal device is configured with a first search space, which is associated with a first search space group, and the first search space group corresponds to a first index; if the first index is greater than the second index, the terminal device is determined to be configured with the second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to a second index.

[0025] In one possible design, if the first index is less than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a network device configures a first search space group for a terminal device, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space; the network device configures a first preset time length for the terminal device, and the first preset time length is a first time length or is used to determine a first time length, wherein the first time length is a maximum time length during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH.

[0027] By using the above method, when the network device does not send PDCCH for a period of time, the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, which can reduce the signaling overhead while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0028] In one possible design, when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the network device does not send PDCCH after a first period of time, the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH and stops sending PDCCH.

[0029] In one possible design, the network device further configures a second search space group for the terminal device, wherein the second search space group does not include any search space. The first duration is the maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH, including: the first duration is the maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group before the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group. In this way, when the network device does not send the PDCCH for a period of time, it is determined that the terminal device switches to monitoring the PDCCH according to the empty search space group, thereby stopping monitoring the PDCCH and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0030] In one possible design, the first preset duration is the first duration, and the second duration is determined based on the first duration; or the first preset duration is used to determine the first duration, and the first preset duration is the second duration. The second duration is the maximum duration for the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the second search space group after the terminal device fails to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group for the first duration. That is, after the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH for the second duration, the network device will continue to send PDCCH. In this implementation, the first duration and the second duration are associated. In this way, after the network device configures a duration for the terminal device, the terminal device can determine another duration based on the configured duration, thereby further reducing signaling overhead.

[0031] In one possible design, the first duration and the second duration are positively correlated.

[0032] In one possible design, the first duration is proportional to the second duration.

[0033] In one possible design, the network device further configures a third search space group for the terminal device, wherein the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the first search space group is different from the third search space group. The network device configures a second preset duration for the terminal device, and the second preset duration is the third duration or is used to determine the third duration, wherein the third duration is the maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH according to the third search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH. Similarly, when the network device has not sent the PDCCH for a period of time, the terminal device can stop monitoring the PDCCH, thereby reducing the signaling overhead while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0034] In one possible design, when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the network device does not send PDCCH after a third period of time, the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group and stops sending PDCCH.

[0035] In one possible design, the third time length is the maximum time length during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the third search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, including: the third time length is the maximum time length during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the third search space group before the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group.

[0036] In one possible design, the second preset duration is the third duration, and the fourth duration is determined based on the third duration; or the second preset duration is used to determine the third duration, and the second preset duration is the fourth duration. The fourth duration is the maximum duration for the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the second search space group after the terminal device fails to monitor PDCCH according to the third search space group for the third duration. That is, after the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH for the fourth duration, the network device will continue to send PDCCH. In this implementation, the third duration and the fourth duration are associated. In this way, after the network device configures a duration for the terminal device, the terminal device can determine another duration based on the configured duration, thereby further reducing signaling overhead.

[0037] In one possible design, the third duration and the fourth duration are positively correlated.

[0038] In one possible design, the third duration is proportional to the fourth duration.

[0039] In one possible design, when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group or the third search space group, the network device sends downlink control information DCI to the terminal device. If the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the first indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the first indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH according to the third search space group. In this way, when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to a non-empty search space group, the network device can indicate to the terminal device in which non-empty search space group to continue monitoring the PDCCH by sending DCI.

[0040] In another possible design, when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group, the network device sends DCI to the terminal device, and if the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group. When the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, the network device sends DCI to the terminal device, and if the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group; if the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group. In this way, when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to a non-empty search space group, the network device can indicate through DCI whether the terminal device switches to a new non-empty search space group to monitor PDCCH.

[0041] In one possible design, when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the network device receives the uplink scheduling request SR or random access channel RACH sent by the terminal device, the network device sends the PDCCH according to the first search space group. In other words, when the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH, the network device will start sending the PDCCH after receiving the SR or RACH. In this way, when the terminal device has a data transmission demand, the network device can quickly start sending the PDCCH, thereby reducing the data transmission delay.

[0042] In one possible design, the network device sends a high-level configuration signaling to the terminal device, where the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

[0043] In one possible design, the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the identifier of the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

[0044] In one possible design, the network device configures first information for the terminal device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0045] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0046] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein the first search space group belongs to the m search space groups, and the second search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

[0047] In one possible design, the network device configures a first search space for the terminal device, which is associated with a first search space group, and the first search space group corresponds to a first index; if the first index is greater than the second index, the network device determines that the terminal device is configured with a second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to a second index.

[0048] In one possible design, if the first index is less than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0049] In a third aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include:

[0050] The terminal device is configured with a first search space group, a second search space group and a third search space group, wherein the first search space group and the second search space group each include at least one search space, and the third search space group does not include any search space; if the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group within a first time length; if the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group within a second time length.

[0051] Through the above method, by using the empty search space group, the terminal device can stop monitoring the PDCCH for a period of time, thereby reducing the opportunities when the terminal device needs to monitor the PDCCH, which is beneficial to reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0052] In one possible design, the first duration is the same as or different from the second duration.

[0053] In a possible design, after the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group within the first time period, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group; after the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group within the second time period, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group. In this way, the terminal device can switch back to monitoring the PDCCH according to the original search space group.

[0054] In one possible design, after the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group within a first time period, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to a default search space group; after the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group within a second time period, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the default space group, wherein the default search space group is the first search space group or the second search space group.

[0055] The first duration corresponds to the first search space group, and the second duration corresponds to the second search space group. In this way, the skip duration can match the search space group currently used by the terminal device.

[0056] In one possible design, when the monitoring period of the search space included in the first search space group is less than the monitoring period of the search space group included in the second search space group, the first duration is less than the second duration. In this way, the skip duration can be more closely matched with the search space group currently used by the terminal device, further reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0057] In one possible design, the configuration information of the first search space group includes a first parameter indicating the first duration, and the configuration information of the second search space group includes a second parameter indicating the second duration.

[0058] In yet another possible design, configuration information of the third search space group includes a first parameter indicating that a first duration is associated with the first search space group, and / or the first parameter indicating that a second duration is associated with the second search space group.

[0059] In one possible design, the terminal device receives first information configured by a network device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0060] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0061] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein the first search space group and the second search space group belong to the m search space groups, and the third search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

[0062] In one possible design, the terminal device is configured with a first search space, which is associated with a first search space group, which corresponds to a first index; if the first index is greater than the second index, the terminal device determines that it is configured with the third search space group, which corresponds to the second index.

[0063] In one possible design, if the first index is less than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0064] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a network device configures a first search space group, a second search space group and a third search space group for a terminal device, wherein the first search space group and the second search space group each include at least one search space, and the third search space group does not include any search space; the network device also configures a first duration and a second duration for the terminal device, the first duration being used to indicate the duration for which the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group when the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group; the second duration being used to indicate the duration for which the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group when the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group.

[0065] In one possible design, if the network device determines that the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group, the network device does not send PDCCH within a first time period; if the network device determines that the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group, the network device does not send PDCCH within a second time period.

[0066] Through the above method, the terminal device can stop monitoring the PDCCH for a period of time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0067] In one possible design, the first duration is the same as or different from the second duration.

[0068] In one possible design, after the network device does not send PDCCH within a first time period, the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group; after the network device does not send PDCCH within a second time period, the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group. In this way, the network device can determine that the terminal device switches back to monitoring PDCCH according to the original search space group.

[0069] In one possible design, after the network device does not send PDCCH for a first time period, the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to a default search space group; after the network device does not send PDCCH for a second time period, the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the default space group, wherein the default search space group is the first search space group or the second search space group.

[0070] The first duration corresponds to the first search space group, and the second duration corresponds to the second search space group. In this way, the skip duration can be matched with the search space group currently used by the terminal device.

[0071] In one possible design, when the monitoring period of the search space included in the first search space group is less than the monitoring period of the search space group included in the second search space group, the first duration is less than the second duration. In this way, the skip duration can be more closely matched to the search space group currently used by the terminal device, further reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0072] In one possible design, the configuration information of the first search space group includes a first parameter indicating the first duration, and the configuration information of the second search space group includes a second parameter indicating the second duration.

[0073] In yet another possible design, configuration information of the third search space group includes a first parameter indicating that a first duration is associated with the first search space group, and / or the first parameter indicating that a second duration is associated with the second search space group.

[0074] In one possible design, the network device configures first information for the terminal device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0075] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0076] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein the first search space group and the second search space group belong to the m search space groups, and the third search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

[0077] In one possible design, the network device configures a first search space for the terminal device, which is associated with a first search space group, and the first search space group corresponds to a first index; if the first index is greater than the second index, the network device determines that the terminal device is configured with a third search space group, and the third search space group corresponds to the second index.

[0078] In one possible design, if the first index is less than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0079] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a terminal device is configured with a first search space group, wherein the first search space group does not include any search space. The terminal device receives first downlink control information DCI, and if the first DCI includes first indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time length; if the first DCI includes second indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group within a second time length.

[0080] Through the above method, the terminal device can skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0081] In one possible design, the first duration and the second duration are the same or different. When the first duration and the second duration are different, different durations can be configured for an empty search space group, so that the terminal device skips PDCCH monitoring of different durations. The skip duration can match the search space group currently being used by the terminal device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0082] In one possible design, the terminal device is further configured with a second search space group, wherein the second search space group includes at least one search space. The terminal device receives DCI, and if the DCI includes third indication information, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group.

[0083] In one possible design, the first indication information indicates a first state value among N state values, the second indication information indicates a second state value among the N state values, and the third indication information indicates a third state value among the N state values.

[0084] In one possible design, the terminal device is further configured with a third search space group, the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the second search space group is different from the third search space group. If the DCI includes fourth indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group. The fourth indication information may indicate a fourth state value among the N state values. In this way, the terminal device can be configured with different search space groups, and switching between different search space groups can be achieved through state value indication.

[0085] In one possible design, after the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time period, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group or the third search space group; or, after the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group within a second time period, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group or the third search space group.

[0086] In one possible design, a terminal device receives high-level configuration signaling sent by a network device, and the high-level configuration signaling configures one or more of the following: first indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to a first search space group within a first time period, second indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group within a second time period, third indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the second search space group, or fourth indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the third search space group.

[0087] In one possible design, a terminal device receives high-level configuration signaling sent by a network device, and the high-level configuration signaling configures one or more of the following: a first state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to a first search space group within a first time period, a second state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group within a second time period, a third state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group, or a fourth state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to a third search space group.

[0088] In one possible design, the terminal device receives first information configured by a network device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0089] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0090] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein the second search space group and the third search space group belong to the m search space groups, and the first search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

[0091] In one possible design, the terminal device is configured with a first search space, which is associated with a second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to a second index; if the second index is greater than the third index, the terminal device is determined to be configured with the third search space group, and the third search space group corresponds to a third index.

[0092] In one possible design, if the second index is smaller than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0093] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a network device configures a first search space group for a terminal device, wherein the first search space group does not include any search space. The network device sends downlink control information DCI to the terminal device, and if the DCI includes first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time length; if the DCI includes second indication information, the second indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group within a second time length.

[0094] Through the above method, the network device can send DCI to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0095] In one possible design, the first duration and the second duration are the same or different. When the first duration and the second duration are different, the network device can configure different durations for an empty search space group, so that the terminal device can skip PDCCH monitoring of different durations. The skipping duration can match the search space group currently being used by the terminal device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0096] In one possible design, the network device further configures a second search space group for the terminal device, wherein the second search space group includes at least one search space. The network device sends a DCI to the terminal device, and if the DCI includes third indication information, the third indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group.

[0097] In one possible design, the first indication information indicates a first state value among N state values, the second indication information indicates a second state value among the N state values, and the third indication information indicates a third state value among the N state values.

[0098] In one possible design, the network device further configures a third search space group, the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the second search space group is different from the third search space group; if the DCI includes fourth indication information, the fourth indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group. The fourth indication information may indicate a fourth state value among the N state values. In this way, the network device can configure different search space groups for the terminal device, and determine that the terminal device switches between different search space groups through the state value indication.

[0099] In one possible design, the network device sends a high-level configuration signaling to the terminal device, and the high-level configuration signaling configures one or more of the following: first indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time period, second indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group within a second time period, third indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the second search space group, or fourth indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the third search space group.

[0100] In one possible design, the network device sends a high-level configuration signaling to the terminal device, and the high-level configuration signaling configures one or more of the following: a first state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time period, a second state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group within a second time period, a third state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group, or a fourth state value indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group.

[0101] In one possible design, the network device configures first information for the terminal device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0102] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0103] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein, the second search space group and the third search space group belong to the m search space groups, and the first search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

[0104] In one possible design, the network device configures a first search space for the terminal device, and the first search space is associated with a second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to a second index; if the second index is greater than the third index, the terminal device determines that it is configured with the third search space group, and the third search space group corresponds to the third index.

[0105] In one possible design, if the first index is less than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0106] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a terminal device is configured with a first search space group and a second search space group, wherein the first search space group and the second search space group do not include any search space; the terminal device receives first downlink control information DCI, if the first DCI includes first indication information, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time length; if the first DCI includes second indication information, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group within a second time length.

[0107] Through the above method, the terminal device can skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0108] In one possible design, the first duration is the same as or different from the second duration. In this way, when the first duration is different from the second duration, different durations can be configured for different empty search space groups, so that the terminal device can skip PDCCH monitoring of different durations. The skipping duration can match the search space group currently being used by the terminal device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0109] In one possible design, the terminal device is further configured with a third search space group, which includes at least one search space. After the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time period, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group; or, after the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group within a second time period, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group.

[0110] In one possible design, the first duration corresponds to the first search space group, and the second duration corresponds to the second search space group. In this way, different empty search space groups can correspond to different skip durations.

[0111] In one possible design, the configuration information of the first search space group includes a first parameter indicating a first duration, and the configuration information of the second search space group includes a second parameter indicating a second duration.

[0112] In another possible design, the terminal device receives high-level configuration signaling sent by the network device, and the high-level configuration signaling configures a first time length corresponding to the first search space, and / or the high-level configuration signaling configures a second time length corresponding to the second search space.

[0113] In one possible design, the terminal device receives first information configured by a network device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0114] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0115] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein the third search space group belongs to the m search space groups, and the first search space group and the second search space group belong to the (nm) search space groups.

[0116] In one possible design, the terminal device is configured with a first search space, which is associated with a third search space group, and the third search space group corresponds to a third index; if the third index is greater than the second index, the terminal device is determined to be configured with the second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to the second index.

[0117] In one possible design, if the third index is smaller than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0118] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a network device configures a first search space group and a second search space group, wherein the first search space group and the second search space group do not include any search space; the network device sends downlink control information DCI to a terminal device, if the DCI includes first indication information, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group within a first time length; if the DCI includes second indication information, the second indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group within a second time length.

[0119] Through the above method, the network device can send DCI to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0120] In one possible design, the first duration is the same as or different from the second duration. In this way, the network device can configure different durations for different empty search space groups, so that the terminal device can skip PDCCH monitoring of different durations. The skipping duration can match the search space group currently being used by the terminal device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0121] In one possible design, the first duration corresponds to the first search space group, and the second duration corresponds to the second search space group. In this way, different empty search space groups can correspond to different skip durations.

[0122] In one possible design, the configuration information of the first search space group includes a first parameter indicating a first duration, and the configuration information of the second search space group includes a second parameter indicating a second duration.

[0123] In another possible design, the network device sends a high-level configuration signaling to the terminal device, where the high-level configuration signaling configures a first duration corresponding to the first search space and / or the high-level configuration signaling configures a second duration corresponding to the second search space.

[0124] In one possible design, the network device configures first information for the terminal device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0125] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0126] In one possible design, m search space groups out of n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) search space groups out of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; wherein the third search space group belongs to the m search space groups, and the first search space group and the second search space group belong to the (nm) search space groups.

[0127] In one possible design, the network device configures a first search space for the terminal device, and the first search space is associated with a third search space group, and the third search space group corresponds to a third index; if the third index is greater than the second index, the terminal device determines that it is configured with the second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to the second index.

[0128] In one possible design, if the third index is smaller than the fourth index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that it is not configured with the fourth search space group, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

[0129] In the ninth aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: a terminal device is configured with a first search space group, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space; when the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, after the terminal device sends an uplink scheduling request SR or a random access channel RACH, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group.

[0130] Through the above method, when the terminal device has a data transmission demand, it can quickly start monitoring the PDCCH, thereby reducing the data transmission delay.

[0131] In one possible design, the terminal device is also configured with a second search space group, wherein the second search space group does not include any search space; the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, specifically including: the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group.

[0132] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which may include: when the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, after the network device receives the uplink scheduling request SR or random access channel RACH sent by the terminal device, the network device sends PDCCH to the terminal device according to a first search space group, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space.

[0133] Through the above method, when the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, the network device will start sending PDCCH after receiving SR or RACH. In this way, when the terminal device has data transmission requirements, the network device can quickly start sending PDCCH, thereby reducing data transmission delay.

[0134] In one possible design, the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH, specifically including: the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to a second search space group; wherein the second search space group does not include any search space.

[0135] In an eleventh aspect, the present application also provides a method for configuring a search space group, which may include: a terminal device is configured with a first index corresponding to a first search space group, wherein the first search space group does not include any search space.

[0136] In a twelfth aspect, the present application also provides a method for configuring a search space group, which may include: a network device configures a first index corresponding to a first search space group for a terminal device, wherein the first search space group does not include any search space.

[0137] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application also provides a method for configuring a search space group, which may include: a terminal device receives first information configured by a network device, and the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0138] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0139] In one possible design, m of the n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces.

[0140] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application also provides a method for configuring a search space group, which may include: a network device configures first information for a terminal device, and the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

[0141] In one possible design, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, including one or more of the following: the first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 for the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0142] In one possible design, m of the n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces.

[0143] In the fifteenth aspect, the present application also provides a method for configuring a search space group, which may include: the terminal device is configured with a first search space, the first search space is associated with a first search space group, and the first search space group corresponds to a first index; if the first index is greater than the second index, the terminal device is determined to be configured with a second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to a second index.

[0144] In one possible design, if all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the second search space group, the second search space group does not include any search space.

[0145] In one possible design, if the first index is smaller than the third index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the third search space group, the terminal device determines that the third search space group is not configured, wherein the third search space group corresponds to the third index.

[0146] In the sixteenth aspect, the present application also provides a method for configuring a search space group, which may include: a network device configures a first search space for a terminal device, the first search space is associated with a first search space group, and the first search space group corresponds to a first index; if the first index is greater than the second index, the network device determines that the terminal device is configured with a second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to the second index.

[0147] In one possible design, if all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the second search space group, the second search space group does not include any search space.

[0148] In one possible design, if the first index is smaller than the third index and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the third search space group, the terminal device determines that the third search space group is not configured, wherein the third search space group corresponds to the third index.

[0149] In a seventeenth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device, and which has the function of implementing the terminal device of any one of the first aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect, the seventh aspect, the ninth aspect, the eleventh aspect, the thirteenth aspect, or the fifteenth aspect. The function may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0150] In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, which can perform the corresponding functions of the terminal device of any of the first aspect, third aspect, fifth aspect, seventh aspect, ninth aspect, eleventh aspect, thirteenth aspect, or fifteenth aspect mentioned above. Please refer to the detailed description in the method example for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0151] In a possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally a memory, the transceiver is used to send and receive data, and to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured to support the communication device to perform the corresponding functions of the terminal device of any one of the first aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect, the seventh aspect, the ninth aspect, the eleventh aspect, the thirteenth aspect, or the fifteenth aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor, and stores the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device.

[0152] In an eighteenth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which may be a network device, and which has the function of a network device implementing any one of the second aspect, the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect, the eighth aspect, the tenth aspect, the twelfth aspect, the fourteenth aspect, or the sixteenth aspect. The function may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0153] In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, which can perform the corresponding functions of the network equipment of any of the second aspect, fourth aspect, sixth aspect, eighth aspect, tenth aspect, twelfth aspect, fourteenth aspect, or sixteenth aspect mentioned above. Please refer to the detailed description in the method example for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0154] In one possible design, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally a memory, the transceiver is used to send and receive data, and to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system, and the processor is configured to support the communication device to perform the corresponding functions of the network device in any of the second aspect, the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect, the eighth aspect, the tenth aspect, the twelfth aspect, the fourteenth aspect, or the sixteenth aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor, and stores the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device.

[0155] In the nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include the terminal device and network device mentioned above.

[0156] In the twentieth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium provided by an embodiment of the present application stores program instructions, and when the program instructions are run on a computer, the computer executes the method in any one of the first to sixteenth aspects and any possible design thereof. Exemplarily, the computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limited to: a computer-readable medium may include a non-transient computer-readable medium, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, a disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer.

[0157] In the twenty-first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program codes or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to implement the method in any one of the first to sixteenth aspects and any possible design thereof.

[0158] In the twenty-second aspect, the present application also provides a chip, including a processor, which is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory so that the chip implements the method in any aspect of the above-mentioned first to sixteenth aspects and any possible design thereof.

[0159] For each of the above-mentioned aspects 17 to 22 and the technical effects that may be achieved by each of the aspects, please refer to the above-mentioned description of the technical effects that can be achieved by the various possible schemes in the first to sixteenth aspects, and no further details will be given here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0160] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided for this application;

[0161] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of monitoring PDCCH provided in this application;

[0162] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of another method for monitoring PDCCH provided in this application;

[0163] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of another method for monitoring PDCCH provided in this application;

[0164] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another method for monitoring PDCCH provided in this application;

[0165] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of another method for monitoring PDCCH provided in this application;

[0166] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of another method for monitoring PDCCH provided in this application;

[0167] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of another method for monitoring PDCCH provided in this application;

[0168] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a search space switching provided by the present application;

[0169] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of another search space switching provided by the present application;

[0170] Fig.11 A structural diagram of a communication device provided by this application;

[0171] Fig.12 A structural diagram of a communication device provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0172] The present application will be described in further detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0173] The embodiment of the present application provides a method and device for monitoring PDCCH, which is used to clarify how a terminal device monitors PDCCH. The method and device described in the present application are based on the same technical concept. Since the method and device solve the problem in a similar way, the implementation of the device and the method can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0174] In the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0175] In the description of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and more means two or more.

[0176] In order to more clearly describe the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, the PDCCH monitoring method and device provided in the embodiment of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0177] Figure 1 The architecture of the communication system involved in the embodiment of the present application is shown, and the architecture of the communication system includes a network device 110 and a terminal device 120, wherein the terminal device 120 can communicate with the network device 110.

[0178] The network device 110 may be a device with a wireless transceiver function or a chip of a device with a wireless transceiver function. The network device includes, but is not limited to: a base station (generation node B, gNB), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a node B (Node B, NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), a home base station (for example, home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (baseband unit, BBU), an access point (access point, AP) in a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (transmission and reception point, TRP or transmission point, TP), etc. It may also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU), etc.

[0179] In some deployments, the gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include a radio unit (RU). The CU implements some functions of the gNB, and the DU implements some functions of the gNB, for example, the CU implements the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers, and the DU implements the functions of the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC) and physical (PHY) layers. Since the information of the RRC layer will eventually become the information of the PHY layer, or be converted from the information of the PHY layer, under this architecture, high-level signaling, such as RRC layer signaling or PHCP layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by the DU+RU. It can be understood that the network device can be a CU node, a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into a network device in the access network RAN, and the CU can also be divided into a network device in the core network CN, without limitation.

[0180] The terminal device 120 may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a smart wearable device (smart glasses, smart watches, smart headphones, etc.), a wireless terminal in smart home, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the application scenario. In the present application, the terminal device with wireless transceiver function and the chip that can be set in the aforementioned terminal device are collectively referred to as terminal device.

[0181] It should be noted that Figure 1 The communication system may include but is not limited to a long term evolution (LTE) system, a fifth generation mobile communication (5G) system, a machine to machine communication (M2M) system, a sidelink communication system (Sidelink) or other communication systems that will evolve in the future, such as a 6G system. Among them, the wireless air interface technology of 5G is called a new air interface (NR), and the 5G system may also be called an NR system.

[0182] At present, in the NR system, usually, whether the terminal device receives downlink data or sends uplink data, it needs to be scheduled by the network device, and the network device can schedule the terminal device through the physical downlink control channel PDCCH. For example, PDCCH can carry downlink scheduling information so that the terminal device receives the physical downlink shared channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH), or PDCCH can carry uplink scheduling information so that the terminal device sends the physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH). Among them, the scheduling information will indicate the transmission parameters of PDSCH or PUSCH, including the time domain resource location of PDSCH or PUSCH in these transmission parameters. Specifically, PDCCH carries downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI), and the network device indicates the above-mentioned time domain resource location through DCI. For downlink data, the network device will indicate the K0 value through the time domain resource allocation (TDRA) field in the DCI to determine the time slot interval between the PDCCH and the PDSCH; for uplink data, the network device will indicate the K2 value through the TDRA field in the DCI to determine the time slot interval between the PDCCH and the PUSCH. Accordingly, at the time domain resource position of the PDSCH, the network device sends the corresponding downlink data with the configuration parameters indicated in the DCI, and the terminal device receives it at the corresponding position with the corresponding parameters; at the time domain resource position of the PUSCH, the terminal device sends the corresponding uplink data with the configuration parameters indicated in the DCI, and the base station receives it at the corresponding position with the corresponding parameters.

[0183] In order to receive DCI, the terminal device needs to blindly detect (blind detect, BD) the PDCCH sent to it by the network device in the downlink control area, that is, the terminal device monitors (monitor) many PDCCH candidate positions (PDCCH candidate) to find out whether there is one sent to it. A group of candidate positions that the terminal device needs to blindly detect constitutes a search space set (search space set, also known as a search space set), and one or more search spaces that the terminal device needs to blindly detect constitute a search space group (search space set group, SSSG, also known as a search space set group). Depending on the configuration of the network device, the terminal device may periodically monitor one (group) or more (groups) of search spaces to find out whether there is a PDCCH sent to it. Among them, the terminal device needs to monitor the time domain position of the PDCCH, which can also be called the PDCCH monitoring occasion.

[0184] Based on the above description, the terminal device will frequently monitor the PDCCH. However, if there is no business happening in the terminal device for a period of time, that is, there is no downlink data or uplink data to be transmitted, the terminal device cannot receive the PDCCH sent by the network device even if it monitors the PDCCH. However, the terminal device will still monitor the PDCCH during these times, which will cause a waste of power consumption of the terminal device.

[0185] In order to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device, a possible solution is that the network device can send an indication message to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time (PDCCH skipping). This skipping time can be called skipping duration. Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH, it receives an indication message, thereby skipping four time slots, that is, not monitoring the PDCCH in these four time slots. Another possible solution to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device is search space set group switching (SSSG switching). Exemplarily, the network device may send an indication message to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to switch between two pre-configured search space groups. For example, Figure 3As shown, the terminal device is configured with 2 groups of search spaces, the first search space group includes search space 1, the monitoring period corresponding to search space 1 is 1 time slot, and the second search space group includes search space 2, and the monitoring period corresponding to search space 2 is 4 time slots. The network device can send an indication message to the terminal device, indicating that the terminal device can switch from monitoring the first search space group to monitoring the second search space group, thereby reducing the number of PDCCH monitorings to save power consumption of the terminal device, that is, to achieve the purpose of energy saving.

[0186] Both of the above schemes can reduce the number of PDCCH monitoring times of the terminal device. Among them, the first scheme is flexible and suitable for scheduling changes of small time scales, that is, the changes of scheduling or not are more frequent, while the second scheme is suitable for scheduling changes of larger time scales. In order to obtain the benefits of both schemes at the same time, it is possible to consider supporting the above two functions at the same time. One possible way to support the above two functions at the same time is to configure an empty search space group for the terminal device to achieve the effect of skipping PDCCH monitoring for a period of time. For example, the network device can send an indication information to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to switch to monitoring PDCCH according to the empty search space group. Among them, the empty search space group does not include any search space, that is, the terminal device will not monitor PDCCH when using the empty search space group. In addition, the network device can also configure or indicate a duration for the terminal device. After the terminal device uses the empty search space group for this duration, it will automatically switch out of the empty search space group, and then monitor the non-empty search space group normally, thereby achieving the technical effect of skipping PDCCH monitoring for a period of time (that is, not monitoring PDCCH for a period of time). Since the technical effect of the duration of using the empty search space group is equivalent to the skip duration in the PDCCH skipping solution, for the convenience of expression, the duration of using the empty search space group is also referred to as the skip duration in the following text.

[0187] It should be noted that since the empty search space group does not include any search space, the terminal device mentioned in the present application monitors PDCCH according to the empty search space group, which is equivalent to the terminal device not monitoring PDCCH, stopping monitoring PDCCH, not performing PDCCH blind detection or not performing PDCCH decoding. Accordingly, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the empty search space group for a period of time, which is equivalent to the terminal device not monitoring PDCCH, stopping monitoring PDCCH or not performing PDCCH blind detection during this period of time. The present application is described by taking monitoring PDCCH according to the empty search space group as an example. In some other embodiments, the terminal device monitoring PDCCH according to the empty search space group can also be replaced by the terminal device stopping monitoring PDCCH.

[0188] However, when an empty search space is used to implement PDCCH monitoring that skips a period of time, there may be a problem that the skipping duration does not match the search space group. Figure 4 As shown, the first search space group includes search space 1, and the monitoring period corresponding to search space 1 is 1 time slot. The second search space group includes search space 2, and the monitoring period corresponding to search space 2 is 5 time slots. The third search space group does not include any search space, that is, the third search space group is an empty search space group. Assume that the skipping time length of the third search space group is 3 time slots, as shown in Figure 4 As shown in (a), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group (i.e., search space 1), upon receiving the instruction information from the network device, the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group, i.e., skipping 3 time slots. Compared with always using the first search space group, the PDCCH monitoring of 3 time slots can be reduced. At this time, it is more appropriate to use the first search space group in conjunction with the empty third search space group. Also, assuming that the skipping time length of the third search space group is 3 time slots, as shown in Figure 4 As shown in (b), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group (i.e., search space 2), upon receiving the instruction information from the network device, the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group, i.e., skipping 3 time slots. At this time, since there is no PDCCH monitoring opportunity in the skipped time slot itself, compared with always using the second search space group, PDCCH monitoring is not actually reduced. Therefore, using an empty search space group, i.e., skipping PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, does not achieve the purpose of energy saving.

[0189] Based on this, the present application proposes a method for PDCCH monitoring, which can utilize an empty search space group to implement skipping of PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, thereby saving power consumption of a terminal device.

[0190] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device, or the processor in the terminal device, or the chip or chip system, or a functional module, etc., can be used to monitor or not monitor the PDCCH; the network device, or the processor in the network device, or the chip or chip system, or a functional module, etc., can be used to instruct the terminal device how to monitor the PDCCH. In the following embodiments, the method for monitoring the PDCCH provided in the present application is described in detail only by taking the terminal device and the network device as examples, but it is not intended to limit the present application.

[0191] Based on the above description, the present application embodiment provides a method for PDCCH monitoring, which is applicable to Figure 1The communication system shown. The method may include: the terminal device is configured with a first search space group A1, a second search space group A2 and a third search space group A3. Among them, the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 are non-empty search space groups, that is, the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 each include at least one search space, and the third search space group A3 is an empty search space group, that is, the third search space group A3 does not include any search space. In addition, the terminal device is also configured with two skip durations, corresponding to two non-empty search space groups respectively. When the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to a non-empty search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to an empty search space group, the empty search space group is cut out after the skip duration corresponding to the non-empty search space group. Specifically, if the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group A1 to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group A3 within a first duration; if the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group A2 to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group within a second duration. The first duration and the second duration may be the same or different.

[0192] Correspondingly, the network device configures at least the first search space group A1, the second search space group A2 and the third search space group A3 for the terminal device. The network device also configures a first duration and a second duration for the terminal device. The first duration is used to indicate the duration for which the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group A3 when the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group A1 to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3; the second duration is used to indicate the duration for which the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group A3 when the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group A2 to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3. Optionally, if the network device determines that the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group A1 to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, the network device does not send PDCCH within the first time period; if the network device determines that the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group A2 to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, the network device does not send PDCCH within the second time period.

[0193] It should be noted that the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 configured by the terminal device may both include one or more search spaces. Optionally, the intersection of the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 may be an empty set, that is, the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 do not include the same search space. For example, the first search space group A1 includes search space 1 and search space 2, and the second search space group A2 includes search space 3, search space 4, and search space 5. Optionally, the intersection of the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 may also be a non-empty set, that is, the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 have the same search space. For example, the first search space set includes search space 1 and search space 2, and the second search space set includes search space 2, search space 3, and search space 4.

[0194] Exemplarily, the method for a network device to configure a search space group for a terminal device may be: the network device configures the search space group by configuring the number of search space groups, or configuring the range of index values ​​(index) of the search space group. In one possible manner, the network device may configure an empty search space group for a terminal device in such a manner that the configuration information of any search space is not associated with the index of the empty search space group. In another possible manner, the network device directly configures the index corresponding to the empty search space group. It is worth noting that the method for a network device to configure an empty search space group for a terminal device may be used alone and is not limited to being combined with the aforementioned embodiment.

[0195] Exemplarily, the network device configures a non-empty first search space group A1, a non-empty second search space group A2, and an empty third search space group A3 for the terminal device.

[0196] In one embodiment, if Figure 5 As shown, the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 each include only one search space. Figure 5 As shown in (a), the first search space group A1 includes search space 1, and the monitoring period corresponding to search space 1 is 2 time slots, such as Figure 5 As shown in (b), the second search space group A2 includes search space 2, and the monitoring period corresponding to search space 2 is 5 time slots. The network device also configures the skipping time length corresponding to the first search space group A1 to be 3 time slots, and the skipping time length corresponding to the second search space group A2 to be 9 time slots. Figure 5As shown in (a), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group A1, i.e., search space 1, it receives the instruction information from the network device in time slot 1, thereby switching to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, i.e., not monitoring PDCCH. Since the skipping time length corresponding to the first search space group A1 is 3 time slots, the terminal device is cut out from the third search space group after 3 time slots. Figure 5 As shown in (b), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group A2, i.e., search space 2, it receives indication information from the network device in time slot 1, thereby switching to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, i.e., not monitoring PDCCH. Since the skip duration corresponding to the third search space group A3 is 9 time slots, the terminal device is cut out from the third search space group A3 after 9 time slots. Exemplarily, the indication information of the network device may be included in the downlink control information DCI.

[0197] In another embodiment, if Figure 6 As shown, the first search space group A1 and the second search space group A2 each include two search spaces. Figure 6 As shown in (a), the first search space group A1 includes search space 1 and search space 2, and the monitoring periods corresponding to search space 1 and search space 2 are both 2 time slots. Exemplarily, the frequency domain monitoring positions of search space 1 and search space 2 are the same, the time domain monitoring position of search space 1 is an even-numbered time slot in a monitoring period, and the time domain monitoring position corresponding to search space 2 is an odd-numbered time slot in a monitoring period. Figure 6 As shown in (b), the second search space group A2 includes search space 3 and search space 4, and the monitoring periods corresponding to search space 3 and search space 4 are both 5 time slots. Exemplarily, the frequency domain monitoring positions of search space 3 and search space 4 are the same, the time domain monitoring position of search space 3 is the first time slot in a monitoring period, and the time domain monitoring position of search space 4 is the second time slot in a monitoring period. In addition, the network device also configures the skipping time length corresponding to the first search space group A1 to be 3 time slots, and the skipping time length corresponding to the second search space group A2 to be 9 time slots. Figure 6 As shown in (a), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group A1 (search space 1 and search space 2), it receives the instruction information from the network device in time slot 1, thereby switching to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, that is, not monitoring PDCCH. Since the skipping time length corresponding to the first search space group A1 is 3 time slots, the terminal device switches out from the third search space group A3 after 3 time slots. Figure 5As shown in (b), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group A2 (search space 3 and search space 4), it receives the indication information from the network device in time slot 1, thereby switching to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3, that is, not monitoring PDCCH. Since the skip duration corresponding to the third search space group A3 is 9 time slots, the terminal device cuts out from the third search space group A3 after 9 time slots. Exemplarily, the indication information of the network device can be included in the downlink control information DCI.

[0198] In one possible implementation, the skip duration corresponding to each non-empty search space group may be an absolute duration, i.e., in milliseconds or time slots. For example, the skip duration corresponding to the first search space group A1 is 3ms, and the skip duration corresponding to the second search space group A2 is 9ms; for another example, as described above, the skip duration corresponding to the first search space group A1 is 3 time slots, and the skip duration corresponding to the second search space group A2 is 9 time slots. In another possible implementation, the skip durations corresponding to all search spaces included in a non-empty search space group may be different. For example, the skip duration corresponding to each search space may be a multiple of its monitoring period. This application does not limit this.

[0199] Exemplarily, the network device can configure the skip duration corresponding to each non-empty search space group by configuring a timer. For example, the network device can configure a first timer with a length of 3ms and a second timer with a length of 9ms, corresponding to the above-mentioned first search space group A1 and second search space group A2, respectively. Furthermore, when the terminal device switches from the first search space group A1 (or the second search space group A2) to the third search space group A3, the first timer (or the second timer) is started, and when the first timer (or the second timer) times out, the terminal device switches out from the empty third search space group A3.

[0200] In the above implementation, two non-empty search space groups correspond to different skip durations. By configuring different skip durations for different search space groups, the skip duration can be made to better match the monitoring period of the search space in the currently used search space group, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. In other embodiments, the terminal device may be configured with more than two non-empty search space groups, and the skip durations corresponding to the various non-empty search space groups may be different or the same.

[0201] It should be noted that, in order to more conveniently describe and understand the present application, the following description and drawings take a non-empty search space group including one search space as an example, which does not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present application.

[0202] In one example, after the terminal device cuts out the empty search space group, it can switch back to monitoring the PDCCH according to the original search space group. Figure 5 As shown in (a), after the terminal device is switched out of the third search space group A3 after three time slots, it switches back to the original first search space group A1 to continue monitoring the PDCCH. Figure 5 As shown in (b), after 9 time slots, the terminal device is switched out from the third search space group A3, and then switches back to the original second search space group A2 to continue monitoring the PDCCH.

[0203] In another example, after the terminal device cuts out the empty search space group, it can switch to monitoring the PDCCH according to the default search space group. Assume that the default search space group is the first search space group A1. Figure 7 As shown in (a), after the terminal device is cut out from the third search space group A3 after 3 time slots, it switches to monitoring the PDCCH according to the default first search space group A1. Figure 7 As shown in (b), after 9 time slots, the terminal device switches from the third search space group A3 to monitor the PDCCH according to the default first search space group A1. It can be understood that the default search space group can also be the second search space group A2, or another non-empty fourth search space group A4 configured by the network device.

[0204] In one possible implementation, Figure 5 As shown in (a), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group A1, i.e., search space 1, it receives DCI from the network device in time slot 1, thereby switching to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3. The DCI may include indication information indicating the skip duration (3 time slots) corresponding to the first search space group A1. Figure 5 As shown in (b), when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group A2, i.e., search space 2, it receives DCI from the network device in time slot 1, thereby switching to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group A3. The DCI may include indication information indicating the skip duration (9 time slots) corresponding to the second search space group A2.

[0205] In another possible implementation, the configuration information of each non-empty search space group can configure its corresponding skip duration. Among them, the configuration information of each search space group can be configured by the network device through high-level configuration signaling. Specifically, the high-level configuration signaling can also be called high-level signaling (higher layer signaling), and the high-level configuration signaling can be RRC signaling. For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration information of the first search space group A1 can configure its corresponding skip duration (3 time slots), and the configuration information of the second search space group A2 can configure its corresponding skip duration (9 time slots). Specifically, the configuration information of the first search space group A1 may include a first parameter, which may indicate the skip duration corresponding to the first search space group A1. Similarly, the configuration information of the second search space group A2 may include a second parameter, which may configure the skip duration corresponding to the second search space group A2.

[0206] In another possible implementation, the configuration information of the empty search space group can configure the mapping relationship between each non-empty search space group and the skip duration. For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration information of the third search space group A3 can be configured: the skip duration (3 time slots) corresponding to the first search space group A1 and the skip duration (9 time slots) corresponding to the second search space group A2. Specifically, the configuration information of the third search space group A3 may include a first parameter and / or a second parameter, and the first parameter may indicate the skip duration (3 time slots) associated with the first search space group A1 and the skip duration (9 time slots) associated with the second search space group A2; or the first parameter indicates the skip duration (3 time slots) associated with the first search space group A1, and the second parameter indicates the skip duration (9 time slots) associated with the second search space group A2.

[0207] In this embodiment, different non-empty search space groups may correspond to different skip durations. Therefore, by using the empty search space group to stop monitoring the PDCCH for a period of time, the power consumption of the terminal device may be reduced. Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, when the monitoring period of the search space included in the first search space group A1 is less than the monitoring period of the search space group included in the second search space group A2, the first duration can be less than the second duration. In this way, the skip duration can be more closely matched with the search space group currently used by the terminal device, which can further reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0208] The present application also provides another PDCCH monitoring method, which is applicable to Figure 1The communication system shown. The method includes: the network device configures a first search space group B1 for the terminal device, wherein the first search space group B1 is an empty search space group, that is, the first search space group B1 does not include any search space. When the terminal device receives the DCI sent by the network device, if the DCI includes first indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group B1 within a first time length, that is, does not monitor the PDCCH within the first time length; if the DCI includes second indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group B1 within a second time length, that is, does not monitor the PDCCH within the second time length, wherein the first time length and the second time length may be the same or different.

[0209] Accordingly, when the network device sends downlink control information DCI to the terminal device, if the DCI includes first indication information, the first indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group B1 within a first time length; if the DCI includes second indication information, the second indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group B1 within a second time length.

[0210] In some embodiments, the network device further configures a non-empty second search space group B2 for the terminal device, wherein the second search space group B2 is a non-empty search space group, that is, the second search space group B2 includes at least one search space. When the terminal device receives the DCI sent by the network device, if the DCI includes the third indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group B2.

[0211] In some embodiments, the network device also configures a non-empty third search space group B3 for the terminal device, that is, the third search space group B3 includes at least one search space, and the second search space group B2 is different from the third search space group B3. Optionally, the intersection of the second search space group B2 and the third search space group B3 can be an empty set or a non-empty set. When the terminal device receives the DCI sent by the network device, if the DCI includes the fourth indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group B3. Optionally, the network device can also configure more search space groups for the terminal device.

[0212] Exemplarily, the indication information included in the DCI sent by the network device may indicate N state values. For example, the first indication information, the second indication information, the third indication information, and the fourth indication information may respectively indicate four different state values ​​among the N state values. Specifically, the state value indicated by the indication information included in the DCI may be bit value information.

[0213] Exemplarily, as shown in Table 1, the terminal device is configured with an empty first search space group B1, a non-empty second search space group B2, and a non-empty third search space group B3. The indication information carried in the DCI sent by the network device can indicate different state values, and different state values ​​match different indication meanings. Exemplarily, the indication meanings corresponding to different state values ​​can be configured by the network device through RRC signaling. In Table 1, when the terminal device receives the DCI sent by the network device, if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "11", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first duration according to the first search space group B1, that is, the PDCCH is not monitored in the first duration; if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "10", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the second duration according to the first search space group B1, that is, the PDCCH is not monitored in the second duration; if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "00", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group B2; if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "01", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group B3. By using different indication information to indicate different state values ​​and different state values ​​to indicate different meanings, the skip duration corresponding to the currently used search space group can be dynamically indicated.

[0214] As shown in Table 1, the empty first search space group B1 configured by the network device corresponds to two different skip durations. Optionally, an empty search space group may correspond to more identical or different skip durations, and indicated by different indication information. Optionally, the network device may implement different skip durations by configuring a timer.

[0215] Table 1

[0216] Status value Instructions 11 Monitor the PDCCH for the first duration according to the first search space group B1 10 Monitor the PDCCH at the second time length according to the first search space group B1 00 Monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group B2 01 Monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group B3

[0217] Exemplarily, the first duration and the second duration corresponding to the above-mentioned empty first search space group B1 may be 3ms and 9ms respectively. Optionally, the duration corresponding to the first search space group B1 may also be in other forms, for example, the first duration and the second duration corresponding to the first search space group B1 may be 3 time slots and 9 time slots respectively.

[0218] Exemplarily, when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the empty search space group, after a period of time, it can switch back to monitoring PDCCH according to the non-empty search space group. Optionally, the terminal device can switch back to monitoring PDCCH according to the original search space group, or switch to monitoring PDCCH according to the default search space group. The original search space group can be a non-empty search space group used by the terminal device before the terminal device switches to the empty search space group.

[0219] In this embodiment, different durations can be configured for an empty search space group, so that the terminal device can skip PDCCH monitoring of different durations. When the network device sends a DCI to instruct the terminal device to switch to the empty search space group, that is, to skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, the skipping duration can match the search space group currently being used by the terminal device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0220] In the above embodiment, an empty search space group can correspond to different skip durations. The embodiment of the present application also provides another method for PDCCH monitoring, using different empty search space groups to correspond to different skip durations. The method includes: the network device configures a first search space group C1 and a second search space group C2 for the terminal device, wherein the first search space group C1 and the second search space group C2 are both empty search space groups, that is, the first search space group C1 and the second search space group C2 do not include any search space. The terminal device receives the DCI sent by the network device. If the DCI includes the first indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group C1 within the first duration, that is, stops monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration; if the DCI includes the second indication information, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group C2 within the second duration, that is, stops monitoring the PDCCH within the second duration, and the first duration and the second duration may be the same or different. Exemplarily, the first search space group C1 corresponds to the first duration, and the second search space group C2 corresponds to the second duration.

[0221] Accordingly, when the network device sends downlink control information DCI to the terminal device, if the DCI includes first indication information, the first indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group C1 within a first time period; if the DCI includes second indication information, the second indication information instructs the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the second search space group C2 within a second time period.

[0222] It can be understood that the network device also configures a non-empty third search space group C3 for the terminal device. After the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group C1 within the first time period, it can switch to monitoring the PDCCH according to the non-empty third search space group C3, that is, start detecting the PDCCH. After the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group within the second time period, it can also switch to monitoring the PDCCH according to the non-empty third search space group C3. Optionally, the network device can configure more non-empty search space groups for the terminal device, and the network device can also configure more empty search space groups for the terminal device.

[0223] Exemplarily, the terminal device is configured with an empty first search space group C1, an empty second search space group C2, and a non-empty third search space group C3. Figure 8As shown in (a), the terminal device receives the indication information sent by the network device in time slot 1, and thus switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group C1. The first time length corresponding to the first search space group C1 is 3 time slots. Therefore, the terminal device skips PDCCH monitoring in 3 time slots. After 3 time slots, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group C3. Figure 8 As shown in (b), the terminal device receives the indication information sent by the network device in time slot 1, thereby switching to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group C2. The second time length corresponding to the second search space group C2 is 9 time slots. Therefore, the terminal device skips PDCCH monitoring for 9 time slots. After 9 time slots, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group C3. Exemplarily, the indication information sent by the network device may be included in the downlink control information DCI. Optionally, the time lengths corresponding to different empty search space groups may also be in other forms. For example, the first time length corresponding to the first search space group C1 is 3ms, and the time length corresponding to the second search space group C2 is 9ms.

[0224] In a possible implementation, the network device can configure the first search space group C1 to correspond to the first duration through RRC signaling, and the RRC signaling can also configure the second search space group C2 to correspond to the second duration. Optionally, the corresponding relationship between the empty search space group and the skip duration can be indicated by a state value as shown in Table 2.

[0225] Exemplarily, as shown in Table 2, the terminal device is configured with an empty first search space group C1 and an empty second search space group C2, as well as a non-empty third search space group C3 and a non-empty fourth search space group C4. The indication information carried in the DCI sent by the network device can indicate different state values, and different state values ​​match different indication meanings. Exemplarily, the indication meanings corresponding to different state values ​​can be configured by the network device through RRC signaling. In Table 2, when the terminal device receives the DCI sent by the network device, if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "11", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the first duration according to the first search space group C1, that is, the PDCCH is not monitored in the first duration; if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "10", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH in the second duration according to the second search space group C2, that is, the PDCCH is not monitored in the second duration; if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "00", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group C3; if the indication information included in the DCI indicates the state value "01", the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the fourth search space group C4. By using different state values ​​to indicate different meanings, the skip duration corresponding to the currently used search space group can be dynamically indicated.

[0226] As shown in Table 2, the network device configures the empty first search space group C1 and the empty second search space group C2 to correspond to the corresponding skip durations. Optionally, the network device can configure more empty search space groups and their corresponding skip durations, and indicate through different indication information that the skip durations corresponding to the various empty search space groups can be the same or different. Optionally, the network device can implement different skip durations by configuring a timer.

[0227] Table 2

[0228] Status value Instructions 11 Monitor the PDCCH for the first duration according to the first search space group C1 10 Monitor the PDCCH for the second duration according to the second search space group C2 00 Monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group C3 01 Monitoring PDCCH according to the fourth search space group C4

[0229] When the terminal device receives DCI, the indication information included in the DCI can indicate the state value, that is, the empty search space group corresponding to the state value and the skip duration corresponding to the empty search space group can be determined, thereby realizing PDCCH monitoring that skips different durations.

[0230] In another possible implementation, the configuration information of each empty search space group may configure its corresponding skip duration. For example, the configuration information of the first search space group C1 may include a first parameter, which may indicate a first duration, and the configuration information of the second search space group C2 may include a second parameter, which may indicate a second duration. When the terminal device uses an empty search space group, the skip duration corresponding to the empty search space group may be obtained according to its configuration information.

[0231] Exemplarily, after a period of time, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the empty search space group, and then can switch back to monitoring the PDCCH according to the non-empty search space group. Optionally, the terminal device can switch back to monitoring the PDCCH according to the original search space group (for example: Figure 8 The third search space group C3 shown in the figure, or switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the default search space group.

[0232] In this embodiment, different skip durations can be configured for terminal devices through different empty search space groups. When the network device sends a DCI to instruct the terminal device to switch to the empty search space group, that is, skip a period of PDCCH monitoring, the skip duration can match the search space group currently being used by the terminal device, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0233] In the above-mentioned embodiments, the terminal device needs to switch to monitoring PDCCH according to the empty search space group after receiving the downlink scheduling information DCI sent by the network device, that is, indication information is needed to instruct the terminal device to switch to the empty search space group. However, under normal circumstances, when the terminal device has not received scheduling information for a period of time, it is very likely that the scheduling information will not be received in the next period of time. Therefore, if the terminal device does not receive scheduling information for a period of time, it can trigger the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCH for a period of time, that is, no indication information is needed to instruct the terminal device to switch to the empty search space group (implicit switching).

[0234] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application also provides another PDCCH monitoring method, which is applicable to Figure 1 The communication system shown. The method may include: the terminal device is configured with a first search space group D1, wherein the first search space group D1 is a non-empty search space group, that is, the first search space group D1 includes at least one search space. When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1, if the terminal device does not receive a schedule after a first time period, that is, the PDCCH is not monitored after the first time period, the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH.

[0235] For example, Fig. 9 As shown, the terminal device is configured with at least a first search space group D1 and a second search space group D2, wherein the first search space group D1 is a non-empty search space group, i.e., the first search space group D1 includes at least one search space, and the second search space group D2 is an empty search space group, i.e., the second search space group D2 does not include any search space. When the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group D1, if the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH after a first period of time, the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group D2, i.e., does not monitor PDCCH. Through this implicit switching method, the terminal device can be instructed to automatically switch to monitoring PDCCH according to the empty search space group after a period of time, without the need for the network device to send a signaling indication, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0236] Exemplarily, when the terminal device starts to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group D1, the first timer is started and the duration of the first timer is set to the first duration. If the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH after the first duration, that is, after the first timer times out, the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group D2; if the terminal device monitors PDCCH, the first timer is reset and the first timer starts to count again until it times out, and the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group D2.

[0237] In one embodiment, after the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH for a second time period, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1. Fig. 9 As shown, after the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group D2 for the second time period, it automatically switches back to the first search space group D1 to continue monitoring PDCCH. Accordingly, the network device sends PDCCH to the terminal device according to the first search space group D1. Since the second search space group D2 is an empty search space group, that is, the terminal device does not need to monitor PDCCH in the second time period, the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced. Accordingly, the network device does not send PDCCH to the terminal device in the second time period.

[0238] In a possible implementation, the first duration and the second duration may have no association relationship. For example, the first duration and the second duration may be equal or unequal.

[0239] In another possible implementation, the first duration and the second duration may have an associated relationship, that is, the first duration may be determined according to the second duration, or the second duration may be determined according to the first duration. As described above, when the terminal device does not receive the scheduling for a period of time, it is likely that the scheduling will not be received for the next period of time. In addition, the longer the terminal device does not receive the scheduling, the longer the next time it does not receive the scheduling may be. Exemplarily, the first duration may be positively correlated with the second duration. Among them, the first duration is positively correlated with the second duration, which may be that the first duration is proportional to the second duration, or there is a mapping relationship between the first duration and the second duration, or the first duration is obtained by adding / subtracting a number from the second duration. Optionally, the first duration is proportional to the second duration, which may be that the first duration is obtained by multiplying / dividing a number from the second duration, for example, the first duration may be k times the second duration, wherein k is not equal to 0, k may be configured by the network device, or may be a predefined value. In this way, the network device can configure a first duration for the terminal device, and the terminal device can then predict the second duration based on the first duration; or, the network device can configure a second duration for the terminal device, and the terminal device can then predict the first duration based on the second duration, thereby further reducing signaling overhead.

[0240] Correspondingly, the network device configures a non-empty first search space group D1 for the terminal device, and the network device also configures a first preset duration for the terminal device, wherein the first preset duration is a first duration, or a second duration used to determine the first duration, wherein the first duration is the maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1 before the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH. Exemplarily, when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1, if the network device does not send the PDCCH after the first duration, the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH and stops sending the PDCCH.

[0241] The network device also configures an empty second search space group D2 for the terminal device. Optionally, the first duration is the maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group D1 before monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group D2.

[0242] Exemplarily, the first preset duration is the first duration, and the second duration is determined based on the first duration; or, the first preset duration is the second duration, and the first preset duration is used to determine the first duration. The second duration is the maximum duration for the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH according to the second search space group D2 after the terminal device fails to monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1 for the first duration.

[0243] The terminal device can also be configured with a third search space group D3, which is a non-empty search space group. Among them, the first search space group D1 is different from the third search space group D3, and the intersection of the first search space group D1 and the third search space group D3 can be an empty set or a non-empty set. Similarly, when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group D3, if the terminal device does not receive a schedule after a third time period, that is, the PDCCH is not monitored after the third time period, the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH. After the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH for a fourth time period, it switches back to the third search space group D3 to monitor PDCCH.

[0244] For example, Fig.10 As shown, similarly, when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group D3, if the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH after the third time period, the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group D2, that is, does not monitor PDCCH. After the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group D2 for the fourth time period, it switches back to monitoring PDCCH with the third search space group D3. Since the second search space group D2 is an empty search space group, that is, the terminal device does not need to monitor PDCCH in the fourth time period, the power consumption of the terminal device is reduced.

[0245] Exemplarily, the third duration and the fourth duration may or may not be associated with each other. The relationship between the third duration and the fourth duration may refer to the description of the relationship between the first duration and the second duration mentioned above, and this application will not repeat them here.

[0246] Similarly, accordingly, the network device configures a non-empty third search space group D3 for the terminal device, and the network device also configures a second preset duration for the terminal device, wherein the second preset duration is the third duration, or is a fourth duration used to determine the third duration, wherein the third duration is the maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH according to the third search space group D3 before the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH. Exemplarily, when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group D3, if the network device does not send the PDCCH after the third duration, the network device determines that the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH and stops sending the PDCCH.

[0247] Optionally, the third duration is a maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH according to the third search space group D3 before the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group D2.

[0248] Exemplarily, the second preset duration is the third duration, and the fourth duration is determined according to the third duration; or, the second preset duration is the fourth duration, and the second preset duration is used to determine the third duration. The fourth duration is the maximum duration for the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH according to the second search space group D2 after the terminal device fails to monitor the PDCCH according to the third search space group D3 for the third duration.

[0249] Exemplarily, the first duration corresponding to the first search space group D1 and the third duration corresponding to the third search space group D3 may be the same or different.

[0250] In a possible implementation, the first duration corresponding to the first search space group D1 and the third duration corresponding to the third search space group D3 may be configured by the network device through high-level configuration signaling. Specifically, the terminal device receives high-level configuration signaling RRC sent by the network device, and the RRC signaling may include duration configuration information, wherein the duration configuration information may include the correspondence between the first search space group D1 and the first duration, and / or, the correspondence between the third search space group D3 and the third duration. Optionally, the duration configuration information may include the correspondence between the first search space group D1 and the second duration, and / or, the correspondence between the third search space group D3 and the fourth duration.

[0251] In another possible implementation, the configuration information of each non-empty search space group can configure its corresponding duration. Among them, the configuration information of each search space group can be configured by the network device through high-level configuration signaling. For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration information of the first search space group D1 may include a first parameter, which may indicate a first duration, and the configuration information of the third search space group D3 may include a second parameter, which may indicate a third duration. Optionally, the configuration information of the first search space group D1 may also indicate a second duration, and the configuration information of the third search space group D3 may also indicate a fourth duration. Optionally, similar to the foregoing, the second duration corresponding to the first search space group D1 and the fourth duration corresponding to the third search space group D3 may also be indicated by the configuration information of the empty second search space group D2. This application is not limited to this.

[0252] like Fig.10 As shown, when monitoring PDCCH, the terminal device can switch among the above three search space groups. Specifically, when the terminal device switches from monitoring PDCCH according to a non-empty search space group to monitoring PDCCH according to an empty search space group, the switch can be performed through the above implicit indication method. When the terminal device switches between two non-empty search space groups, it can be indicated by a DCI sent by a network device. The DCI sent by the network device to the terminal device may include indication information. Specifically, the indication information included in the DCI may indicate the switching of the search space group in the form of a bit value. In one possible implementation, the indication information in the DCI may indicate the switching of the search space group in an absolute value manner, that is, the value of the indication information indicates which search space to monitor. For example, as Fig.10 As shown in Table 3, when the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group D1 or the third search space group D3, if the indication information included in the DCI received by the terminal device has a value of "1", the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group D1, that is, the indication information value of "1" corresponds to the new search space group being the first search space group D1. Similarly, if the indication information value included in the DCI received by the terminal device has a value of "0", the terminal device switches to monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group D3, that is, the indication information value of "0" corresponds to the new search space group being the third search space group D3.

[0253] Table 3

[0254]

[0255] In another possible implementation, the indication information in the DCI may indicate the switching of the search space group in a relative value manner, that is, the value of the indication information indicates whether the terminal device switches to a new non-empty search space group to monitor the PDCCH. As shown in Table 4, when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1, if the indication information included in the DCI received by the terminal device has a value of "1", the terminal device continues to monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1, and if the indication information included in the DCI received by the terminal device has a value of "0", the terminal device switches to monitoring the PDCCH according to the third search space group D3. When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group D3, if the indication information included in the DCI received by the terminal device has a value of "1", the terminal device continues to monitor the PDCCH according to the third search space group D3, and if the indication information included in the DCI received by the terminal device has a value of "0", the terminal device switches to monitoring the PDCCH according to the first search space group D1. That is to say, the indication information value of "1" indicates that the terminal device continues to monitor the PDCCH according to the original search space group, and the indication information value of "0" indicates that the terminal device switches to another search space group to monitor the PDCCH.

[0256] Table 4

[0257]

[0258]

[0259] It is understandable that the correspondence between the indication information value included in the DCI and the search space group switching may also have other forms, and this application does not limit this.

[0260] Normally, a 2-bit value is required to indicate that a terminal device switches among three search space groups. As described above, in the embodiments of the present application, by implicitly indicating that a terminal device switches in and out of an empty search space group, only a 1-bit value is required to indicate that the terminal device switches among three search space groups, thereby reducing power consumption of the terminal device while saving signaling overhead.

[0261] In some embodiments, after the terminal device implicitly switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the first search space group D1 to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group D2 (ie, not monitoring PDCCH), after the skipping time corresponding to the non-empty first search space group D1 (for example, Figure 5 Similarly, after the terminal device implicitly switches from monitoring PDCCH according to the third search space group D3 to monitoring PDCCH according to the second search space group D2, after the skipping time corresponding to the non-empty third search space group D3 (for example, Figure 5After the 9 time slots shown in ), the empty search space group is cut out. Specifically, the configuration information of each non-empty search space group can configure its corresponding skip duration, or the configuration information of the empty search space group can configure the mapping relationship between each non-empty search space group and the skip duration. The specific configuration method can refer to the previous description and will not be repeated here.

[0262] In some embodiments, after the terminal device implicitly switches to the empty search space group to monitor the PDCCH for a period of time, it can switch back to monitoring the PDCCH according to the original search space group, or switch to monitoring the PDCCH according to the default search space group. The way in which the terminal device switches out of the empty search space group can be referred to Figure 5 , Figure 7 And its corresponding expressions will not be repeated here.

[0263] It is understandable that the non-empty search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device may be more groups, and this application does not limit this.

[0264] Normally, after the terminal device sends an uplink scheduling request (scheduling request, SR) or a physical random access channel (physiacal random access channel, RACH), the base station will send a PDCCH to schedule uplink data transmission. Therefore, when the terminal device sends an SR or RACH, it should start monitoring the PDCCH. Based on this, in some embodiments, when the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH (for example, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the empty search space group), when the terminal device sends an SR or RACH, the terminal device starts to monitor the PDCCH (for example, the terminal device switches from monitoring the PDCCH according to the empty search space to monitoring the PDCCH according to the non-empty search space group). Accordingly, when the network device receives the SR or RACH sent by the terminal device, the network device can send the PDCCH. Exemplarily, after the terminal device sends an SR or RACH in the nth time slot, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the non-empty search space group in the n+kth time slot, and accordingly, the network device sends the PDCCH in the n+kth time slot, where k is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0265] Optionally, the terminal device can switch back to monitoring the PDCCH according to the original search space group, or switch to monitoring the PDCCH according to the default search space group. By setting the terminal device to implicitly switch out the empty search space group, the terminal device can quickly start monitoring the PDCCH when the terminal device has a data transmission requirement while reducing the power consumption of the terminal device, thereby reducing the data transmission delay.

[0266] In this embodiment, by setting the above-mentioned implicit switching method, the terminal device can automatically switch to the empty search space group. At the same time, different skipping time lengths corresponding to different search space groups can be achieved, which can reduce the power consumption of the terminal device and save signaling overhead.

[0267] In the above embodiment, by using the empty search space group to skip the PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, the power consumption of the terminal device can be saved. Furthermore, the present application also proposes a method for configuring the empty search space group.

[0268] Typically, when a network device configures a search space for a terminal device, the index value of the associated search space group may be included in the configuration information of the search space, indicating that the search space group corresponding to the index value includes the search space. Exemplarily, when a network device configures search space 1 for a terminal device, the index value "0" of the first search space group and the index value "1" of the second search space group may be included in the configuration information of search space 1, indicating that search space 1 is associated with the first search space group and the second search space group, that is, the first search space group corresponding to the index value "0" and the second search space group corresponding to the index value "1" both include search space 1.

[0269] However, when the network device configures the search space for the terminal device in the above manner, there will be a problem of ambiguity. For example, if the network device configures a maximum of 2 search space groups for the terminal device, that is, the network device can configure 1 search space group or 2 search space groups for the terminal device. If the network device configures three search spaces for the terminal device, namely search space 1, search space 2 and search space 3. Among them, search space 1, search space 2 and search space 3 are only associated with the first search space group. At this time, there are the following two understandings:

[0270] Understanding 1: The network device only configures one search space group for the terminal device, namely the first search space group;

[0271] Understanding 2: The network device configures two search space groups for the terminal device, namely the first search space group and the second search space group. Among them, the first search space group is a non-empty search space group, including search space 1, search space 2 and search space 3, and the second search space group is an empty search space group, that is, the second search space group does not include any search space.

[0272] Therefore, if "an empty search space group is not associated with any search space" is used as a condition for judging an empty search space group, the above-mentioned ambiguity problem will occur. In order to solve this problem, the present application proposes a method for configuring an empty search space group, which can be seen in the following three examples.

[0273] Example 1: As described above, the network device can directly configure the index value corresponding to the empty search space group.

[0274] Example 2: The network device configures the first information for the terminal device, and accordingly, the terminal device receives the first information configured by the network device, wherein the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device. Specifically, the first information includes the number n of the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device, or the first information includes the index value range of 0 to n-1 of the search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or the first information includes the maximum value n-1 of the index value of the search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device. It can be understood that the index value range and the maximum value of the index value of the search space group can also be in other forms, for example, the index value range of the search space group is 1 to n, and the maximum value of the index value is n.

[0275] Further, the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device, wherein m of the n search space groups have associated search spaces, i.e., the m search space groups are non-empty search space groups, and the remaining (nm) search space groups of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces, i.e., the (nm) search space groups are empty search space groups.

[0276] For example, when the number of search space groups configured by the network device is 3, the network device can directly configure the number of search space groups to be 3, or the network device can configure the index value range of the search space group to be "0-2", or the network device can configure the maximum value of the index value in the search space group to be "2". Among them, the index values ​​corresponding to the first search space group, the second search space group and the third search space group are "0, 1, 2", respectively. At this time, if the first search space group and the second search space group both have search space associations, and the third search space group has no search space association, then the third search space group is an empty search space group. In this example, the network device can know the number of configured search space groups by configuring the number of search space groups for the terminal device, or configuring the range of index values ​​of the search space group, or configuring the maximum value of the index value of the search space group, thereby distinguishing between empty search space groups and non-empty search space groups by "whether there is a search space association", thereby avoiding the above-mentioned ambiguity.

[0277] Example 3: The network device configures a first search space for the terminal device, the first search space is associated with a first search space group, wherein the first search space group corresponds to a first index. If the first index is greater than the second index, the terminal device determines that a second search space group is configured, and the second search space group corresponds to a second index.

[0278] If all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with the second search space group, the second search space group does not include any search space, that is, the second search space group is an empty search space group.

[0279] Further, if the first index is smaller than the third index, and all search space groups configured for the terminal device are not associated with the third search space group, the terminal device determines that the third search space group is not configured, wherein the third search space group corresponds to the third index.

[0280] For example, if the first search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device is at least associated with search space 1, and the index value corresponding to the first search space group is "1", if the search space group with an index value of "0" is not associated with any search space, since the index value "1" is greater than the index value "0", in this example, the network device and the terminal device both believe that the search space group with an index value of "0" is configured for the terminal device, and the search space group with an index value of "0" is an empty search space group. At the same time, if the search space group with an index value of "2" is also not associated with any search space, since the index value "1" is less than the index value "2", in this example, the network device and the terminal device both believe that there is no search space group with an index value of "2", that is, the network device is not configured with a search space group with an index value of "2".

[0281] In this example, by defining this rule, the network device can configure a smaller index value to an empty search space group, and distinguish between empty search space groups, non-empty search space groups, and unconfigured search space groups by the size of the index value and whether there is a search space association, thereby avoiding the above-mentioned ambiguity without adding new information elements.

[0282] It can be understood that the method for configuring an empty search space group in the above example can be combined with the method for PDCCH monitoring provided in any of the above embodiments, or can be used alone, and there is no limitation on this.

[0283] Based on the above embodiments, the present application also provides a communication device, referring to Fig.11 As shown, the communication device 1100 may include a transceiver unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102. The transceiver unit 1101 is used for the communication device 1100 to receive information (message or data) or send information (message or data), and the processing unit 1102 is used to control and manage the actions of the communication device 1100. The processing unit 1102 may process the signal received by the transceiver unit 1101, and the processing unit 1102 may also control the steps performed by the transceiver unit 1101.

[0284] Exemplarily, the communication device 1100 may specifically be the terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiments, the processor, chip or chip system in the terminal device, or a functional module, etc.; or, the communication device 1100 may specifically be the network device in the above-mentioned embodiments, the processor, chip or chip system of the network device, or a functional module, etc.

[0285] In one embodiment, when the communication device 1100 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the above embodiment, it may specifically include:

[0286] The terminal device is configured with a first search space group, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space. When the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the processing unit 1102 does not monitor the PDCCH after a first time period, the processing unit 1102 stops monitoring the PDCCH.

[0287] In an optional implementation, the terminal device is further configured with a second search space group, wherein the second search space group does not include any search space. The processing unit 1102 stops monitoring the PDCCH, including: the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group.

[0288] In an optional implementation, after the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group for a second time period, the processing unit 1102 is configured to monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group.

[0289] In another optional implementation, the first duration is configured by the network device, and the second duration is determined based on the first duration; or the second duration is configured by the network device, and the first duration is determined based on the second duration.

[0290] In yet another optional implementation, the first duration is positively correlated with the second duration.

[0291] In yet another optional implementation, the first duration is proportional to the second duration.

[0292] In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal device is configured with a third search space group, the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the first search space group is different from the third search space group; when the processing unit 1102 monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the processing unit 1102 does not monitor PDCCH after a third time period, the processing unit 1102 is used to monitor PDCCH according to the second search space group.

[0293] In an optional implementation, after the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group for a fourth time period, the processing unit 1102 is configured to monitor the PDCCH according to the third search space group.

[0294] In another optional implementation, the third duration is configured by the network device, and the fourth duration is determined based on the third duration; or the fourth duration is configured by the network device, and the third duration is determined based on the fourth duration.

[0295] In an exemplary implementation, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to receive downlink control information DCI, and when the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the transceiver unit 1101 receives the DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is the first value, the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the transceiver unit 1101 receives the DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is the second value, the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group. When the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the transceiver unit 1101 receives the DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is the first value, the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group; if the transceiver unit 1101 receives the DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is the second value, the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group.

[0296] In one example, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to send an uplink scheduling request SR or a random access channel RACH. When the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the transceiver unit 1101 sends the uplink scheduling request SR or the random access channel RACH, the processing unit 1102 monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group.

[0297] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to receive a high-level configuration signaling sent by a network device, where the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

[0298] In an optional implementation, the higher layer configuration signaling indicates that an identifier of the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

[0299] In another embodiment, when the communication device 1100 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above embodiment, it may specifically include:

[0300] The network device configures a first search space group for the terminal device, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space; the network device configures a first preset duration for the terminal device, and the first preset duration is a first duration or is used to determine the first duration, wherein the first duration is the maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH.

[0301] In an optional implementation, when the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the transceiver unit 1101 does not send PDCCH after the first time length, the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, and the transceiver unit 1101 stops sending PDCCH.

[0302] In an optional embodiment, the network device also configures a second search space group for the terminal device, wherein the second search space group does not include any search space; the first time length is the maximum time length during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH, including: the first time length is the maximum time length during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group before the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group.

[0303] In an optional embodiment, the first preset duration is the first duration, and the second duration is determined based on the first duration; or the first preset duration is used to determine the first duration, and the first preset duration is the second duration; wherein, the second duration is the maximum duration for the terminal device to monitor PDCCH according to the second search space group after the terminal device fails to monitor PDCCH according to the first search space group after the first duration.

[0304] In yet another optional implementation, the first duration is positively correlated with the second duration.

[0305] In yet another optional implementation, the first duration is proportional to the second duration.

[0306] In an exemplary embodiment, the network device also configures a third search space group for the terminal device, wherein the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the first search space group is different from the third search space group; the network device configures a second preset time length for the terminal device, and the second preset time length is a third time length or is used to determine the third time length, wherein the third time length is the maximum time length during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the third search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH.

[0307] In an optional implementation, when the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the transceiver unit 1101 does not send PDCCH after the third time length, the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group, and the transceiver unit 1101 stops sending PDCCH.

[0308] In an exemplary implementation, when the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group, the transceiver unit 1101 sends DCI to the terminal device, and if the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group. When the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, the transceiver unit 1101 sends DCI to the terminal device, and if the first indication information included in the DCI is the first value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group; if the first indication information included in the DCI is the second value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group.

[0309] In one example, the transceiver unit 1101 is further used to receive an uplink scheduling request SR or a random access channel RACH. When the processing unit 1102 determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the transceiver unit 1101 receives the uplink scheduling request SR or the random access channel RACH sent by the terminal device, the network device sends the PDCCH to the terminal device according to the first search space group.

[0310] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to send a high-level configuration signaling, where the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the first search space group is related to the first duration.

[0311] In an optional implementation, the high-level configuration signaling includes configuration information of the first search space group, the configuration information of the first search space group includes a first parameter, and the first parameter indicates the first duration; or, the high-level configuration signaling includes the configuration information of the first search space group and the first duration.

[0312] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. Each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0313] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memories, random access memories, magnetic disks or optical disks.

[0314] Based on the above embodiments, the present application also provides a communication device, referring to Fig.12 As shown, the communication device 1200 may include a transceiver 1201 and a processor 1202. Optionally, the communication device 1200 may further include a memory 1203. The memory 1203 may be disposed inside the communication device 1200 or outside the communication device 1200. The processor 1202 may control the transceiver 1201 to receive and send data, etc.

[0315] Specifically, the processor 1202 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP) or a combination of a CPU and a NP. The processor 1202 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL) or any combination thereof.

[0316] The transceiver 1201, the processor 1202 and the memory 1203 are interconnected. Optionally, the transceiver 1201, the processor 1202 and the memory 1203 are interconnected via a bus 1704; the bus 1704 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.12 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0317] In an optional implementation, the memory 1203 is used to store programs, etc. Specifically, the program may include a program code, and the program code includes a computer operation instruction. The memory 1203 may include a RAM, and may also include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as one or more disk memories. The processor 1202 executes the application stored in the memory 1203 to implement the above functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication device 1200.

[0318] Exemplarily, the communication device 1200 may be the terminal device in the above embodiment; or may be the network device in the above embodiment.

[0319] In one embodiment, when the communication device 1200 implements the function of the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver 1201 can implement the transceiver operation performed by the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application; the processor 1202 can implement other operations except the transceiver operation performed by the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application. For specific related descriptions, please refer to the related descriptions in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail here.

[0320] In another embodiment, when the communication device 1200 implements the function of the network device in the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver 1201 can implement the transceiver operation performed by the network device in the embodiment of the present application; the processor 1202 can implement other operations except the transceiver operation performed by the network device in the embodiment of the present application. For specific related descriptions, please refer to the related descriptions in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail here.

[0321] Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include the terminal device and network device involved in the above embodiments.

[0322] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the PDCCH monitoring method provided in the above method embodiment.

[0323] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the PDCCH monitoring method provided in the above method embodiment.

[0324] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, including a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory and is used to call a program in the memory so that the chip implements the PDCCH monitoring method provided by the above method embodiment.

[0325] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory and is used to implement the PDCCH monitoring method provided in the above method embodiment.

[0326] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented in one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that include computer-usable program code.

[0327] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0328] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A function specified in one or more boxes.

[0329] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions for implementing the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0330] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the embodiments 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 method for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), characterized in that: include: The terminal device is configured with a first search space group and a second search space group, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space and the second search space group does not include any search space; When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH after a first time period, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group; After the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group for a second time period, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group; The first duration is configured by the network device, and the second duration is determined according to the first duration; or The second duration is configured by the network device, and the first duration is determined according to the second duration.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first duration is positively correlated with the second duration.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first duration is proportional to the second duration.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The terminal device is configured with a third search space group, the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the first search space group is different from the third search space group; When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH after a third period of time, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: After the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group for a fourth period of time, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The third duration is configured by the network device, and the fourth duration is determined according to the third duration; or The fourth duration is configured by the network device, and the third duration is determined based on the fourth duration.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the terminal device receives the DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the terminal device receives the DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group; When the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the terminal device receives DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is the first value, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group; if the terminal device receives DCI and the first indication information included in the DCI is the second value, the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the terminal device sends an uplink scheduling request SR or a random access channel RACH, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: include: The terminal device receives a high-level configuration signaling sent by a network device, where the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The higher layer configuration signaling indicates that the identifier of the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

11. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The terminal device receives first information configured by a network device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The first information indicating that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device includes one or more of the following: The first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or The first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 of a search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device; or The first information includes a maximum value n-1 of an index value of a search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that m of the n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; The first search space group belongs to the m search space groups, and the second search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

14. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The terminal device is configured with a first search space, the first search space is associated with a first search space group, and the first search space group corresponds to a first index; If the first index is greater than the second index, the terminal device determines that it is configured with the second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to the second index.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that If the first index is smaller than the fourth index, and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with a fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that the fourth search space group is not configured, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

16. A method for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), characterized in that: include: The network device configures a first search space group and a second search space group for the terminal device, wherein the first search space group includes at least one search space, and the second search space group does not include any search space; The network device configures a first preset duration for the terminal device, where the first preset duration is a first duration or is used to determine the first duration, wherein the first duration is a maximum duration during which the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group before monitoring the PDCCH according to the second search space group; When the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, if the network device does not send the PDCCH after the first time period, the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group and stops sending the PDCCH; The first preset duration is the first duration, and the second duration is determined based on the first duration; or the first preset duration is used to determine the first duration, and the first preset duration is the second duration; The second duration is a maximum duration for which the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the second search space group after the terminal device fails to monitor the PDCCH according to the first search space group for the first duration.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first duration is positively correlated with the second duration.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first duration is proportional to the second duration.

19. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: The network device further configures a third search space group for the terminal device, wherein the third search space group includes at least one search space, and the first search space group is different from the third search space group; The network device configures a second preset time length for the terminal device, and the second preset time length is a third time length or is used to determine the third time length, wherein the third time length is the maximum time length during which the terminal device does not monitor PDCCH according to the third search space group before the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCH.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The method also includes: when the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, if the network device does not send PDCCH after the third time period, the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group and stops sending PDCCH.

21. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that When the network device determines that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group, the network device sends a DCI to the terminal device, and if the first indication information included in the DCI is a first value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the first search space group; if the first indication information included in the DCI is a second value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH according to the third search space group; When the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group, the network device sends DCI to the terminal device. If the first indication information included in the DCI is the first value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the third search space group; if the first indication information included in the DCI is the second value, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the first search space group.

22. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that When the network device determines that the terminal device monitors PDCCH according to the second search space group, after the network device receives the uplink scheduling request SR or random access channel RACH sent by the terminal device, the network device sends PDCCH to the terminal device according to the first search space group.

23. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that include: The network device sends a high-level configuration signaling, where the high-level configuration signaling indicates that the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The higher layer configuration signaling indicates that the identifier of the first search space group corresponds to the first duration.

25. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The network device configures first information for the terminal device, where the first information indicates that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The first information indicating that the network device has configured n search space groups for the terminal device includes one or more of the following: The first information includes the number n of search space groups configured by the network device for the terminal device; or The first information includes an index value range of 0 to n-1 of a search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device; or The first information includes a maximum value n-1 of an index value of a search space group configured by the network device for the terminal device.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that m of the n search space groups have associated search spaces, and the remaining (nm) of the n search space groups do not have associated search spaces; The first search space group belongs to the m search space groups, and the second search space group belongs to the (nm) search space groups.

28. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The network device configures a first search space for the terminal device, where the first search space is associated with a first search space group, and the first search space group corresponds to a first index; If the first index is greater than the second index, the network device determines that the terminal device is configured with the second search space group, and the second search space group corresponds to the second index.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The method also includes, if the first index is less than a fourth index, and all search spaces configured for the terminal device are not associated with a fourth search space group, the terminal device determines that the fourth search space group is not configured, wherein the fourth search space group corresponds to the fourth index.

30. A terminal device, characterized in that: include: one or more processors and one or more memories; The one or more memories are coupled to the one or more processors, and the one or more memories are used to store computer program codes, wherein the computer program codes include computer instructions. When the one or more processors execute the computer instructions, the terminal device executes the method described in any one of claims 1-15.

31. A network device, characterized in that: include: one or more processors and one or more memories; The one or more memories are coupled to the one or more processors, and the one or more memories are used to store computer program codes, wherein the computer program codes include computer instructions. When the one or more processors execute the computer instructions, the network device executes the method according to any one of claims 16 to 29.

32. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which, when called by the computer, are used to enable the computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 15, or to execute the method described in any one of claims 16 to 29.

33. A computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that When the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or execute the method according to any one of claims 16 to 29.

34. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is coupled to the memory and is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, or to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 29.

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